SANDSTONE VS SANDSTONE IN THE DURAMICA VARIANT.
Sandstone is a versatile building material widely used in various cladding and decorative landscaping projects. With its diverse natural color range, from light yellow to red, brown, and greenish hues, sandstone is popular for cladding walls, plinths, fences, fireplaces, and stairs. The material's surface is rough, pleasant to the touch, and its texture can be polished, relief, or scaly.
Sandstone for Facades
While sandstone enjoys popularity in interior design, it finds broader application as a cladding material for exterior projects. This natural stone, even used in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids, has found its place in modern construction, especially in facade cladding. Its attractive appearance and a range of advantages make it a preferred choice among builders, but before using sandstone, it's essential to understand the material's characteristics.
What is Sandstone?
The primary component of sandstone is densely compressed sand, mixed with small shell fragments, clay, and other organic compounds. Different types of sandstone have varying proportions of these components. For instance, shellstone consists of small shells, creating a porous material, while sandstone-mergel is predominantly composed of clay and calcium carbonate. The technical characteristics of sandstone make it environmentally friendly, durable, and resistant to external influences.
Caring for a Sandstone Facade: Pros and Cons Like any cladding material, sandstone has its pros and cons.
Pros:
Decorative properties: attractive appearance and interesting structure.
Thermal and sound insulation: provide comfort in the building.
Durability: resistance to aggressive external influences.
Processability: easily undergoes various treatments.
Eco-friendliness: the material is safe for health.
Low maintenance: does not require special care.
Cons:
1. Fragility and weather impact: sandstone, as a material influenced by weather conditions, is characterized by fragility and requires additional surface protection to enhance durability.
In contrast, Duramica uses a robust base of ceramic granite or aluminum in its facade panels, providing resistance to weather impact.
2. Interaction with metal: acidic compounds in sandstone can cause rusting of metal structures upon close contact.
Duramica addresses this issue by ensuring the contact of the panel's internal base with metal through ceramic granite or aluminum, eliminating the risk of rusting.
3. Low resistance to external influences: sandstone exhibits weakness in resisting environmental impact. It struggles with pollution, urban soot, and dust, leading to a deterioration in the surface's appearance and a change in color shades. Additional processing is required: after installing sandstone, a protective surface treatment, including the application of several layers of primer mix, is necessary to maintain the attractiveness of the cladding. Limited applicability in urban conditions: due to low resistance to external influences, the use of sandstone on facades in urban conditions becomes practically impossible. Changes in shades under the influence of external factors: in urban conditions, light shades of sandstone can acquire a dirty appearance that is challenging to eliminate and penetrates the material's interior.
In the case of Duramica, sandstone undergoes double hydrophobization and special treatment, providing protection against external factors. Additional processing is not required, and the panels can be successfully used even in aggressive urban conditions.
4. Porosity and high water absorption can lead to gradual material deterioration.
In the case of Duramica sandstone, water absorption and the impact of microorganisms are practically absent.
5. Economic efficiency: the high cost of traditional sandstone limits its availability to a wide range of consumers.
In contrast, Duramica uses a thin layer of 3 mm thick sandstone, making facade cladding more economically advantageous compared to traditional sandstone options.
In the hands of a professional designer, this amazing natural material and its derivatives will become a true work of art, transforming everything around and embellishing your individual space.
In conclusion, despite the drawbacks of sandstone, such as its low resistance to external influences, the need for additional processing, and limited applicability in urban conditions, Duramica represents an innovative solution for facade cladding. Thanks to a robust base of ceramic granite or aluminum, these facade panels possess high strength and durability.
Duramica effectively addresses problems related to metal interaction, neutralizing the risk of rusting through special treatment of the internal base. Additionally, double hydrophobization ensures sandstone's resistance to external factors, allowing the panels to be used even in aggressive urban conditions.
With a thin layer of 3 mm thick sandstone, Duramica makes facade cladding more economically advantageous compared to traditional sandstone options. Thus, these innovative Duramica facade panels provide a resilient and aesthetic solution for building cladding, combining an attractive appearance with high functionality.
