Stone is a traditional and time-honored material for exterior cladding and landscape features. But stone isn’t just for the outdoors—its natural essence and beauty can create stunning focal points and design features indoors as well. Stone can impart a rustic atmosphere to an ordinary room, provide a visual and physical boundary between living areas, or accentuate existing architectural features. ProVia manufactured stone veneer is a great alternative to organic quarried stone, and ideal for interior applications—it’s durable and versatile, and homeowners love the wide array of textures, shapes, and colors.
Fireplaces are a logical starting point for incorporating manufactured stone into living areas. The material can be used from the base of the fireplace to the mantel, or installed from floor to ceiling for an impressive, handsome hearth. No longer relegated to just the den or family room, stone fireplaces can impart a warm, welcoming vibe to kitchens, bedrooms, and home office areas.
Other interior areas can incorporate manufactured stone as a design feature. In the kitchen, a stone accent wall and matching stone island create a harmonious, relaxing environment and central gathering spot. In bathrooms, stone can be used as a structural element for a soaking tub or shower, creating the ambience of a relaxing spa.
Color plays an integral role in defining a room, and the varied hues of manufactured stone can give an indoor space an earthy, smoky, cool, or woody ambience. ProVia’s nature-inspired color palettes – Shale, Glacier, Timber, Desert, and others – can impart coolness or warmth to living rooms, kitchens, hallways, and bathrooms.
The right combination of manufactured stone profile, palette, and grout color can create a handsome accent in an otherwise ordinary space. A shade of grout that closely matches the dominant shade of the stone will provide a subtle effect, or the shape of the stone can be highlighted more prominently with contrasting grout. The ProVia Stone and Grout Color Visualizer can help your customers visualize the effect of different hues on their desired stone profile and palette.
Installation
Installing manufactured stone indoors is similar to exterior applications using mortar but requires just one layer of water resistive barrier. Material and requirements include:
- One Layer Water Resistive Barrier complying with ASTM D226 and ASTM E2556
- Self-furring metal lath meeting ASTM C847
- Corrosion resistant fasteners—minimum penetration ¾” into wood framing, 3/8” into steel framing
- Mortars:
Site Mixed meeting requirements of ASTM C270 Type N or Type S
Preblended meeting requirements of ASTM C1714 /C1714M Type N or Type S
Polymer Modified complying with ANSI A118.4 or ANSI A118.15
Another installation option is applying the stone to cement board meeting ASTM C 1325 and ANSI A118.9. Cement board is an efficient method that reduces labor and eliminates the need for lath and scratch coat.
The cement board is installed to the wall, and joints and corners are taped with an alkali-resistant fiberglass tape set in modified mortar complying with ANSI A118.4 or ANSI A118.150. After a short joint cure time, the same mortar is applied to the board with a notched trowel as a setting bed. Additional mortar is buttered on the back of the stone and the stone is then positioned and pressed to the board. If the stone application has a grout joint, standard mortar meeting ASTM C270, Type N or Type S can be used.
For more information, check out the ProVia manufactured stone video series.