External and internal stone cladding

Why a stone cladding on the house?

I could tell you that it will allow you to save, over time the expense of repainting the walls. That it increases the mass of the wall and therefore improves the summer thermal behavior of your home, but the truth is another.

Stone cladding despite technology and modernity, recalls past memories, gives us ancient emotions and is an element that has no age, above fashions and styles.
The stone walls, both inside and outside, play with natural and artificial light(must be properly designed), always creating different shadows and depths. The stones will be able to give a sense of concreteness and consistency to your home.

I am convinced of this: the more the world becomes frenetic and technological, the more we will feel the desire to be wrapped in natural materials, to caress a stone. Having an internal stone wall make you feel protected , at home.

Natural Stone cladding in Vicenza and Verona

If you live in Vicenza or Verona and you want to cover the exterior of the house in stone, my colleagues and I will be happy to show you all our live solutions in our showrooms and to carefully design the interior or exterior cladding of your home, with a quote we will agree on together, based on your budget.

We are a team of interior designers capable of designing and creating surfaces of all types including stone ones. We are a small family business and we are known for the fact that we are not looking for the cheapest products ever, but because we are looking for the best products. We offer valuable advise, a well-groomed installation service and “turnkey” assistance.

In other words, we will come to your home, we will choose the products together, we will take care of the design and construction as if it were our home.

But if you are looking for cheap and Asian products, unfortunately we do not have them.

Stone coatings in real or fake stone? 

The first of the choices we will face together will be this:”better a coating in real stone or in fake stone?”

The coverings are divided in two families:

• Natural stone coverings
• Reconstructed stone cladding

The two families of products are very different for a series of characteristics that we will see together.

Let’s start from the second category: from the reconstructed stone.  

Types of “reconstructed” stones for cladding

When we speak of reconstructed stones we mean a synthetic, industrial material that imitates stone by trying to replicate its effects. This imitation can be more or less successful depending on the quality of the material, the “repetitiveness” of the molds. In addition to aesthetics. the durability which is not equal to that of natural stones should be assessed as these are materials “decorated” with paints and therefore subject to wear and tear over time, even if in the long term.

When we speak of reconstructed stone, in fact, we almost always refer to the mixtures of aggregates(grits, sand, crushed stone) and binders (cements or resins) that are painted, left to harden and then coloured and decorated to imitate real natural stones.

The best known companies that produce “synthetic” stone are Geopietra, Biopietra and Rastone. These are the most important brands and they produce with attention to quality and sustainability. But of course there are also many other companies, some of which import synthetic stone produced in South East Asia into Italy.

Geopietra 

Brescia-based company that has been producing faux stone interior and exterior walls cladding since 1983. The slogan they use in “the most credible stone in the world” and actually the quality of detail of the stones produced by this company is amazing.

The range of facing stones is vast: from flakes to squared, from uneven work to modular up to the “drywall” effect, one of the most beautiful products in the catalog.

The prices of Geopietra coatings are proportionate to the price per square meter which varies according to the type of material. The average price is around 80 euros per square meter. Geopietra “requires” the use of its glues and filler to obtain a guaranteed result. The concept is to buy a “system” and not simply a coating.

Biopietra

Biopietra is also a company born in Brescia area that embraced the philosophy of ecology and bio. The composition of Biopietra is made to prevent the growth of mold and allergens. In addition to paying this attention to the bio and ecological aspects of coatings, Biopietra also offers the same characteristics for adhesives and fillers. The products are certified for use in green building and contribute to obtaining LEED scores. Biopietra products are placed on a price level similar to that of Geopietra, therefore on average around 80 euros per square meter, even if there are cheaper products in the catalog.

How much does a reconstructed stone covering cost?

In addition to these excellent producers, there are a myriad of other producers both Italian and European or of South East Asia.

For this reason, the reconstructed stones have a very wide range of prices: you can buy fake stone for even less than €20.00 per square meter for poor quality and aesthetics materials. On the other hand for products of extreme technical quality and looks, the price can rise well over€100.00 per meter.

Differentiating the most beautiful materials from the imported ones include several factors:

• quantity of molds and therefore the repeatability of the product
• modularity of the composition
• coloring and graphics of the composition
• level of detail

Molds

The most relevant is the amount of different molds. If only one repeated molt is used, absurdly, the feeling of “false” will be very strong and the final result disappointing. The more the molds are, the more it will cost to produce the material, but the end result will seem more convincing.

