Nga ahuatanga o te whakakikorua kohatu

Would seem a pretty simple question right? And yes, it’s a pretty simple answer – cladding made from stone.  However from the meetings I have with contractors and surveyors, I see it often gets over-complicated in designers’ minds and confused with traditional stone masonry.

Natural stone is one of the oldest materials used by man in construction.  We only have to look at buildings such as the Taj Mahal completed in 1648 using white marble, or the Great Pyramid thought to have been completed in 2560BC made predominantly out of limestone to appreciate the longevity of stone as a material.  (Imagine the architect specifying the Design Life for the Pyramid….)

Kua tino rerekee nga tikanga hanga mai i te wa i hangaia ai e ratou te Taj Mahal, na te mihi ki nga momo waahanga me nga tauhokohoko i roto i te umanga hanga-whakawhitinga korero me te whatunga i roto i nga tau, kaore e tika kia whakahiatohia nga poraka kohatu taumaha ki runga tetahi ki tetahi ki te hanga i te ahua. o te whare kohatu totoka. 

Traditional stone masonry (not something we do here at AlterEgo by the way), is loaded onto the building’s foundations and uses stones and mortar, tied back with wall-ties – think brickwork.

Ko te whakakikorua kohatu o enei ra kei tera taha ka whakairihia mai i te hanganga o te whare, ka whakahiatotia kia rite ki te punaha whakamarumaru ua. 

Ka kite koe, ko te papa kohatu, he a whakapuru ua pūnaha me te kia peratia. 

Looking through a cross section of a typical stone cladding build-up you’ll see lots of familiar components: spreader bars, helping-hand brackets, rails and T-bars.  It’s only the facing material which is interchangeable. 

There are a few nuances when working with natural stone for the first time, but nothing that a day’s training and our on-site support won’t cover.

So if you’re a contractor used to installing aluminium and steel cladding or you specialize in terracotta; don’t be afraid of stone! Check out this video showing the simplicity of our EGO-02S system EGO 02s INSTALLATION BETA – YouTube

Ina tae mai ki te whakatika i te papa taapiri kohatu ki te hanganga tautoko, e rua nga tikanga whakatika:

Nga punga Undercut

With an undercut anchor system, typically used for larger format panels, holes are pre-drilled into the back of the stone, a sleeve and bolt inserted and fixed onto a hanging clasp and horizontal system.  This method is good for natural stone panels with a thickness range from 30-50mm and can be used in both stack and stretcher bond layouts, typically in a portrait layout.   Undercut anchors are always used in soffit situations.

I te mea kei te tuara o te panui nga taapiri, he mea huna-whakatika tenei tikanga, kaore he whakatikanga e kitea.

Whakairo

The kerf method of fixing stone is where a continuous groove is cut in the top and bottom of the stone, and the stone simply sits on a rail or clasp at the bottom and restrained at the top.  A kerf system works particularly well for horizontally laid panels in either stack or stretcher bond.

Ko te tere me te ngawari o te whakaurunga me te hono me te mea ka taea te whakauru i nga panui kaore i te raupapa, ka waiho tenei tikanga hei punaha whakakikorua kohatu e tino whakamahia ana.

Ko nga tikanga whakaurunga e rua he tuwhera-hononga, engari ko te tohu i nga hononga me te hiri kore-heke ka puta te ahua o te whare masonry tawhito. 

If you’re considering stone for your next project, please get in contact.