Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/331457
SET IN STONE Exciting new innovations and advancements in masonry by Godfrey Budd C harm, esthetic pizzazz, a widening palette of colours and textures, plus a strong practical streak are all part of the perennial appeal of masonry. If the stream of new offerings is anything to go by, this ancient craft would seem to be in a state of almost constant renewal. Many innovations, either in new products or systems, or just the latest twist on an old standby, seem perfectly targeted for this particular, but perhaps neglected, niche. Referring to Paneled STONE, a product introduced last year, Dustin Wilson, president of InStone Distribution, says, "It was developed to bridge the gap between lightweight polyurethane panels and heavier cast stone products or stone itself." Paneled STONE is about one third the weight of most regular cast stone prod- ucts. That's because it is a concrete composite with a high percentage of pre-con- sumer waste and reconstituted materials. "The composite content makes them easy to cut and easy to mechanically fasten. They can be used wherever traditional masonry is used – exterior accents, chimneys, corners, porches, dormers and other external accents on houses and condos. They can also be used indoors – for a fire- place backsplash and feature walls. They're also a fit for retrofits where weight could be an issue," Wilson says. A recent trend is more use of brick for interiors. Much of this has been glazed thin brick, says Brian Cote, Canadian sales manager at Mutual Materials. He says that the company's proprietary Slimbrick line has been used in Starbucks world- wide for backsplash panels by sinks, and elsewhere, in the coffee chain's cafes. It's a natural for the high-end resi- dential market. "It can be used as a feature wall. It's also suitable for areas where hygiene is a concern as it's very easy to clean," Cote says. Mutual has also recently launched a full-sized glazed brick that's three-and- a-half inches thick instead of a quarter inch like Slimbrick. This too is geared for the high-end market – typically resi- dential and institutional – and can work for a range of applications, including stairways and steam rooms, Cote says. He says the brick sector continues to attract buyers who want performance over the long term. "There's a trend to bring design to a more human scale," adds Cote, "brick is very good at that." The good news for clients who like this type of exterior is that prices from suppliers are dropping. "There's a new way of manufacturing thin brick that makes it a whole lot less expensive – about 30 per cent less," says Rob Mutch, the regional sales manager for B.C. at I-XL Masonry Supplies Ltd. I-XL is an example of a masonry out- fit where events prompted a process of renewal. Or one might say it grabbed opportunity amidst defeat. I-XL was founded as a brick manufacturer more than a century ago, with headquarters in Medicine Hat. After making bricks from 1912 to 2010, it dropped that side of the business after f loods damaged its Medicine Hat plant to concentrate on supplying and distributing masonry products. One of the company's newer prod- ucts is called Farmledge. From Stone- craf t Industries, it is designed to replicate the look of stacked stone. In the 19th century farmers removed stones and rocks from land used for crops and stacked them into long walls. By 1871, a giant web of these walls stretched all over New England and New York State and was estimated to have a total length of 250,000 miles. In t he Far mledge s ys- tem, irregular stone shapes, sizes and textures have been moulded into panels t hat resemble stacked stone. Pan- els are just five-inches high with leng ths ranging from 7.75 to 19.75 inches. "They're designed so you don't see the seams of the panels," Mutch says. Like I-XL, Gracom Masonry Ltd. has undergone a process of reinvention over the past decade or two, but, in this case, the changes were not spurred by a flood or other misfortune. Starting in the mid-1990s, Gracom, a division of the Graham Group, increased its number of services and products beyond the masonry stalwarts of bricks, blocks and stones, to provide a wider range of envelope systems and services. These now include EIFS, stucco, metal panels and cladding, specialty panes, thin veneer stone systems, restoration and preservation, moisture control and water damage repairs. "The company decided to expand to give owners a one- stop shop for the envelope," says Garry Zarowny, the chief estimator at Gracom. Zarowny sees Gracom's move to pro- vide a full range of envelope solutions as a natural progression, noting that sys- tems based on the rain screen principle are becoming more popular. "Masonry has been rainscreen-based for about a century," he says. Besides cut ting owners' insurance and liability premi- ums, the one-stop-shop approach can also reduce envelope costs by five to 10 per cent, he adds. As with Stonecraft's Farmledge, the look of stone is also central to the con- cept of a product from Dryvit Systems Canada Ltd., however, the system dif- fers. In this case, limestone blocks are the originals being replicated and the product is a 100 per cent acrylic-based finish. "It's troweled on and can be used for EIFS. It has better durability than stucco and is less expensive than most stucco applications," says Daniel Schlegel, marketing and technical ser- vices co-ordinator at Dryvit. The EnduraMax Wall System, on the other hand, uses modular brick or stone masonry units that are inserted i nt o place w it h i n a polys t y r ene Photo left: Arriscraft Thin-Clad product, ARRIS • clip. Below: ARRIS • tile. June 2014 /PB Masonry p.44-47Masonry2.indd 45 14-06-03 9:48 AM