One of the new products that have appeared on the building materials market is ceramic stone. It can be used for the construction of external and internal walls, chimneys and other objects.
Concept and main characteristics
Ceramic stone (GOST 530-2012) is a large product with voids inside. It is used for the construction of walls both indoors and outdoors. We can assume that this is the second name of the double ceramic brick.
Voids inside the product are the main difference between ceramic stone and brick. They are made in a certain combination, due to which good thermal insulation is provided. This material has one of the lowest thermal conductivity coefficients (up to 0.36 W/mk).
By the way, despite the presence of voids, ceramic stone has high strength. It withstands temperature changes and severe frosts, and is also a good soundproofing material.
The ceramic stone has a size of 25x12x14 cm and a relatively small weight due to voids. Large dimensions facilitate the installation process. In addition, the product has corrugatededges, which makes masonry work particularly easy. This reduces the amount of mortar, thereby reducing construction costs.
Production of material
The raw material for the production of double bricks is mineral clay, which is dried and fired at high temperatures. In some cases, additives of a different nature may be used. This process is no different from the production of ceramic bricks. The only feature is the large size and the presence of through holes.
The combination of voids is such that they occupy more than half of the volume of the entire product. And holes are made with only a small cross-sectional area.
The edges of the ceramic stone have grooves that are connected during installation. Thus, they are a kind of castle. And masonry mortar is not used to connect them. It is only needed to connect the horizontal rows.
Varieties of material
There are several separate classifications for dividing the described building material into types. Ceramic stone is made by:
- with vertical edges;
- with protrusions on the edges, providing a tongue-and-groove connection;
- with ground or non-ground bearing surface.
In addition, several sizes are also produced. So, the length can vary within 25-51 cm, width - 12-51 cm and thickness - 14-18.8 cm. The exact dimensions that a ceramic stone has can be seen in the table located inour article.
Given the purpose, the stone can be of two types: front or ordinary.
Styling features
A large number of voids in the product requires certain knowledge during installation. So, porous ceramic stone can only be laid flat (in other words, “on the bed”). If you still need to lay along the length, you need to remember that in this case the density of the material will decrease significantly.
Ceramic stone cannot be laid in the same way as bricks (in this case we are talking about the methods of pressing and back to back), as in this case the seams are not completely filled with masonry mortar.
Laying ceramic stone structures is allowed at an air temperature of at least 5 degrees.
The construction of internal partitions requires special attention. Due to the presence of voids in the ceramic stone wall, internal communications cannot be laid, because the material can simply crumble.
Ceramic stone will be the best solution in cases where you need to build a high-quality structure at minimal cost and in a short time.
