One of the most durable building materials in use, stone has never before given as much versatility. More than almost any other material, manufactured stone in particular offers lighter, thinner, and more varied interpretations of natural materials. Manufactured stone veneer has become extremely popular in today's building market for a multitude of reasons as manufacturing techniques have improved over the years. The depth, richness of color, pattern, and tactile difference of created stone are qualities that no other product can match. Quality produced profiles are nearly indistinguishable from stone and other natural materials thanks to their textures that are inspired by nature and their true color palettes.
Manufactured stone veneer: what is it?
A lightweight building material used as a decorative wall covering for interior and exterior surfaces is manufactured stone veneer, or MSV. It impersonates the textures and hues of natural stone and is built of concrete. To capture and replicate the most genuine textures, the greatest makers fashion molds from natural stones. The final product is a sturdy, light-weight stone veneer that is only a few inches thick but gives the appearance of a substantial stone wall. The interiors of living rooms, fireplaces, kitchens, baths, stairways, wine cellars, and other special locations frequently use produced stone veneer. Complete façades, entrances, landscape walls, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, and other common external applications just are a few examples.
The Origin of Manufactured Stone Veneer
Garrett and Floyd Brown, brothers from Vallejo, California, recognized the demand for a novel type of building material in 1962, and they developed the first manufactured stone veneer goods. The inventive plasterers created manufactured stone veneer, which is concrete that is hand-colored with iron oxide colors to imitate natural stone and cast in flexible molds. The veneers, which were made of lightweight aggregate materials, easily adhered to most wall surfaces and weighed about one-quarter as much as real stone.
The Browns' modest, local business started off selling to Northern Californian dealers, but it swiftly expanded as it added additional goods with a wider geographic appeal. Their goods were quickly circulated across Canada and the United States.
Benefits of Artificial Stone Veneer
Manufactured stone products are inventive, stunning, and frequently engineered to address design and installation issues thanks to constant research and development. From a design standpoint, several collections now feature contemporary profiles that mimic other common materials like tile, brick, and wood in addition to stone. In addition, many manufacturers now provide panelized items to permit a quicker application without sacrificing the required appearance, which also relates to installation efficiency.
Here are a few additional advantages of working with manufactured stone:
Design-Friendly
For specifiers who wish to include the genuine character of stone or brick without a time-consuming installation process, manufactured stone veneer is the ideal option. Natural stone may need wall ties and footings, which can raise the expense and difficulty of installation, in contrast to synthetic stone veneer, which is made to stick to a range of structurally solid surfaces with ease. MSV requires fewer structural alterations during a retrofit and requires less work during installation because it is around one-third the weight and half the price of full-bed-depth real stone. This makes installations less challenging and less expensive to complete.
Durable
The way a product is fitted frequently affects its appearance and endurance. Careful care should be given to the kind of profile and color chosen, the actual stone "pattern" that is laid, and the kind of grouting process employed. Additionally, it's critical to confirm that products have undergone freeze/thaw durability testing with regional distributors. A successful installation will be more likely if excellent building practices are used, such as proper flashing and water diversion strategies.
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Quality made stone veneer firms also offer extended warranty coverage for up to 50 years. The best manufactured stone veneer not only withstands years of weathering, including freezing, thawing, and heating without chipping or fading.
Versatile
Stone veneer is an affordable, aesthetically pleasing, and long-lasting solution to add interest to external and interior areas for any project, whether it is used as an accent wall, around a fireplace, or on the façade of a building or home.
The Production Process
Concrete is mixed, poured into a mold, and dyed with mineral pigments to create manufactured stone veneer (MSV). The best producers make these molds from natural stones to capture the finest textures, and during the production process, they hand-paint each stone shape inside the molds.
The manufactured stone is demolded and placed in boxes for sale after the concrete has dried and hardened. The final product is light-weight decorative stones that are only a few inches thick but provide the appearance of a full-depth, natural stone wall (both flat stones and 90-degree cornerstones).
Some producers provide a number of concrete-based solutions in addition to MSV to improve indoor and external environments. These include the fire bowls, fireplace surrounds, and outdoor living objects that are created by spraying rapid-set concrete into molds and letting it set for several hours. Beautiful, handcrafted objects that are sold all over the world are made from these after they are demolded and sanded.
Thin-Cut Natural Stone vs. Manufactured Stone Veneer
The main point of contention in the stone sector over the years has been how manufactured stone veneer, or MSV, stacks up against real stone. While both offer many advantages, MSV has a distinct edge over natural stone on both commercial and residential projects thanks to its lightweight characteristics, which enable quicker installation and call for little to no structural interventions like footings and tie-ins. MSV can be applied to a number of substrates, including wall sheathing, cement board, and concrete, unlike full-bed-depth natural stone.
With the advent of thin-cut natural stone, which provides equivalent advantages in terms of weight and overall application possibilities, the discussion has changed today. What are the other ways that natural and manufactured products differ now that natural stone firms offer thin-cut profile options?