Facing a fireplace with artificial stone: what is needed and how to do it

Gusevsky Andrey Anatolyevich

Artificial stone fireplace mantels

Artificial stone fireplace mantels can be found quite often. After all, an artificial stone for facing a fireplace has a lot of advantages. But not in all cases, such a finish is suitable.
Today we will talk about this topic. We will consider how much this decoration option will suit your case, learn about the advantages, determine the disadvantages, instructions will also be given for facing an artificial stone fireplace.
All stages of the work can be viewed in the photo and in the video to select the desired product configuration.

Start with selection and finish with facing

Facing Fireplaces artificial stone is made in three stages.
Let's see what we have to do right away:

Pros of using artificial stone for fireplace decor

The main advantages of the material:

• It has soft mechanical properties, as a result of which it is quite simple to work with it in the finishing process;
• Preparation of structural parts and their installation will not be a laborious process; only a grinding machine can be useful from working tools;
• The structure will be lightweight because the material consists of lightweight and flexible fillers;
• Finishing stone is represented in the market by a wide variety of shapes and textures, which allows you to lay out any pattern from it;
• The price of artificial stone is much lower than the cost of natural stone, as a result, you can save a lot on the decoration of the fireplace;
• Using artificial stone for decoration, you can fully express your imagination and make the fireplace original and unique.

What to look for when choosing a finishing stone

A competent choice of material will allow high-quality finishing work to decorate the fireplace.
Selection conditions:

• Pay attention to the price. artificial stone. Domestic production will cost several times cheaper than foreign products.
• Before making a purchase, check if there are necessary certificates for the material. There must be a certificate of conformity and hygiene. If the seller cannot provide you with the required documents, it is not recommended to buy such material. Since artificial stone is produced chemically, close attention should be paid to the quality of the material.
• If the manufacturer is known in the market, has long been working in this area and has a positive reputation, you can safely buy such material.

Caution: Pay attention to the quality of the material when buying. This will guarantee the quality of your work.

• It is necessary to check all parts of the material and pay special attention to its structure. If the manufacturing technology was violated during the manufacturing process, the outer surface of the brick will be porous. This is not the best way to affect the strength of the material, and, as a consequence, its service life.
• Good quality material will always have a solid packaging with the logo of the manufacturer.
• Pay particular attention to the date of manufacture, which the manufacturer must indicate on the packaging. The material gains the necessary strength for operation only 28 days after it was manufactured. If the material was produced later, the quality of the products is worth considering.

Fireplace decoration

There are a number of rules by which it is necessary to perform work on decorating a fireplace with an artificial stone:

• Artificial stone can be used in the decoration of metal, wood and other structures, for example, from particleboard. The surface of each material must be prepared for work in its own way.
• Finishing work can be performed if the air temperature in the room exceeds 5 ° C.
• Artificial stone must first be laid out at the top of the fireplace, gradually dropping down. This is necessary in order to avoid contamination of the material during the finishing process.
• For fixing elements, it is better to choose glue or mortar, which is advised by the manufacturer of artificial stone.
• To cut a stone, it is best to use a hacksaw for metal, just make sure that the tool does not have large teeth, as this can damage the material.

How to prepare the surface for decoration

Artificial stone can be laid on a surface made of almost any material. Each one can have a different one.
Let's see what you should pay attention to when facing different surfaces:

• The wooden surface is very susceptible to moisture, so it must be covered with waterproofing materials, such as pigment, before processing with artificial stone. This material covers the entire wooden surface of the fireplace before work.
• The next necessary stage of work will be the installation of a stucco grid using special fasteners.

Plaster is applied to the mesh

Attention: To do this, you need to make holes in the masonry using a punch and put screws in them. It is also necessary to put washers on hats. Then the grid will not fall off under load.

• The fastener points should be located at a distance of about 15 cm vertically, horizontally - about 5 cm.
• Directly on the grid, put the plaster so that its layer is at least 1 cm.
• The plaster should be allowed to dry completely, and then continue to work.
• All these same actions can be done when laying artificial stone on a metal or concrete surface with the only difference that there will be no need to make waterproofing.
• It should be noted that on a concrete or brick surface covered with plaster it is advisable to apply on the entire surface of the notch before starting the finishing process.

What tools will be needed to work

Before you begin, make sure that you have all the necessary tools at hand:

• Nails or self-tapping screws with which the elements will be fixed;
• A small brush or a special spray to moisten the fireplace surface before laying the stone;
• Master OK;
• Ordinary hammer;
• Sanding machine;
• Drill;
• Wooden block with a flat surface;
• Dishes in which it will be necessary to knead the solution.

