The New Type of Construction Technology — Dry-Hanging Stone

8 min readDec 4, 2023

I. What is the dry hanging method of stone?

Dry-hanging method of stone is a new type of construction technology in wall decoration. In this method, the veneer stone is directly hung on the wall or empty on the steel frame with metal pendants, without grouting and pasting. The principle is to set the main force point on the main structure, and fix the stone on the building through the metal pendant to form the stone decorative curtain wall.

II. What are the characteristics of the dry-hanging method of stone?

1. Safety and Durability

1. Dry-hanging stone can effectively avoid the hollowing, cracking, falling off and other phenomena of the traditional wet pasting process, which obviously improves the safety and durability of the building.

2. Dry-hanging stone can completely avoid the phenomenon of whitening and discoloration on the surface of the traditional wet pasting process, which is conducive to keeping the curtain wall clean and beautiful.

3. Dry-hanging stone material improves the working conditions of construction personnel to a certain extent, reduces the labor intensity, and thus accelerates the progress of the project.

2. Stability

The strength of the dry-hanging stone curtain wall itself is related to the thickness, length and width of the stone and the fixing method of the dry-hanging. According to the requirements of the technical specifications for metal and stone curtain wall engineering: the thickness of the stone used for the stone curtain wall should not be less than 25mm, the area of the stone should not be greater than 1.5 square meters, and the pendant is generally made of stainless steel. Angle steel connectors, stainless steel pendants, bolts, welding rods, and structural adhesives should all have material certificates, factory certificates and inspection reports.

3. Aesthetics

- Application of divisions, decorative lines and colors

It is necessary to deeply understand the intention of the original architectural design, including the color, line, form of the stone, the requirements of the owner and the necessary things in the structure such as modeling, awning, etc., which must be considered together with the style of the entire building, and the layout of the grid should also be considered the convenience of construction.

- The influence of stone quality and processing quality on aesthetics

First of all, the marble manufacturers should be carefully examined to determine the stone manufacturers and stone varieties. There are requirements for variety, thickness and performance during processing, and complete blanking design drawings are provided to stone processing manufacturers. In order to make the size and slotting position accurate, the processing and production should be as factory-like as possible, because the construction site tools, site, and technical expertise of personnel all affect the on-site processing, so the workload of on-site processing should be minimized. This requires the secondary design to be perfect and detailed. For corners, column shapes, and seals, a large sample map should be drawn to show their relationship with each other, so that the stone cutting chart can be accurate and clear.

III. What are the advantages of dry-hanging stone?

The dry-hanging method of exterior wall veneer stone is to use high-strength, corrosion-resistant metal pendants to fix the veneer stone on the outer surface of the building by supporting, hanging, pinning and bolting. Reasonable pendant design and strict construction technology are the keys to ensuring the safety and beauty of exterior stone. Stone dry hanging construction replaces traditional wet construction by prefabricated assembly. Its advantages are mainly reflected in:

1. The dry hanging of stone is firm, safe and durable. The dry-hanging stone process uses corrosion-resistant bolts and flexible connectors to dry-hanging marble, granite and other decorative stones on the outer surface of the building structure, between the stone and the structure. Leave a gap of 40~50mm, reduce the weight of the building, improve the seismic performance, and can effectively prevent the occurrence of accidents caused by veneer falling off and hurting people.

2. Dry-hanging stone is easy to decorate, and the effect of decoration is high-grade and beautiful. There is a gap between the stone and the structure of the dry-hanging process, which can effectively prevent the infiltration and pollution of the stone such as saline and alkali in the grouting, and improve its decoration quality and visual effect. The stone dry hanging process effectively avoids the stone falling off and achieves the aesthetic effect of the entire wall.

3. Dry hanging of stone can avoid surface pollution, discoloration and anti-alkali, and keep the color and luster of the slate.

4. Dry hanging of stone can avoid wet operation, less affected by climate change, and save construction costs in winter and rainy days.

5. Dry hanging of stone can prevent the stone from falling off and reduce maintenance costs.

6. The dry hanging of the stone reduces the weight of the structure and reserves the thermal insulation space.

IV. What are the commonly used materials for dry-hanging stone?

The commonly used dry-hanging stone for exterior walls is mainly granite, and the varieties mainly include sesame white, gold mass, kara merrykin, yellow rust stone, cherry red and so on. The main processing surfaces are bush-hammered, flame-treated and polished. The color difference of stone is one of the most important factors affecting the appearance of stone dry hanging. During the construction process, the color should be selected as much as possible for paving, so as not to affect the overall appearance. In addition, marble, onyx and limestone are also commonly used materials for dry hanging of stone. Next, these four dry hanging materials are introduced in detail.

1. Granite

Granite is a plutonic acid igneous rock formed by the condensation of magma deep underground. Some granites are gneiss or migmatized rocks formed by metamorphism of magma and sedimentary rocks, mostly light red, light gray, grayish white, etc. Because of its hard texture and beautiful color, granite is not only a good building material, but also the first choice for open-air carving. 9% of China’s land is granite rock mass, and granite is produced in many countries.

2. Marble

Marble is formed from limestone, dolomitic limestone, dolomite and other carbonate rocks through regional metamorphism and contact metamorphism. It is mainly composed of calcite and dolomite. It is named after it is produced in Dali, Yunnan, China. Marble is mainly used as a carving and building material, and is often used in the manufacture of monuments, paved floors, walls, carved railings, etc. The density is 2.6–2.8, the hardness is 2.5–5, and the radioactivity is generally low. Marble has the characteristics of no deformation, high hardness, long service life and no magnetization.

3. Onyx

In nature, any aggregate composed of a mineral or a variety of minerals, that is, a rock, that is beautiful in color, moisturizing, delicate and tough in texture, and has a certain hardness, which is conducive to carving and preservation, can be called onyx. The noble and moist characteristics of onyx have obvious effects in interior decoration applications. It has now become a major category of building stone. It is suitable for decorating walls, floors, washbasins, TV background walls and other parts, and is widely welcomed by the market..

4. Limestone

Limestone is a crystalline stone formed by the accumulation of rocks, debris and other alluvial materials such as shellfish and corals under the seabed hundreds of millions of years ago through weather and crustal changes.

V. The method of fixing stone dry hanging

Dry-hanging stone is a construction technique for building exterior walls. The process is to use corrosion-resistant bolts and corrosion-resistant flexible connectors to directly hang granite, artificial marble and other facing stones on the outer surface of the building structure, leaving a gap of 40–50mm between the stone and the structure. The veneer made by this process allows an appropriate amount of displacement under the action of wind and seismic forces to absorb part of the wind and seismic forces, so as not to cause cracks and shedding. When the wind and earthquake force disappears, the stone also resets with the structure.

Dry-hanging stone method

Single-limb short-groove type, double-limb short-groove type, steel pin type, through-groove dry-hanging method, small-unit dry-hanging method, back-bolt type, pallet type.

*Precautions for dry-hanging stone

1. Set the line, be sure to be accurate.

2. The selection of embedded parts, one is that the shear wall can be directly fixed with expansion bolts and embedded iron, and the other is that the aerated concrete blocks must be fixed with through-wall screws.

3. The installation of angle steel must conform to the size of the stone typesetting. It must not be wrong. Remember to paint anti-rust paint.

4. The selection, length and quality of the dry pendant of the stone must be well controlled.

5. Special attention should be paid to the depth of the slot when the stone is dry-hanging, and the dry-hanging glue must be selected well.

The above is the introduction of stone dry hanging, I hope to help you. If you have any ideas and needs for stone, please feel free to contact us!

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