How Shackerley's façade panels are made
There are many different manufacturing and prefabrication processes involved in the creation of a
Surestone ventilated façade panel.
Step 1 - Raw Materials
Surestone is classed as a composite material but it is primarily made of natural stone, sourced from various quarries.
Step 2 - Arrival at factory
Large rocks are delivered from the quarries to the factory ready for sorting and processing.
Step 3 - Sorting, crushing and cleaning
The rocks are sorted and crushed into smaller more manageable-sized pieces and cleaned to remove impurities.
Step 4 - Grinding and storage
The smaller rock pieces are then ground to a very fine power aggregate and stored in large silos, ready for mixing.
Step 5 - Mixing and moulding
The fine powder aggregrate is mixed with a minimum quantity of highly specialised bonding agent. The composite material is then fed into block moulds,
compacted under vacuum and cured in ovens.
Step 6 - Storage of uncut blocks
The blocks are stored in the open air where the curing process is completed.
Step 7 - Cutting blocks into slabs
Once fully cured, the large slabs can be cut into slabs of the required thickness. Because each slab is being cut from a solid block, it is possible to cut
curved pieces as well as flat slabs.
Step 8 - Surface finishes
At this stage each slab is processed further to deliver the required surface finish, which could be polished, honed or sand textured.
Step 9 - Final inspection
Before the finished surestone slabs leave the factory they are subjected to a final visual inspection.
