Artificial facing stone serves as a wonderful means of creating a variety of decor ideas (indoor and outdoor) and a cheap alternative to natural stone. Therefore, an artificial facing stone has many advantages:
- low price of finishing from this material;
- strength is higher;
A huge range of textures and colors.
The most famous facing stone is in the construction and interior design of low-rise buildings. The preparation of such products does not require very large investments, the bulk of which will be taken by equipment for the production of facing stone.
Differences between natural and artificial material
- Density characteristic: artificially made stone is made by various technologies, but certain types of natural stone are much harder, denser or softer. So, the artificial material is easier.
- Characteristic of thermal conductivity: made mainly of concrete mix with the addition of impurities, artificially made stone is characterized by lower thermal conductivity, and, therefore, holds heat better.
- Variety: it is possible to purchase an artificial stone with a pattern at the request of the customer, natural will provide only what nature has created.
Production start
First you need to find a technologist with qualifications and with sufficient experience who knows the technological process of facing stone production. The next step will be the choice of premises. Depending on the nature of the work, it is necessary that the production workshop is located on the outskirts of the populated area. This will save you on rental costs or the cost of the workshop if you want to buy it.
As for the area, it is enough for the production of artificial stone 100 square meters. Additionally, you need 500 square meters to store manufactured products.
It is also necessary to provide separate rooms for drying the stone, staff, storage of necessary documentation.
Facing stone production equipment
Here is the minimum set of equipment necessary for the manufacture of artificial material:
- mortar mixer;
- vibrator (necessary for the activation of the vibrating table);
- vibration table (designed to remove air content from the thickness of the product-mixture).
Additional equipment for the production of facing stone: shovels, wheelbarrows, containers for mixing the components of the mixture, measuring (weighing) equipment. You will also need a pigment container, measuring spoons, a form for a facing stone and a wrapping material (packaging of products).
Types of facing stone and material for its production
All kinds of rooms are finished with decorative decorative stone. Such an artificial stone in the process of finishing the internal surfaces of a building has been used for quite a long time.
There is a certain number of types of this decorative material at the present stage, made of:
- gypsum material;
- acrylic;
- concrete sand;
- synthetic;
- porcelain tile.
Currently, in the process of researching species, there is still an imitation of stone of natural origin. The latter is also quite widely used in interior decoration. There are colors for onyx, granite, marble, turquoise, sandstone, etc.
The surface layer on the facing decorative stone is treated with a protective material that gives the product additional strength and practicality. With such a special function, there is special equipment for the production of facing stone.
Starting to own production of decorative artificial stone, it is also necessary to provide that the range of facing stone has a sufficiently large selection, since the requirements of the modern builder and designer are quite diverse. And if you approach this issue with the utmost attention and scrupulousness, then your small factory will manufacture products with high strength, and the color scheme, diverse texture and shape for the facing stone will give the stone aesthetics.