Graphics 

Another aspect is the realism of the graphics and colours which are used. Some imported products have unreal colours and are laid on the stones without attention. The manufacturers that I mentioned are amongst the best, but they pay close attention to reproducing together with the color a nearly identical stone. They differentiate most of the stones and overlap them in different ways to avoid any similar patches. 

Details

Finally, among the main reasons for the difference, the realism in the details must also be mentioned, very important if you decide to use the reconstructed stone indoor. In this case, the fake “brico” economic stone, seen closely and well lit, immediately denounces its falsity. In fact, the elements are generally made using plastic molds that make small and bad details.

While quality manufacturers use soft silicone molds that last very little(therefore it is necessary to bear a much higher cost for having to change them often) but are extremely realistic in making the stone plausible even in the smallest detail (splits, veins, fractures and crusts are faithfully replicate).

Let’s now examine the natural stone in its colours and sizes and see how it can be used to cover the walls of your home.

Natural stone for coverings

The modern processing of stones and rocks is not far from what was done in the past. Modern technologies help us a lot in the handling and extraction processes of quarried stones. But the creation of a stone cladding is a work that requires careful planning and manual skills. It also requires certain artistic talent that is usually handed down from father to son.

To obtain a good result, each single stone fragment must be taken in hand, choosing it from the position it will occupy.

Then it will have to be adapted, reducing its size, working it in the corners and edges and splitting it in the width and thickness.

It is done with a cut hammer with which all four edges of the stone are worked to make it more “three-dimensional” and therefore give more realism to the covered wall. If the stones are not worked, the wall will be “false”. Certainly the laying van proceed with more speed but results will leave much to be desired.

This is to say that, unlike the reconstructed stone, the talent of the installer is fundamental. Our craftsman are “children of art” in the sense that they have learned the art of working stone from their parents and apply it in out coatings.

Let’s go back to the installation: once the rock fragment is ready to fit, it will be glued to the wall using a cement mortar or a thick adhesive, depending on the case. The gluing will be carried our on the wall checking that the bottom is compact. The gluing of the material must also be carefully studied, choosing the adhesives and grouts according to the type of stone.

In short words, when you hear someone say that the laying of natural stone on the wall is easy and that you are advised to entrust it to the classic “cousin” who can do anything…

Well, trust, me, it’s nothing like that!

The laying of the stone is a complex operation that must be carried out by experts and specialized hands. It is good or bad execution which will determine the final result. Ruining or enhancing the raw stone depends on how it is assembled.

Certainly some stone formats and some types are easier than others, but it still remains a tuff job...

Stone cladding offers a huge range of possibilities.

Stone cladding offers a huge range of possibilities.

First of all the formats, you can decide between the following:

• “uncertain layering” which consists of irregular and various sizes of stones
• Or the “squared method” in which the size of the stone will still vary, but most of the pieces will be rectangular.

You can also mix the different formats by inserting irregular stones on a wall made with the “squared method” to move the final result which could risk being too regular and even a little boring. This depends from person to person.

If you want to make the effect more rustic you can have triangular stone flakes inserted around the irregular stones to give a drywall effect. Finally you can enrich the wall by inserting old bricks, tiles or other decorative elements.

What type of natural stone to cover the walls?

The most popular products in our area range from South American and African slates, for instance Brazilian Quartzite, Trani stone and “Sasso moro” the so called slit basalt which is typical of Vicenza and Verona.

The choice of the type of stone cladding depends on the style you want to give to your home and also on the budget you have

The cost of wall cladding various significantly from the type of stone you choose to use.

But also the style of laying the stone can have an impact on the price of the job. It is cheaper of course if you use a rectified product which is ready to be laid one next to the other. It will cost you much more if you want to lay “rough” stones which need to be adapted one by one when glued to the wall. In this way tho, the finished wall will look much more convincing.

Also read this article:

"A HOUSE IN VICENZA COVERED IN TRANI STONE"

Wall coverings with natural stone

Keep in mind that the final effect that we will have to give the walls is the same as how it was done several years ago. Certainly, depending on the area, the ancient walls have different connotations but the goal is to get as close as possible to the feeling of a “real stone wall”.

This even if today we use “stone slates”, which are thin and light stone fragments which are glued to the walls of the house and which is therefore not a full wall as it happened in the past.

