cut fieldstone veneer

[ratter]

Eddy,

He was not detailed in his design. But you are right, two diff approches. So ratter, what the method used on the house now? Photo would be nice.

My tentative plan is a thin veneer stuck to the wall, moreso than stone stacked against the wall. The local stone/brick store sells pallets of flat pieces of field stone cut about an inch thick.

Right now, there's nothing there. Just the exposed rigid foam insulation. This is an addition. The rest of the house is a stacked fieldstone foundation, so the idea was to try and match the look of it for consistency's sake.

But you guys might be talking me out of it! I could also do wood siding to match the rest of the old part of the house, but sourcing matching siding might be a chore (original house is circa 1880). Not to mention I've got to paint the whole house too. Worried about overloading myself with honey-dos......

'ppreciate the help guys,
-Mike

 

[CurlyDave]

We also have a 28' x 32' concrete block shed right at the entrance to our driveway - it is very ugly.

rswyan:

Why not just sheath this building in stone?

It would improve the looks, and you would not lose the utility of the building while the work is in process.

I have sheathed a small section of an interior wall in natural stone (irregular pieces about 1" to 1 1/2" thick, maybe 1 to 3 square feet each.)

I used the concrete backerboard screwed onto studs and mortar mixed with a lot of the acrylic concrete bonder in it for good adhesion to hold the stone in place. There is a concrete slab floor under it, but I made no specific attempt to transfer weight to the floor. I did fill in the gaps between rocks with the mortar also, so there is some weight transfer. The section is only 4' wide, but it is 8' high and there has been no problem at all over the last 16 or 17 years.

Take your blockhouse and pressure wash it really well to get a good clean surface. Wash the bonding surface of the fieldstone slabs really well, mix up some moratr with the bonding agent in it and start going.

Two tips.

Start on the side of the blockhouse you don't see from your driveway. Your skill will improve rapidly, and you want the mistakes to be on the side away from you.

With irregular rocks you need to get an area on the ground the same size & shape as the wall you are covering. Take your time and lay out the rocks in the exact pattern you are going to place them on the wall. If you spend the time, you will be able to generate a pleasant pattern with no cutting and very little rock breaking. In general, not doing this is what makes a DIY job look that way. Someone has mortar setting and hasn't really laid out his pattern so he just picks up a rock he sized by eye from 30 feet away and tries to get it to fit. Ends up with a kludge.

 

[rswyan]

Dave,

Took me awhile to get back to this thread - got off the radar screen.

Thanks for the advice and the tips - it will be useful ..... although the way I want to go is a little different than what you did if I'm reading correctly .... at least in terms of the stone.

The front of our house was done similar to what you described - fairly large pieces of stone which were chiseled (?) to have a fairly flat but irregular surface. The thickness (from the side that faces out to inside that is attached to the wall) is probably 2" or 3". The stones vary in size from slightly under 1 sq. ft. to probably around 2 sq. ft. I just don't particularly care for that look.

I'd prefer rounded river rock or a dry stacked ledge stone look: