Stone stairs: features and benefits

 Stone stairs: features and benefits

Ever since the Renaissance, the stone staircase was considered a magnificent work of art. Each royal palace and the family living in it emphasized their well-being. On the territory of the Russian Empire, a ladder of stone appeared only under the rule of Peter the Great. The majesty of stone steps, an elegant candelabrum and the generosity characteristic of a Russian man were reflected in the interior of any aristocrat of that century. To date, such products have not lost their popularity.

The stone staircase fits perfectly into the interior of luxury apartments, a luxury hotel and public institutions.

Advantages and disadvantages

Ladder steps with natural stone can often be found in country houses, on private plots. So most owners love to emphasize their status. Only one type of natural stones will allow you to feel the atmosphere of magnificence and wealth. The material is able to decorate almost any style of interior. External aesthetic appeal is an important factor, but many are interested in how practical it is.

The stone staircase has a number of positive and negative sides. All of them depend on the technological characteristics of the stone itself. Note the merits.

Durability and Reliability

The natural stone is characterized by increased wear resistance and firmness to various mechanical effects.

With a huge physical exertion or a strong impact on the material, there may be flaws in the form of cracks or chips. But the risk of defects is extremely small.

Aesthetics

The aesthetic appeal of a stone staircase makes it possible to accentuate the necessary elements in an interior designed in various styles, including classics. If desired, you can install lighting in the staircase itselfconstruction

Variety of shades

A huge variety of color shades for natural and artificial material. You can pick up the tone as close as possible to the flooring. The range is wide, difficulties in choosing the desired product should arise.

Durability

Among all the analogues, the stone staircase has the highest operational properties. She does not need special care. It is enough to periodically carry out wet cleaning. Material when cleaning cannot be deformed. It copes well with high humidity and does not react to sudden temperature changes.

Environmental friendliness

When purchasing products made from natural materials, you can be sure about your health. The stone is an environmentally friendly material, it does not emit harmful toxins during combustion or sudden temperature changes.

Despite not a small number of advantages, stone stairs have some drawbacks. Let us consider them in more detail, as well as methods of dealing with them.

Price

Constructions made from natural materials are expensive. If you wish to use this material in your interior, you often have to replace it with an artificial counterpart. Externally, the artificial model is not much different from natural material.

Cold

Natural natural material is characterized by the absence of heat transfer. It only consumes heat, but does not warm its surface. To cope with this disadvantage will help the carpet, laid along the steps. In other cases, you can use special pads on each stage.

Weight

Stone construction has an impressive weight. It is advisable to think about this even at the stage of laying the foundation. So how it will be a huge load. In the situation of an already built dwelling when constructing a ladder structure, it is necessary to use lighter material (wood) for the ladder. Then you can do the lining, using stone lining.

Variety of materials

The use of stone steps in decorating the living space will pay attention to the taste and status of the owner. However, the process of choosing the material is not so simple, it requires proper compliance with the rest of the interior details. Otherwise, instead of luxury and style can get tasteless elaborate decoration. In the manufacture of stairs can be involved in different types of stone, it is necessary to choose the right combination of them.

Artificial

Sometimes the extremely high price of natural stone pushes the consumer to look for an alternative with similar appearance and properties. The solution to this problem was the use of artificial stone in the installation work. The finished version of artificial stone can be presented for sale in the form of solid stone or lining.

Porcelain stoneware

Products made of porcelain stoneware are characterized by high strength and ease of finishing work. Steps lined with this material do not need any specialized processing and can be used for outdoor space. For example, they can replace paving slabs. The texture of porcelain stoneware varies from smooth to rough depending on its location (inside or outside).

Clinker

Excellent material for outdoor use. It copes well with adverse weather conditions, has a standard texture, but a small selection of color shades. The texture of the clinker allows it to be subjected to various types of processing. The material, though reliable, is porous. With any mechanical effects there is a possibility of deformation of the surface.

Agglomerate

Artificial analogue for any natural material. With the help of modern technology, the agglomerate can be disguised under any necessary surface. In addition to the high aesthetic qualities of the stone has a pleasant performance. It does not absorb moisture at all and is practically not subject to wear.

Natural

The category includes granite and marble stones.

Granite

For granite is characterized by incredible hardness and strength, due to its volcanic origin. The demand for granite stone can be explained by its reliability, long service life and the preservation of visual appeal. For designers, granite is a real find, as it has a unique natural texture.

The advantages of this material is resistance to any mechanical stress. The formation of chips, cracks and other defects is almost impossible.

Marble

This is a more common version of the material for the construction of stairs, in contrast to the previous version.Marble is not as strong as granite, but it is well processed. Therefore, it is possible to construct any pleasing staircase structures, steps and balusters.

Onyx and travertine

Onyx can be recognized by a unique texture pattern and a variety of colors. For stair steps you can choose a small and medium grain structure. There is also a choice between textures: it can be wavy, banded, or straight. Travertine is a type of marble.