Stone coverings improve the climate in the house

The solid stone walls also had a thermal value, they kept houses sooner thanks to their mass. Even the cladding of today’s walls can contribute to improving the internal microclimate even if made with thiner stones.

The application of a stone covering allows an aesthetic redevelopment of the house but also an increase in the mass of the walling. The consequence of this is a better thermal displacement during summer(it is cooler in the summer).

For this reason if the style of your house allows it, you should think of a stone cladding as an investment, but not just for aesthetics but also economical(saves costs on air conditioning for instance).

If thermal advantages is the reason for which you have decided to put a stone walling on your house, then in this case we consider you to combine it together with a thermal coating too to achieve another advantage: improve the insulation of the cold during winter thanks to insulating capacity of the coating

The coatings of the past and the current ones

The decoration of the facades of houses, with the use of marble, stone or brick, has evolved over the centuries passing through the various architectural styles and the technical skills available from time to time.

As we said recently, the practice of covering houses with thin slates of stone rather than with blocks of stone has been established. This is because the low thickness of the stone allows several advantages: the stones are lighter to handle and therefore easier to work, lay and less expensive.

When we are covering walls here in Vicenza, we use split stones with a thickness of about 3/4 centimeters which as we said before, are roughed and flaked in order to give it depth and create the optical illusion of a stone wall.

Definitely the slates used here in the area is the Trani stone also known as “sasso di bari”. This is because the trani has a clear colour, between white, beige and yellow. But also because it is easy to work with, it is also tender which makes it easy to split at the edges. It is also a material that is suitable for a combination with bricks, old tiles , basalt stones(dark stone) or Verona red.

Stone and thermal coating for energy saving costs

The stone coating can be combined with thermal coating to obtain an increase in well-being even in winter. The coat-stone combination can be done both in the case of choosing the natural stone cladding and using the reconstructed stone. The laying methods will be different to take into account the greater weight of natural stone compared to “fake stone”.

In this case the installation must be reinforced. A mechanical fixing is needed for the weight of the stone wall to not weigh on the insulation coating the the wall itself behind it. This is needed due to the fact that the in insulation panels would not resist the weight of the stone wall by itself.

Stone wall require zero maintenance

One of the reasons why you decide to cover a stone wall lies in the greater durability of the final result.

These materials in fact are not subject to environmental degradation which plasters and paint meet, and do not need maintenance for many years.

The laying of stone walls

As we said, laying a stone is an artistic work. The hand of the installer is fundamental for the success of the work. For this reason, to guarantee an excellent yield of the materials, we have specialized installation teams able to work in the areas of Vicenza and Verona.

In addition, the external or internal stone cladding is followed by our surveyor Antonio, our colleague who specializes in the construction of external flooring and stone cladding.

Obviously we are also able to manage the combined interventions: we often face interventions in which stone cladding is combined with plaster parts or in which it is glued on a thermal coating.

In this we are facilitated by the fact of being able to make Antonio interact with Alberto who, inside Pellizzari specializes in following the construction of thermal coats.

Which colour for natural stone coverings?

One of the evaluations that we will do together concerns the choice of which colour to use for stone wall coverings. This is for the interior and exterior of the house by choosing from many existing solutions for natural materials, such as:

• white tending to beige/yellow: Trani slates
• beige tending to grey: Croatian stone
• slightly veined white: quarried split Biancone marble
• beige: hollow split Botticino
• sand colour: split cream of Algeria
• yellow: real hollow split yellow
• red: hollow split Verona red marble
• light gray: Indian slate
• dark gray: cut or irregular porphyry
• black: basalt stone or Ligurian slate
• dark multicolour: African slate

As anticipated: grouting will also significantly affect the colour rendering of the coating wall.

Look for instance intese two pictures as a minimal difference in the colour of the grout used for the joints involves a variation of the final effect.

In short, the range is wide, but don’t be afraid: we will combine the stone coverings with the other elements of the house together: the colour of the opaque surfaces, the arrangement of the partitions, the type of external floor chosen.

And the end result is fantastic!

What stone coverings will you make? 

Below I have collected photos of some of our interventions in order to give you the opportunity to choose which ones you like best.

At the end of the photo galleries you will find a form to make an appointment here in the shop and evaluate together how to cover the internal or external walls of your home.

Thanks for reading this page, I’ll be waiting for you in our showrooms...