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Limestone is a long standing staple for exterior facades. But along with the natural beauty comes inconsistent weathering and long-term maintenance. Designing with natural limestone as a rainscreen system is expensive and there are limited trades that can offer quality installation. An affordable alternative exists with Elemex’s Ceramitex system which panelizes sintered ceramic surfaces into large format, stone rainscreen panels. And there are plenty of limestone textures and finishes to choose from.
What Are Limestone Facade Panels Used For?
On commercial exteriors, the Ceramitex facade rainscreen panels offer a cut-stone look without full-depth masonry. Its dry-jointed, concealed fastener design gives Ceramitex a modern stone aesthetic. The panels hang on a single layer rainscreen cladding support system allowing drainage and drying potential in the exterior cavity. And the panels weigh a fraction of natural limestone translating to lighter gauge steel framing for the exterior backup walls.
Knight Wall Systems Cladding Support
Knight Wall Systems offers four engineered rainscreen cladding attachment systems including their ThermaZee system pictured here.
Hunter XCI - Continuous Insulation
Get the highest R-Value per inch and the most comprehensive NFPA 285 Testing from this manufacturer of polyiso rigid insulation.
York Flashings Through Wall Flashings
York Flashings 304 SA self-adhered 2-mil stainless steel flexible flashing is the Goldilocks between rigid flashing and 40-mil rubberized asphalt flashings. Wall insurance.
Where Do Limestone Panels Suit a Commercial Project?
Office towers, civic buildings, and campus exteriors are the usual settings for limestone facade panels. Scale changes the calculation, since cladding for commercial buildings meets wind loads far above residential levels. Load transfer to the structure runs through our exterior cladding systems. Ground-floor bases, spandrel bands, and full elevations all take the same panel format. Renovation work suits the format too, where added weight is not an option. Institutional projects often want a stone read on a fast schedule. Humidity and thermal swing both argue for a drained, ventilated cavity behind the panel.
Civic buildings, office towers, medical facilities, higher education, even K-12 projects, the design flexibility and available limestone finishes make this pressure equalized rainscreen panel an excellent cladding for commercial buildings. Ceramitex is engineered to meet wind loads and satisfy fire codes like NFPA 285. A single layer of cladding support like a thermal Z-girt is all the panels require for attachment. Around openings and outside corners, the panel is fabricated with factory mitered returns which maintain a clean joint line away from the 90 degree corner. Ceramitex can be incorporated into exterior curtain wall glazing as well.
Ceramitex limestone facade panels are fully fabricated arriving on-site ready to be installed. There is no on-site fabrication or mitering required. Alternately, natural limestone rainscreen systems require on-site fabrication including kerf or back-cutting anchor positions and typically a two layer cladding support system. Regarding installation time, Ceramitex is the clear winner vs. natural limestone.
Our Representative Can Help You with Panel Selection
Bringing specs for limestone facade panels to a representative during design development leaves room to change the assembly. Matching a panel to our building envelope systems is easier before the elevations are approved. Reading the elevation, the spec section, and the structural framing together narrows the field fast. Format, finish, and anchor system then resolve as one decision instead of three. One contact covers every line on the card, which shortens the back-and-forth.
Elemex Architectural Facade System (PERS)
Ultra Compact Sintered Stone, Aluminum Plate, and ACM rainscreen facades from Elemex all designed with Unity, their rainscreen panel mounting system.
aPlank Aluminum Extruded Cladding Solutions
aPlank’s wood-look aluminum extruded panels offer a warranted, long-term, non-combustible solution for soffits and exterior cladding with U.S. manufacturing.
VaproShield Air and Water Barriers
VaproShield’s peel and stick air & water barrier membranes are primerless, vapor permeable, and provide the right thickness every application.
Upgrade Your Exterior with Limestone Panels
Fabrication schedules tighten once a project commits to limestone facade panels. We serve clients across the state of Texas. With a huge panel catalog to choose from, you are sure to find the materials you need. Contact us with an elevation and a spec section to get a quote today.
