The market of building and finishing materials thanks to new technologies pleases designers with diversity. Today, the new material is flexible stone, the production technology of which, according to experts, was created almost by accident by thrifty Germans.
Flexible stone from sand pits
To be precise, the production and sale of flexible stone, which is a slice of sandstone, has been known for decades. This process is time-consuming and expensive, therefore, the resulting finishing material is not cheap and not available to everyone.
Such a flexible stone is made directly in the quarry, which is the first difficulty in production. There are not so many similar places, but there are fewer such places so that the sandstone in them satisfies the requirements of designers and has beautiful textured sections.
When a very thin layer of natural material is cut off and glued onto a textile base with the help of special adhesives, the main component of which is acrylic, a natural flexible stone is obtained. Its production technology requires not only sophisticated and expensive equipment, but also the serious skill of specialists. Personnel training is another problem, but it is not so insurmountable against the background of the first two.
It is even difficult for a layman to imagine what thickness a slice should be in order for the finishing material to be flexible enough. In this case, the color scheme does not differ in variety and depends only on the composition of sandstone, where brownish or red streaks of clay or interspersed with a brown tint of iron oxides appear on its yellow base.
Production of flexible stone from bulk materials
There are simpler technologies for the production of flexible stone. The production process is so simple that it does not require special facilities, sophisticated equipment and highly qualified personnel. In addition, when creating a flexible stone from small fractions of natural materials, various fillers can be used, changing the texture, patterns, patterns and colors of the finish. Flexible sheets of marble chips retain the luster of natural stone, but are easy to stain.
The production of flexible stone at the initial stage generally requires a minimum of raw material costs, everything else is improvised materials and ordinary household tools. And to do the work yourself is easy, the process does not require special skills.
Raw materials for production
The main thing in the manufacture of flexible stone with your own hands is the preparation of the composition. Its main component is sandstone or quartz sand. The technology for producing flexible stone from marble chips is the same as in the case of sand.
All components are pigmented if necessary. The most stable natural dye is iron oxides, it is great for exterior decoration. A connecting element is a flexible and plastic acrylic adhesive. You can do only him, but you can also use special plasticizers and polymers to enhance his qualities.
The composition is applied to the base. It can be fabric or fiberglass. Such materials are considered the best option. In addition to good adhesion with glue and flexibility, they are also characterized by high strength.
Equipment and premises
DIY flexible stone manufacturing technology does not imply the use of sophisticated equipment. To mix the composition, you need a large capacity and a construction mixer, if the scale of production is large enough. When it is planned to manufacture in small batches, then a conventional hammer drill and a mixer nozzle for it are the main equipment.
For work, you still need a large table and good lighting. For drying of finished products in large volumes, a drying cabinet is necessary , and for home production there will be enough wooden shelving in a well-ventilated room.
To save space, it is possible to make pallets from wood-fiber boards and low wooden blocks. They should be installed on top of each other so that air passes between them, and sheets of flexible stone laid on them dry faster. For marble chips and sand, you need to purchase a sifter, and for cutting the finished material - a special machine.
All equipment can be located in one room. An area of up to one hundred square meters is enough to organize separate areas for the production, drying, storage of raw materials and finished products in compliance with the technological chain.
How to produce flexible stone
Production technology allows you to produce sheets with a thickness of 2 to 5 mm, a width of more than half a meter and a length of more than two meters.
The production cycle itself can be divided into stages or individual operations. First, minerals are processed with dyes. Then the adhesive composition and the base are prepared, which in the next step is processed with stone chips. The product is ready, it remains to dry and cut the sheets to size if you need separate tiles. With all stages of production, one person may well cope at home.
Finishing Installation
The installation technology of flexible stone is not complicated either. Features of the work, perhaps, consist only in the use of a building hair dryer when gluing material in corners and at joints. So that the flexible stone fits snugly to the surface, it is heated with a stream of air, the acrylic resin melts, and the sheet takes the desired shape at the bend. A seamless joint is also performed in the place of which the sheets superimposed with a small overlap are heated to obtain a continuous mass of stone chips with acrylic. It is easily leveled with a spatula.
And the preparation of the surface for gluing this finishing material, and its laying, and tools, with the exception of the hair dryer and glue, are no different from working with wallpaper. Small curved surfaces are best pasted over with small pieces of material so that you can hold them for several minutes until the glue sets. By the way, glue and sealant should be acrylic.
Joints can be made invisible even without using a hair dryer. They should be wiped with a small piece of the same material, the crumb exfoliates and fills the space between the tiles, making the surface monolithic. Finally, the glued part is treated with a water-repellent primer or varnish to protect it from the negative effects of dust, moisture, and sunlight.
Material benefits
Flexible stone is a universal technological finishing material that is easy to assemble. They can trim a variety of smooth and voluminous surfaces of any geometric shapes in the premises, including stairs, columns and arches, building facades. Even lamps or simply light sources can be decorated with a material with a unique property - light transmission.
For the production of flexible stone, natural and environmentally friendly materials are used, therefore it is approved for use in children's rooms. Its special structure allows you to create seamless coatings with a unique pattern or apply photo printing to large surfaces.
Flexible stone - the material is wear- and fire-resistant, durable, withstands temperature extremes from -30 to + 65 ° C, easy to clean.
Where is flexible stone used?
The production technology, which allows producing both large enough sheets and small tiles, makes a flexible stone indispensable where wallpaper and tile cannot be used due to the instability to moisture of some and the inflexibility of another. For example, in a bathroom with specific taps and fancy forms of sinks. Since the material without consequences transfers contact with water, it is used in pools, in baths, and in the kitchen.
Flexible stone does not burn, so it is suitable for decorating fireplaces and stoves. Resistance to temperature extremes allows you to use it as a finish when heating homes using the "warm floor" system.
The resistance of the flexible stone to temperature changes makes it possible to use it for the decoration of building facades, even in cold climatic zones. It is not for nothing that the technology for the production of flexible stone and thermal panels is often combined. The latter easily take the desired geometric shape with a building hair dryer.
Flexible stone has recently appeared on the market of finishing materials, and, most likely, its capabilities have not yet been fully explored. But architects and designers, including homegrown ones, are increasingly using this wonderful material. Demand for it is growing, which means that the production technology will be improved, but it is unlikely to become more complicated.