Cladding provides a layer of protection between your home and all the external elements. Natural stone slab and tiles are one of the most common materials that you can use for exterior wall cladding or facades. There are numerous befits that they can provide. Here in this article we name and describe some of them for you:
Durability Tile for wall
Tile for wall | When you want choose a material for your exterior wall cladding; durability is one of the most important facts that you should check out. Obviously, based on your project location and its weather conditions, any slab that you choose is going to be in contact with air, wind, rain, sun light and many other environmental factors. Therefor the slab that you choose should have the ability to survive each of them. Also, façade of a building is not something to change occasionally, so the chosen material should have the ability to stand the test of time.
As you may already know, there are various types of stones that have been used as exterior wall claddings over the years and even for centuries and there are famous monuments all over the world to prove that; for example, Lincoln Memorial and Taj Mahal are made out of marble, Washington Monument is built by marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss and all the great and ancient structures in Rome and Greece are made out of local stone. Natural stone slabs are durable in different levels; based on their texture, type and finishing they can have high or low strengths.
Fire resistance
Stone cladding is resistant to fire. The different types of stone available in market such as quartz, granite, limestone, travertine and slate are not considered combustible so they can be a great choice for your exterior wall claddings. Note that, for high-rise buildings the common stone cladding system should not be used, it can be very dangerous. Even though the stone slabs will not burn, the unstable or not properly installed stones can shatter or crack when they are exposed to the intense heat and fire and all the cracked slabs can fall down from the building and put the public and pedestrian in a hazardous position.
Value and Maintenance
Natural stone slab and tiles need little care and low maintenance; which makes them a great choice of material for exterior wall claddings. In locations with polluted air, as they are water proofed they can be easily cleaned by washing them specially if they have smooth and glazed finishing surfaces. Note that it is best to ask professional cleaners to do the job but for high-rise buildings it is vital. Also you should know that natural stones are valuable products. When you install them, they would instantly add value to your property. To have natural stone tiles as a low maintenance material, you just have to remember to seal your slabs properly.
Physical Properties
Natural stone slab and tile have been cut out of natural rocks so for their proper work and installation, in their production process they will get rectified edges in different shapes. Due to their type, they are all porous texture but in different levels. Natural stone slabs are products of mother nature, so they have the most compatibility to it. They have almost no waste and they can be reused so they are an eco-friendly material to.
Appearances
Choosing a material for exterior wall cladding is an aesthetic choice; they are the representation of your style and design preferences. Natural stone slabs have wide range of types, texture, color and finishing’s; which gives the architects and designers vast choice and creativity in their projects. Nowadays, they make masterpieces in different styles with combination of natural stone slabs with other materials like iron, glass, wood and etc.
Natural Stone Tile Types
Tile for wall | As mentioned before, natural stone slab and tiles are a common material for exterior wall claddings. Most of the exterior stone wall slabs are made out of famous stones such as granite, sandstone, marble and travertine. Below we give you an introduction to each one:
- Granit
Tile for wall |Compared to other stones, granite has a rich history of usage in architecture and for that, it has become the most famous igneous rock. This stone is rigid and hard; it has a very high compressive strength. It has low water absorption by having limited void fractions. It also has a great prestige among other rocks; when used in projects it will present elegance.
Granite has an aesthetic appeal; it has a great variety of colors that in their flat appearances and with visible black grains in its texture, will catch anybody’s eyes. With all that being said, granite wall cladding can be functional, valuable and beautiful as it is easy to maintain.
- Sandstone
Tile for wall |Sandstone is a famous and common type of sedimentary rocks. It is from the composition of sand-size grains rock fragment, silicate minerals with some other organic materials. It can be found in all the sedimentary basins all over the world. It also has sand grains and cementing material binds together. It can have matrix of silt- or clay-size particles that fill the voids between the sand grains. It has a clastic texture that is only visible with microscope and not to the naked eyes. Based on the percentage of clast or cement it can be soft or hard. Because of its composition and the variation of minerals, it is available in different colors such as yellow, grey, red, white and etc. if you want to choose sandstone as your wall cladding, you should consider the rough texture in its surface, it is gritty to touch.
- Marble
Tile for wall |Marble has often been considered as the most valuable stone. If we observe the historical buildings and architectural monuments, many of them are made out of marble completely or partly. Marble has a translucent feature that allows light to enter and give out a soft glow; this feature gives it an elegant look. Marble stone is not a wise chose for cladding buildings in locations with polluted air because the acidic rains can do damages to its surface.
- Travertine
Travertine is another famous types of limestone. it is a rock with numerous voids and cavities and it forms on younger materials. The pure travertine is in white color, but most of the time because of the presence of other minerals it can be seen in other colors like cream, tan, greenish, brownish and etc.
All things considered, here at unikastone we have a wide range of natural stone tiles that are suitable for exterior wall cladding, you can check them out and purchase them online. If you need any help to finalize your decision, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be more than happy to help.
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