Stone veneer. Characteristics and properties

Stone veneer is a facing material used for finishing rooms and premises, facades of buildings, certain elements of the environment, in particular columns, countertops, furniture. The material has an attractive appearance, and with it it's pretty easy to work, so designers take it into service.

Material specifications

The basis of the material is a natural flexible stone. Additional properties he gets by using layers that have a complex composition. The mineral formula is calibrated to ensure that the material is as strong and light as possible, environmentally friendly and safe. To do this, use polyester resin, fiberglass and a substrate. Thermal expansion has a thickness of 0.8 millimeters, and the entire sheet usually does not get thicker than two millimeters.

One of the advantages of stone veneer - light weight: a sheet of one square meter weighs about one and a half kilograms, so the finish does not make the design too heavy. Designers use this material for decoration, including walls and ceilings. Additional properties, thanks to which veneer has become so popular in recent years - is resistance to wear and moisture.

Aesthetic properties and a variety of appearance

Externally, this material is indistinguishable from natural stone, which gives the designer the ability to turn any interior or facade into a real work of art with a color gamut preferred by the customer. There is no need to use a heavy facing stone, and veneers can be applied, including wood chipboards and other typical surfaces. Applicability is much higher than for many other materials used for cladding.

Appearance - various shades of gray, green, brown, white, yellow. Among the assortment available today, there are solutions for both modest and luxurious interiors. With proper use, you can achieve that the floor, walls, ceiling of the room, the facade of the building, any elements of the environment will look aesthetically pleasing and impressive - as if the truth were made of natural stone. Veneer is well combined with natural stone finish, and with other materials.

Working with stone veneer

The recommended temperature range for work - from +10 to +35 degrees Celsius. To use the material in conjunction with wood boards (chipboard or MDF), epoxy adhesive compositions of two components are usually used. Sometimes an epoxy adhesive is used for the edge, and an aerosol adhesive is used for the substrate. If the edge is pasted on the machine, then a standard melt adhesive can be used.

After completion of work, the edges of the base are ground. In this case, designers can use the creative approach and repeat the drawing of the texture, round off or cut corners. In addition, painting tape, double-sided adhesive tape and various adhesive compositions can be used for work. The finishing layer, which is applied over the top, performs the impregnation function. For this purpose, special formulations for different purposes are used: water repellents for building facades, special impregnations for furniture and fireplaces, for wet and dry rooms.

Other properties

Environmentally, stone veneer is clean and safe, so it is preferred. It is inferior in strength to natural stone, but it weighs less, therefore, as a decorative material, it is widely used. Despite the fineness, the material is not brittle, does not break and does not crack. It should be remembered that most of its qualities it acquires only when treated with an impregnating finish layer - otherwise the finish will be "afraid" of water, temperature and other negative factors.

Thus, this material can not be called universal by one hundred percent, and working with it requires a certain skill. At the same time, it is often used where natural stone and some of its analogues can not be used. As for the price, it is quite acceptable taking into account all the properties. The color scheme is also not bad, and lovers of the texture of natural stone will always find a veneer on the soul.