I have been noticing that construction adhesive for stone has been used to attach natural stone surrounds for a fireplace.
For example in the January/ February issue of This Old House they used the adhesive for the marble. the adhesive was also used in a Ask this Old house video clip to attach a granite surround.
Any opinions on why modified thinset would not be a better choice?
If the construction adhesive is the better choice then how about other stone like travertine and slate.
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Replies
good, better, best????
Do those places just do this, or do they make a claim that this method is "best"?
And what kind of cconst adhesive are you talking about?
for any larger area or where water is present, the tinset is best, generally, but then you have to differentiate between modified and unmod too.
I have used PL Premium in a few smaller spots, like backsplash. Or recently I faced a chimney with manmade rock and type s mortar onto cmu blocks. There was a small spot where the wall flowed down onto sheetrock at the end of the three bottom steps of a staircase. There was also a recepticle there. Tight fits and slow cutting made it a hard pllace to butter up with mud, so I used the PL on those few roks.
Because adhesive will slip and allow stone to slide down a vertical wall surface, I would think it slower and harder to use for a larger wall area like an entire fireplace front, but that may depend on the skills or lack thereof for the person doing the work. Since those magazines are, like FHB, directed more at DIYs, I can imagine they would find it better to squeaze a caulking tube than to learn to mix mud and use a trowel.
Some slate has a lot of oil in it, so that can interfere with bonding action.
Very light coloured travertine and some marbles require a white thinset so that it does not bleed olour thru and mess up the outward appearance.