Stone veneer fireplace - love them, hate them, indifferent?
sochi
12 years ago
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palimpsest
12 years agosochi
12 years agoRelated Discussions
Can we talk about stone veneer?
Comments (60)When exterior materials of different coefficients of expansion are rigidly attached to one another, they will eventually fail. Therefore, the attachment detail of veneer materials not only needs to allow water to drain, it must allow the materials to move independently. This is why the original "brick veneer" system had a cavity between the structural wall and a wythe of brick 4" thick and the brick was supported on a ledge and attached to the wall with flexible ties. A stone veneer wall was the same with 4" thick stone. I've designed and built many buildings with this system. Designing a tile-like cladding for a wood framed wall is difficult even in warm, dry climates. Some good systems were described in this thread 5 years ago. I'm not sure why cultured stone would perform worse than natural stone except that it absorbs more moisture, however, the joints do that anyway and in the photos above, the cultured stone doesn't appear to have cracked....See MoreEldorado v. natural stone veneer
Comments (37)Currently I live in a solid stone and brick Texas Hill country house. The exterior is 4 different types of limestone mixed together. It looks incredible, we get nothing but compliments and no, nothing in the world would ever look better then total natural stone. However, weight was a huge issue when we were designing the house and we had to beef up the foundation considerably to support the weight of the stone. Interior wise though I have nothing but Eldorado Stone. I love this product, I love the lower weight of this product and I think this company manufactures some of the most believable "man-made" stone out there. I am currently building my 5th new home in Canada and we will not only use Eldorado Stone on the inside but also on the outside this time. I have over 5000 sq feet of stone in the new project and I wouldn't trust it to anyone else but Eldorado. One a side note though, manufactured stone should be installed by a good mason, preferably a master mason, who has worked with the product and is trained to know how to properly mix the stones throughout the laying, who follows the recommended installation instructions, and who can make the stone come alive. It is a master mason who will transform a "man-made" product into a thing of beauty. If you live in an area where real stone is a sensible price then I would chose real stone. But, for those of you who have overly high costs for natural stone, Eldorado stone is a super alternative. It also has the benefit of being a "green" option and I am receiving a bunch of LEED points for choosing a product that does less damage to the environment, is manufactured close to where I will be using it,does not benefit from forced labor practices and is not mined in inappropriate ways. It also requires far less structural concrete and rebar then real stone would require....See Morehelp with this stone veneer color and siding
Comments (8)lol....it took me almost a year to finally make up my mind, complete with anxiety attacks and eye twitches. Plus, my husband and kids, were like, "they all look the same, just pick one!" So, thank you for the compliment...good to know it was worth waiting and finding the right match. Part of the problem was that I had originally picked a different stone that was very vibrant and colorful, and I couldn't for the life of me, pick out a brick. Funny....the brick I originally picked is on a Taco Bell and the stone is prevalent at our zoo....I thought, "hmm...Taco Bell and the Zoo are not really the looks I'm going for!" While I was at one of the brick yards, I stumbled across this stone and loved it....it is the most natural looking veneer I saw. The colors and texture are great. So, then I took my builder's wife, who is an artist, with me to the house and we held up different brick with the stone and shingles. It was amazing, once I saw them together, it all worked. So take your time and make sure you like it, and if you can, try not to rely on pictures....I hated my brick choice when I saw it on the Taco Bell! Good luck!...See MoreHas anyone used Eldorado Grand Banks limestone stone veneer?
Comments (48)@Sarah, Thanks so much! It actually turned out better than we expected. Yes, It's El Dorado Grand Banks Limestone. When the pieces arrived I thought they made an accident and we received the wrong product, they looked like cheap granite. I wasn't very excited with the wall until our happy accident of over-grouting. We knew we wanted a soft white grout color but didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on pre-colored grout so we played with adding different amounts of brown permacolor grout to white mortar. We'd put some on a stone and let it dry overnight. We came to the ratio of 1/2 cup Laticrete Permacolor grout in Tawny for each 44 lb bag of Mapei White Keraflex SG Mortar. We mixed the dry mixture fully to avoid color pockets before adding water. We piped the mortar in and when it was still a bit soft we wiped it with a wet sponge allowing some of the residue to settle on top of the stones....See MoreOakley
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