It is used for the most part only for interior decorating. Its porosity contributes greatly to polishing. With regard to colors and patterns, travertine also pleases variety. First of all, it stands out due to its decorative properties. Its texture resembles woody patterns (spotty and monotonous in speck).

Travertine
Onyx

Sandstone

Sandstone is often used for outdoor work. This material is good because it has an affordable price, has high strength and low-maintenance. Its only minus is the scarce color palette (only brownish and grayish colors predominate).

Types of designs

The criteria for dividing the staircase into varieties are due to their structure and principles of installation work. The so-called staircase is performed in several variations.

  • Single is a basic design, which is a sequential set of steps. The reference point in this case is the first step on the lower floor or the floor of the second floor.
  • Complicated - a combination of several single marches. The beginning is the first floor, the end is the second. In the interval between them are mounted additional stairwells. Due to the rotation of the staircase, the span reduces the load and makes climbing the stairs easier.
Single
Complicated
  • Straight march is the easiest to install. This design takes up a lot of space, which is often a problem for a private house. This option looks like a set of a number of steps. In this case, a larger angle of inclination means a smaller area for installation.
  • Zabezhny turning marching called the march, made with a smooth turn. This allows you to significantly reduce the area of ​​land required for construction.To step on a separate site mount zabezhny element. This makes it possible to turn the direction of the stairs 45, 90 and 180 degrees.
Straight
Zabezhny

Subtleties of installation

Installation work on the staircase made of natural stone is a difficult and painstaking work. It is recommended to involve in this process a qualified specialist or brigade with solid experience. An important aspect is the fact that it is necessary to correctly determine the carrier part, which has the function of retaining steps. The quality of the finished product and the term of exploitation will depend on the correctness of the choice. The supporting part for the stone structure can be a concrete span or the installation of supporting metal structures.

The first case involves fixing steps, railings and balusters to the stairs, using a specialized adhesive composition. Most often it is a cement mortar.

For the second case, you will need to be patient, as the installation of a metal base requires preliminary preparation. The fact is that the bearing areas must be lined with gypsum fiber.After the cladding is completed, the installation is performed as previously indicated.

When installing with the use of natural elements it is recommended to install no more than 5-6 steps. It is important to set them upwards. This is due to the fact that the adhesive composition requires a short period of time to harden. Otherwise there is a high risk of bias.

The issue of comfortable exploitation is inseparable from the issue of product safety. When planning the installation work with a ladder, it is recommended to focus on several parameters. By sticking to them, you will ensure the safety of the entire structure. Let us examine the fundamental requirements.

  • The tilt angle to 35 degrees will allow to build a safe ladder without sharp turn.
  • Favorable depth for the construction is 25-30 cm.
  • The optimum height for the step is 15-18 cm.
  • The recommended height between the ceiling space and the steps is 190 cm.
  • A safe height for the railing is a parameter of 85 cm.

Dimensions of the staircase should be planned in advance before construction, but after finishing the finishing works.It is necessary to calculate the free space and the load on the foundation. Quite often, at the construction stage “boxes” of a house for comfort, specialists construct a special metal frame. Subsequently, it is mounted steps from a natural material.

This is an extremely time-consuming process, since it is not easy to customize parts for stone steps. Another important point is the correct location of the stairs in the room. When a large space is recommended to look at the monolithic structures, which are made of solid natural stones. If you are the owner of a small room, you should prefer a spiral staircase or similar in the form of a letter P. Often such structures have triangular steps.

The safe operation of the ladder directly depends on the selected materials involved in the manufacture. Quite good reviews have stairs for the hall of the cottage of acrylic, liquid and Dagestan stone.

When making repairs, be sure to ensure that there is a high-quality wall decoration and design decor. If the manufacturer took polished stones as a base,It is strongly recommended to purchase carpet or non-slip parts that need to be fixed with special holders.

Dagestan stone
Liquid stone
Acrylic stone

Design examples

Stone stairs are an unusual and stylish solution to the interior inside and outside the buildings. To appreciate the beauty and status of such structures, you can pay attention to examples of design.

The case when the stone stairs is a true work of art. This design requires not only serious investment, but also the appropriate environment. In this case, the interior is made in the antique style, the stair design looks very appropriate.

This option is made partially from natural material. It was used exclusively for steps.

Since the surface of the stone has a small heat dissipation, it is recommended to lay the carpet. With its help they achieve a warm surface of the floor, use it as a decorative element of the interior.

Ladder made of natural stone. To save space in this interior, they preferred to install a twisted structure.Forged balusters and railings made of natural wood create a luxurious ensemble that fits perfectly into the interior.

You will learn about how to make a tiling of a staircase from the following video.

Comments
 Author
Information provided for reference purposes. For construction issues, always consult a specialist.

Entrance hall

Living room

Bedroom