Hi. I would like to cover my existing brick fireplace facade with stones aranged like the drystack look. Do I just cover the existing brick with wire mesh and then slather on the cement, roughen it, and let dry . Then stick the drystack on top of that? Also, do I need to use fire resistant mortar around the entrance to the firebox or do I just use that everywhere?
I also want to do this to the exterior of the house since I have a brick facade there that just goes about waist high across the front of the house. What extra techniques do I need to employ there to deal with water shedding properly there? I know that the existing brick has a series of holes at the bottom course for drainage. I assume I will need to do the same with the drystack facade.
Thanks to all in advance!
Replies
Take the darn bricks off first. Then stone it.
Well, tell us more.
Do you mean cultured stone "drystack" or 'natural' stone?
What does your AHJ pre/pro-scribe?
[Insert Missing Profile Information lament here]
Location? Your skills/background?
See, if this is cutured stone, you can apply right over masonry--you just follow the destructions they give you (or you download from Corning or Coronado or where ever).
You can use expanded metal lath over the brick with Cultured Stone brand, IIRC. You'll need to drill the mortar joints for expansion anchors for the lath. You then set up a good scratch coat bedded in the lath. After that, it's fitting the corner pieces and filling in the "field." Exterior work is similar, excepting that you need to double check all of the existing flashing & termination details.
It can be very helpful, if a person has less experience with masonry, to install cultured stone from top to bottom--this helps prevent dribbling sticky thinset on the finished work--which ill likes chipping dried mortar off later.
Normally, cultrued stone counts as "non combustable" material, so it can be brought right up to the edges of a firebox or insert. But, some AHJs disagree (or the BI for those AHJ).
You may wind up ripping a sill or soldier or rowlock course out to set a cast water-table stone, which will get you into the first couple of siding courses when that all needs new flashing. Or not, houses, like opinoins and experience differ.
Hi. What is an AHJ?
My skill level=I consider myself a pretty good DIY-er. I find that if you take your time and use common sense combined with advice from knowledgeable craftsmen/women and some patience you can do just about anything. Now I say that with years of my own experiences and growing up with a Dad who was a darn good carpenter helps too.
I didn't understand what you meant about the cast water table stone. Explain? Thanks.
Thanks for the advice! I'm going to tackle that project one of these days.
AHJ = authority having jurisdictioncarpenters are not masonsAnswering whether you mean real stone or man-made cast stone will effect the type of advice you need
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Either real or cast. I'd like to know what I'm in for either way. Then I'll judge whether to attempt it. Hey thanks!
you can do just about anything
Well, one thing you might do is check out the info at "Cultured Stone," which is a traded name of a Dow-Corning product cats from lightweight concrete. They were one of the first to market the product, and they also make a number of products, and especially the accessories.
You will have already noted the wide variety of responces here. Some of that will be due to the slighty-fuzzy definitions being used.
You fireplace could be built in a number of ways. The oldest way would be a great huge pile of bricks in various layers forming firebox, flue, chimney brest and the facing, all of a single sort of brick. That sort of construction stopped being common about a hundred years ago (and we have posters here with houses more than that old, too).
Your fireplace could have a box of fire brick, supporting with solid brick to make up the body of rhe fireplace, and the "guts" of the chimney, with a "face" brick veneered over that. That's a bit less common than it once was, but still available.
Your fireplace could be made up with firebrick or a pre-cast firebox supported in CMU, with face brick veneer. The concrete block are larger than bricks, so they "fill up" the structuarl "inside" of the breastwork and chimney body quickly. Quiclky translates into less expensively in this sort of heavy masonry work.
Or, you fireplace could be a metal box inserted into block with a brick veneer; or a box set into framing, with only a veneer of brick "to show."
You might note that I've described 3-4 ways your fireplace might only have a veneer of bricks--that's why a number of posters have advanced merely removing that veneer.
This is one of those things that can make polling the knowledge base here problematic--if we have to assume things, we often fall back on what we know, rather than what is.
So, like as not, a couple of photos of your fireplace would still help. I'm going to guess that you'd like to have actual drystack stone, but can probably only afford a cultured stone product in a "drystack" pattern. Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I'll try to get pictures of the fireplace and front of my house up on this site.
Thanks
You can veneer the brick with stone fairly easily. I assume you want the look of properly laid stone rather than the artificial rock pasted on like tiles.
Mortar need not be seen on the face if you put in on the back of the stone where it touches the brick. Metal ties between the brick and the stone would strengthen the work. Drainage holes might not be necessary on the outside because of the natural spaces between the rocks. A veneer might take up nine inches so that could affect how the fireplace, and the building frontage, would look. If a sloping slab is put on top course of the stonework that would shed the water. A better idea might be to haul out the brick, get a stonemason to build the fireplace drystack look, watch how he does it then figure out if you can do the outside of the house.
You will probably find that it will be more efficient to get a craftsamn to do the whole job. Where are you writing from? There may be drystone masons in the area who can advise you. Offer the right deal and you could have a guy over from Europe!
Do a Google image search for Pennsylvania fieldstone walls and see how it could look.
I'm in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. If I had the money I'd get someone to do it maybe. Then again I wouldn't mind taking a crack at it. I don't have the luxury actually of having excess cash lying around to get someone to do it. Besides, I think stone work is interesting. I'll do the search as you suggested too. Thanks.
If you used man-made, you can do it yourself, and go over the brick as mentioned by others with wire lathe/expaandxed metal and parge coat. then the stone.
or IF the brick is a veneer, you could remove it and then set to the base material CMUs with the man-made.
A lot depends on space available and if this is a true mason fireplace or just a metal one with a brick facade.
If you want real stone, I would recommend getting a guy whose work you have seen
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CMUs?
cementious masonry units - concrete blocks or bricks that make up the mass of a masonry fireplace under the face brick
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