Attention: It should be said that the masonry can only be done on material that tolerates elevated temperatures. Clay is best suited for this. If you use cement mortar, then you need to add fireclay to it. Otherwise, the masonry will crack pretty quickly.

Initial stage of work

The most important point is the beginning of the brickwork.
If the start of work is correct, then the result will be excellent:

• At the beginning stone fireplace mantel Finishing is carried out from the corner of the structure. When facing, alternate material of different lengths.
• First you need to fix the largest elements of the stone, using a small amount of mortar. So you simplify the further laying of the material.
• The fireplace will look more natural and attractive if the stone is sized to fit during installation. For these purposes, you can use a hacksaw or pliers.

Corner trim begins

• Using a trowel, it is necessary to apply the solution on a stone with a layer of about one and a half centimeter. Make sure that the surface of the facing material is evenly coated with the mortar.
• When laying a stone, lightly press on it, moving it to the right place. So the element will be better fixed, and the seam will be filled completely.
• Please note that the mortar should go slightly beyond the edges of the joints when laying.
• If you use seamless stone laying, pay close attention to the side seams. They should be as filled with solution as possible. Apply the solution over the entire area of ​​the element, lay the stone in the desired position, press well and remove excess solution with a trowel.
• If you are facing in a room that is too dry and you see that the surface of the decoration material is also too dry, moisten the surface of the fireplace and the inside of the artificial stone with a spray or walk on them with a wet brush. You can also hold the stone for some time in water, a couple of minutes will be enough.
• If you use seamless masonry, the stone needs to be moistened no matter what the room temperature is.
• If the solution gets to the surface of an artificial stone during work, do not remove it immediately, it is better to wait until it dries a little.

Caution: Initially, you need to check the configuration, especially the angles. Otherwise, you may get the wrong geometric shape after work.

How to finish the facing stone

There is no particular difference in the finish with natural and artificial material, the masonry is carried out almost according to the same scheme.
For fruitful work on the facing, you need to lay out all the elements of the future design at the place of work:

• When laying an artificial stone, one should alternate its types, change the colors, size and texture of the stone. Thus, the fireplace will look natural.
• It is advisable to start the installation of bricks from the top of the fireplace in the event that when laying the material in the future, joint stitching will be used.
• Seams for finishing need to be done about the same size, but at the same time make sure that they do not turn out too smooth. An ideal option would be if the seams become different in thickness, but will be in the same plane. Avoid horizontal seams underneath each other.
• The surface of the stone may be uneven, have a different thickness. Do not pay attention to this, since this will not affect the finished appearance of the structure.
• If you are laying stone without joints, begin to fasten the material from the bottom of the structure, gradually moving upward. In this case, the elements must be strongly pressed together.
• If the artificial stone has a rectangular shape, pay close attention to the seams vertically, controlling the intersection of their lines with horizontal ones. The intersection of the lines should be at right angles. This can be controlled using the template.

Proper stitching

It is completely necessary to fill all the joints with a solution so that the stone after the finish of the facing looks not only natural, but also aesthetically pleasing. Experts advise using branded materials during embroidery.

Making the fireplace mantel

It is not recommended to use mixtures with which tiles are laid:

• To the seam was completely filled, you can use a special bag, which is quite simple to make. To do this, you need to take a regular bag of polyethylene and cut off one corner of it. Note that the hole that forms as a result should be slightly smaller than the width of the seam.
• After filling the bag with the solution (it should not be too much, about the size of the palm), it is necessary to press and squeeze the solution onto the seam. Make sure that the solution minimally gets on the outside of the stone.
• As soon as the solution begins to harden, you need to remove the excess with a trowel, while driving the solution into the seam. If an unnecessary solution remains on the seam surface, do not remove it immediately, you need to let it dry slightly. So you will avoid excessive pollution of the stone facing surface.
• Once the excess is removed, the seams must be cleaned again. To do this, it is better to use a small panicle made of natural materials. Never clean the seams with chemical solutions.
• Stitching is one of the final stages of the fireplace facing. During this work, moisture must be completely prevented from entering the inner surface. If this happens, the stone may crack soon.

Completion of work

As soon as the cladding work is completed, the surface must be allowed to dry completely. After that, the entire artificial stone must be coated with a hydrophobic composition.
Such a coating will prevent the penetration of moisture inside, due to the formation of a special protective film on the surface of the material. This film is transparent, dust and dirt are easily erased from it, it is resistant to temperature extremes in the room.
If you did everything correctly, facing the fireplace with an artificial stone will delight you for more than one year and warm you on cool evenings.