Construction to begin soon on my home. Any suggestions for a choice in a stone foundation covering? My builder is not comfartable with the fake stone. He uses real stone (full thickness). He is not to familiar with the new “thin” real stone. The house will be a Craftsman style. Any suggested sources? Building in the Charlotte, NC area.
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Replies
you got any pics of that fake stone that looks fake....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Some artificial stone looks more artificial than others....not so much by manufacturer, but the type of natural stone the manufactured stone is intended to replicate.
I can usually spot artificial river stone from quite a distance, where as some of the ledgestones, shales and cut stone replicas can look very authentic.
While your builder may not be comfortable with artificial stone, if he has experience with natural stone, the artificial should be a breeze....it's lighter, easier to cut and many of the flat shale profiles can be mortared to a vertical substrate much faster than natural stone; the fact that they'll "stick" to the mortar and substrate when placed, they are often installed from the top down which eases cleanup.
Personally, I'm fond of natural stone and enjoy laying it, but it is heavy and much more labor intensive than artificial stone.
If you don't have a ledge to bear on, what thickness of stone and method of adhering do you use for 18" of exposed foundation wall.
If you're using natural stone, you need a ledge on the foundation for the bottom course.
With artificial stone, the flat shale-like patterns, which are usually around 1" to 1 1/2" thick, can be mortared right to the foundation wall, and like I mentioned earlier, if need be, you can work from the top down, because the "stones" will stay put (You want to backbutter the stone and then get a good parge on the foundation.
If you haven't done it before, you may have to play with the mortar a bit, and add a little lime.
But it's not rocket science.
I might add that if the foundation has been waterproofed in the area to be covered with stone, you'll have to attach some furring mesh, parge it with mortar and comb it and, after it sets, do your stonework.
I can usually spot artificial river stone from quite a distance
A distance of about 1/2 mile for that stuff. It's about as convincing as those sheets of plastic brick paneling.
I've never seen one of those river rock jobs that looks decent.
Owens Corning is the big seller here, the ledge rock stuff looks ok and comes in colors sorta close to the local red cliffs here in Southern Utah.
Joe H
Real or fake?
View Image"Citius, Altius, Fortius"
Stone looks real, wood looks fake
LOL!"Citius, Altius, Fortius"
Stone looks real, wood looks fake
LoL!
But, I, personally have just never liked the "look" of the neat-as-lincoln logs walls like that any way. That's me, others differ.
Nice job, though. One thing I have found helpful with cultured stone is to never, ever, ditch the leftovers. Just a few "ledge stones" in with the river rock, or vice versa; even a few of the used-brick, give that rustic feel of gathered near-by, stone masonry.
Which of course the poster from Utah is not going to be able to get in cultured stone, near at all. In archy school they taught us, in that situation, you reinforce the differences, so, I'd use the brick & ledge to give a cobbled-together from clinker & debris "look"--but that's the designer in me.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I have a builder friend in Jackson, Wyoming....we were there for a wedding awhile back.
Since there has apparently been a ban, or at least some restrictions, on mining river rock from the Snake River and its riparian zones due to the continued development there, the option has been artificial river stone.
In addition to the private lodges, even the Albertsons and the local gas stations are adorned with it.
While nicely done, it really stands out, especially next to old structures with the real stuff.
Rick may I suggest Eldorado stone, as a first choice with
Centurian stone a close second, my daughter in charlotte
has choicen real blueridge mountain stone veneer for her house,
I have been down there working all last week ,I just started
installing the stone on her house on sat. and will be back
down there at the end of the week to finish laying the stone
on her porch columns and walls, fake stone goes a whole lot
faster though.
We've done quite a few projects with El Dorado stone, I'd suggest looking into.
http://www.eldoradostone.com/flashsite/
We usually spec Buechel Building Stone (based out of Wisconsin). In the past year or two, full thickness (4") stone is pricing out cheaper than thin stone (real or artificial) on our commercial projects. While the freight to get 4" stone to the site is more money, it is offset by reduced labor cost and actual material cost.
We have successfully used Cultured Stone from Owens Corning. Most folks can not tell it is not real stone. Advantages: no supporting ledge, much faster, less clean-up.
http://www.culturedstone.com
Its getting harder to tell the real from the fake. I look at the corners to tell if it is fake. Fake has those neat cornerstones. I can usually tell. If it was me I would go with the real stuff. Real does not have colors that fade or a patina that wears off. Real stone ages better.
I just finished up a re-build of the front of my house. I used Eldorado, Fieldledge, Veneto. It looks magnificent! I am very impressed not only with the stone, but with the contractor who installed it. Not cheap, but a whole cheaper than real stone. I am getting real tired of the drive by lookie loos who are keep stopping and asking questions. Go for the El Dorado, you won't be sorry.
I was just looking back on some of my job records, I have
used a small manufacturor called Cornerstone of Va.
540-330-9234/ 540-239-3687 they make a regeonel
pattern, and colors that are very populer here in this part
of Va., most of his molds are castings of real rock found in old
grain mills,confederate stone works, and old cemetaries .His prices
are very resonable for the quality he produces and he is one heck of
a good fellow and stands behind his product.
Thanks....I greatly appreciate the info. I'll follow up on it.RickO
Your builder is not comfortable with fake stone? Use real if you can swing the cost.