Installation guides

Cladding with decorative stone

Decorative stone cladding is done indoors or outdoors, using tiles of various sizes or 60×15 cm panels. Using free-length (LL) tiles with various finishes, polygonal stone (which has atypical shapes and thicknesses), or Rock Face-style variants raises specific challenges.

For decorative stone with a set width and thickness but variable length (marble, slate, travertine, limestone) or fixed length (Fileti sandstone), installation must keep pieces aligned and choose them so as to minimize the number of cuts needed at the end of a row. The guide below covers decorative stone wall cladding.

Here are the steps:

• a board is mounted on the wall to set the starting level. Installation starts from the bottom.

• flatness is checked

• the surface is divided based on the size of the tiles being installed, marked with colored string

• adhesive is applied to the wall (e.g. with a 10×10 cm notched trowel), leaving vertical grooves

• adhesive is applied to the tile, possibly without grooves

• installation starts from a corner, bonding the tile to the wall and securing it

• spacers are used for alignment, preventing shifting, and are removed before the adhesive fully sets

• joints can be grouted or not; grouting is best done using special joint-filling tools. This avoids spreading grout on the surface. At the end, joints are smoothed to keep water out and to even them out

• once fully dry, joints are cleaned of residue