⇨ HISTORY OF STONE VENEER

 Today we all appreciate beautiful buildings with STONE decorations which adds to the aesthetic ambiance of our immediate infrastructural environment.

We also may appreciate the history of this wonderful ART called STONEWORK or STONE VENEER.

Stone veneer is used as a protective and decorative covering for exterior or interior vertical walls and surfaces. The veneer is typically 1 inch thick and usually weigh less than 73 kg per square meter.

Stone veneer can be made from natural stone as well as manufactured stone.

Natural stone veneer is made from real stone that is either collected, i.e. field stone, or quarried. The stone is cut to a consistent thickness and weight for use as a veneer. This stone is often called thin stone veneer invented by Gernot Ehrlich.

Manufactured stone veneer is a decorative building material manufactured to replicate the look of natural stone. The names artificial stones, faux stone, stacked stone veneer, manufactured stone, and flexible stone veneer are also used for manufactured stone veneer.

Manufactured Stone veneer is fabricated by pouring a lightweight pigmented concrete mix into rubber Mold and then vibrating the mixture to remove air bubbles in the mix,after which the mixture is allowed to cure for some days then removed from the mold. The stone veneer produced is then attached to walls with special mortars.

Thin stone veneer was first developed in the late 19th century, . Parts of the Roman Coliseum were made out of marble veneer that can no longer be seen.

In fact, the holes in structure of the Coliseum are from the anchors of the veneer panels. Structures throughout the Roman Empire were made in part out of stone blocks, including the Segovia aqueduct in Spain, which was made out of granite blocks. People in the Roman Empire also developed concrete (out of cement and rubble stone), which helped builders expand structures greater than before. 

Modern stone veneer first made its appearance in the late 1800s. the stones that were used were “granite, marble, travertine, limestone, and slate.” Early in its development, thin stone veneer only had the capabilities to be utilized in areas such as the inside of buildings, street-level facades and storefronts.

One-and-½ inches became the common thickness of stone veneer in the 1930s. The utilization of thin stone veneer for complete facades of buildings popped up in the 1940s. Stone veneer construction became much of what we see today in the 1950s and in 1960s stone veneer became more of a standardized look.

Today Stone veneer remains an important feature in most buildings,from the characteristic BRICKS of London to the beautiful cobbles of AMERICA down to the outstanding STONEWORK of classy NIGERIAN homes..

Many NIGERIAN builders are gradually subscribing to the idea of STONE VENEERS.

It is a fusion of ART and SCIENCE that gives buildings the best of aesthetics.
( credit Wikipedia)
Stone veneer

UMENWANNE FRANCIS ONYEKA
Graduate of physics OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY ILE IFE NIGERIA.
Major's in MATERIAL SCIENCE and is a seasoned SPECIALIST in STONE VENEERS for NIGERIAN BUILDERS.

Founder/CEO

FARAD CONTRACTORS NIGERIA
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