Decorating the balcony with decorative stone

Natural stone has been used for construction and decoration for more than one hundred years. Many of its advantages (strength, hardness, excellent aesthetics) can hardly be overestimated. However, it also has certain properties that can significantly limit its use for decorating balconies in residential buildings - weight and price. The way out of this situation will be the use of decorative stone of artificial origin.

Artificial stone is a mixture of cement, sand, binders, various fillers and plasticizers. Its physical, mechanical and operational characteristics directly depend on the composition of the material. Outwardly, the artificial analogue is very similar to a stone of natural origin.

Advantages of decorative stone:

1. Strength, hardness, reliability, durability.
2. Affordable price.
3. A wide range of colors and textures.
4. Fast and easy installation (no professional tools and extensive experience required, a high-quality adhesive mixture is sufficient).
5. Resistant to temperature extremes.
6. Corrosion resistant, waterproof.
7. Excellent thermal insulation properties.
8. Resistant to chemicals.
9. Environmentally friendly, hypoallergenic.
10. Excellent decorative properties.
11. Resistant to mold and mildew.
12. Non-flammability.
13. Simplicity and ease of maintenance and care.

Such excellent characteristics make decorative stone an almost ideal material for cladding a balcony room. However, there are several disadvantages that you should also pay attention to when choosing a suitable finish.

1. Shorter service life in comparison with natural stone (a conditional disadvantage, since the service life is estimated at several tens of years).
2. Some types of stone are very unstable to mechanical stress.

When choosing the right material, all its advantages and disadvantages must be carefully weighed. Of course, it is difficult to find a material that is stronger, more reliable and more beautiful than a natural stone, but its weight and high cost can be decisive factors in favor of choosing an artificial analogue.

In addition, modern materials almost completely imitate the surface of natural stone, although they weigh and cost much less.

Comparative characteristics of natural and artificial stone:

• Artificial material is much cheaper than natural material.
• The artificial analog is available in a wide range of sizes and thicknesses. This greatly facilitates the installation process.
• Additional strengthening of the balcony is not required.
• No lathing is required during installation, the artificial stone is easy to cut.

The range of decorative materials of artificial origin is very wide and varied. Here are some of the more popular and used options:

• panels imitating natural marble, granite, quartz (the material has raw edges, natural chips, convex, curved surface);
• panels imitating sandstone, limestone and other materials (smooth edges, flat surface);
• imitation of boulders and pebbles (rubble stone);
• imitation brick;
• imitation of polished stone;
• material with patterns and combinations of shades not found in the natural environment.

Modern technologies for creating and processing artificial stone have made it possible to create a wide range of beautiful and affordable options for facing balconies. Among them: porcelain stoneware, acrylic stone, conglomerates, artificial quartz and gypsum.

Porcelain stoneware is the most durable of the options presented. It contains minerals, several types of clay, feldspar, dyes. Outwardly, it resembles a tile made of very durable and high-quality glass, its surface is so even and smooth.

The conglomerates include granite chips, marble, lime chips, quartz, dyes. This material is characterized by increased strength and wear resistance, resistance to temperature extremes.

Acrylic has a low specific gravity, so it is easy to handle and install. Available in a wide range of colors.

Quartz is suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Withstands heavy loads and sudden temperature fluctuations.

Gypsum is the least durable material. Differs in a low coefficient of waterproofing, therefore it is not recommended for use on balconies without additional waterproofing.

One of the advantages of decorative stone is its excellent compatibility with other finishing materials. This gives almost unlimited possibilities for creating interesting, complex, original balcony designs.

Decorative stone can be used to clad the entire interior space. In this case, it is best to choose the most lightweight materials in light, warm shades, otherwise a small balcony room will look very difficult.

The most common interiors are those that combine stone and other materials (wallpaper, decorative plaster, paint).

The option looks very interesting when the stone covers part of a painted or plastered wall. It gives the impression of unfinished brick or masonry.

A stricter option is to decorate the inner corners with a stone. The masonry can be symmetrical or create the feel of a rough corner with ragged, uneven edges.

Decorative stone can be used to decorate window or doorways, one or more walls. When combining materials of different textures, it is very important to choose the right color scheme.

Decorative stone can be laid on wood, metal, foam block, brick, concrete and other types of surfaces.

The whole process of work on the design of the inner space of the balcony can be divided into several stages:

1. Preparatory work. Before starting the main work, it is necessary to carefully study the condition of the walls: eliminate irregularities, repair cracks, plaster or level the drops with the help of gypsum board. Then it is necessary to prime the surface in 2-3 stages.
2. Balcony finishing... The main part of the work can be done in two ways: with jointing and in a seamless way. The first option is quite simple and even for novice craftsmen. Small seams between the panels allow you to mask and hide small irregularities that arise during the work.
3. The seamless option requires much more effort and training. During work, it is necessary to carefully monitor that excess glue does not fall on the outer side of the tile, otherwise it will be very difficult to clean the porous, uneven material. But the finished surface will look like an even, solid, monolithic canvas without a single seam. Work on laying the slab begins from the corner of the room.
4. Styling. The most important and longest stage. Haste is excluded here. Before starting direct installation, experienced builders recommend that you first lay out the panels on the floor in order to choose the most optimal pattern, play with the shades of different panels.Too frequent repetition of patterns and color changes should be avoided as much as possible. In order not to get confused, you can number the tiles on the back side.
5. Then the zero level is bounced along the perimeter of the room and a support is installed (for it, you can use, for example, fragments of a metal profile).
6. Laying starts from the bottom up so that there is a whole slab under the ceiling... All trims are done near the floor.
7. For cladding, it is best to use a white cement based adhesive. The composition is applied with a comb on the wall and with a spatula in a thin layer on each tile. Then the tile is glued, pressing it tightly against the wall for a few seconds. After the end of the first row, the laying of the next one begins. It is recommended to lay tiles no more than 1.5 meters in height per day. Excess glue is removed immediately.

After finishing work, it is necessary to give the tile time for final fixation (12-48 hours, depending on the composition of the glue). Only after that they start grouting.

The owners of the balconies who used decorative stone as a partial or complete finish willingly share their impressions on the pages of thematic sites. They celebrate the excellent aesthetic value of this material, which is in no way inferior to the beauty of natural stone. Ease and simplicity of installation, as well as low weight of the panels are the indisputable advantages of artificial stone.

A wide choice of textures, colors and affordable cost make the choice in favor of this material almost obvious.

In addition, buyers note the excellent compatibility of decorative stone with wood, plaster, paint, wallpaper and other finishing materials. The interior, made in a combination of these materials, looks really expensive, sophisticated and noble.

A wonderful combination of materials of different textures in the interior of the balcony, decorated in the Provence style. One of the walls is decorated with decorative stone and decorated with flower arrangements. Delicate pastel colors help create a very cozy and warm environment.

The combination of decorative stone and plaster looks unusually original thanks to the asymmetric cladding pattern. The design method, in which the room looks artificially aged with a stone wall destroyed from time to time, is especially popular today. An additional highlight of the balcony is its unusual shape - a sector.

Even a very small room can be beautifully decorated with such embossed and voluminous material as decorative stone. For example, like in this case. The walls are finished with richly colored decorative plaster, and the window and door openings are faced with stone. The result is a very modern and beautiful interior.