Innovative Systems
In this video, Chris Hines, Technical Manager of Boral Stone Products, touches on a few of the innovative systems introduced over the years.
The first is a branded system by Laticrete called MVIS (Masonry Veneer Installation System). It’s a system in which you would install manufactured stone directly over cement board with something called a weight bearing waterproofing membrane, and then you would use the Laticrete scratch coat, Laticrete setting bed, Laticrete pointing mortar… and when you did all this, you would get the Laticrete warranty. This particular installation relies on bonding to cement board. Today, Boral only authorizes this for interior installations.
There is an evolving installation technique that is called a rainscreen, or drain wall system. Chris says that the idea here is that you create some kind of physical air gap behind the manufactured stone veneer system, to allow water to drain out freely. If designed and installed properly, you can actually create a ventilation drying feature in the wall systems, so that if any water or condensation gets in, you can dry that. It was originally done with furring strips. There have been several commercially available rainscreen systems that have since come out, ranging from something as simple as a fine texture on a house wrap all the way up to a formed polymer sheet. Chris shows several examples.
Another “better mousetrap” solution could be a fibreglass lath product. He shows two coated materials that will resist deterioration under the high alkaline environment found in mortar. Boral feels there is some risk with a coated product, that voids in the material, or fastener damage, could lead to premature failure of the material, so they are not recommending these products today.