The foundation and retaining walls of my house are cinder bock with a facing of field stone. My wide wants spme other borders and walls built in the same look.
Building the wall is simple. I understand that.
How do i do the rock? I jave a pallet of it that was there when we bought the house. It looks like they put wet concrete on the wall and stuck the rocks on, but...
I wouldn't have asked, but didn't even know what to Google.
Sound like it's just a thinset mortar stone on concrete block. Not concrete. Snap a pic and I'm sure someone can figure out.
Google something like "stone covered cinder block wall "
Is it real field stone, or one of the currently-popular "lick and stick" faux / thin products? Because that stuff is not supposed to touch grade.
I'm not trying to be "that guy", but stone is never installed with concrete.
If you are not sure about the differences between words like "concrete", "mortar", "thinset", "grout", "cement", "lick and stick", "faux stone", "fieldstone", "cinder block vs CMU", you are gonna have a bit of a learning curve.
This stuff is legit rock. Varying thickness, shape, weight, color, etc.
Will get pictures of the current walls when i get home.
And i came here because of the learning curve. I don't know what all i don't know before starting on this. But i figure im reasonablyintelligent and can lear/do this myself.
I pictured you trying to sand the face of an engine block with a rock.
I am glad it was something else.
tuna55 said:I pictured you trying to sand the face of an engine block with a rock.
I am glad it was something else.
Don't put it past him...I mean he built fender flares with Tshirt material and fiberglass 
I've only seen it done on fireplaces, and that probably wasn't to block now that I think about it. What was interesting is that they start at the top and work down. Mortar, stick the rock in place, hold, mortar, next rock. The idea was that if it wouldn't hold itself up it wasn't ready to be let go of, and if it dropped it wouldn't take out all the rock below it, because there weren't any. It didn't look like fun.
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I fully plan on this sucking. But happy wife....
Would not have thought about starting at the top. Thanks!
In reply to SVreX :
he will also need some sort of brick ledge to prevent frost heaving from shearing the stone. As well as “brick ties” to ensure a solid connection with the wall
In reply to Dusterbd13 :
Go to youtube and search "building a stone wall". There are a number of DIY videos including ones that deal with covering cinder block wall.
The technology part of it is pretty readily available in books or youtube. The art of making a stone wall pretty is a completely different animal.
frenchyd said:In reply to SVreX :
he will also need some sort of brick ledge to prevent frost heaving from shearing the stone. As well as “brick ties” to ensure a solid connection with the wall
Umm... No.
Dusterbd13 said:In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I fully plan on this sucking. But happy wife....
Would not have thought about starting at the top. Thanks!
I doubt that will work with real stone.
Dusterbd13 said:This stuff is legit rock. Varying thickness, shape, weight, color, etc.
Will get pictures of the current walls when i get home.
And i came here because of the learning curve. I don't know what all i don't know before starting on this. But i figure im reasonablyintelligent and can lear/do this myself.
I respect that, but I really don't think I can teach the art of stone construction via forum posts.
YouTube might help.
Real stone is about the most artistic of the masonry arts. But at the same time, farmers have been building fieldstone walls for centuries.
In reply to SVreX :
It was slabs of limestone that I picked up off a beach in the UP. There may be a surface area/weight that made it easier but I watched it happen. I fully admit that I'm not sure if it will work with round rocks.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/150940429@N02/shares/EcQ4d2
Link to bad pictures of the rocks/style.
After looking at it again (funny how i never actually pay attention to something i walk by/look at 50 times a week) im pretty sure almost every technical term in the original post was wrong.
Its not field stone. Not sure what kind of rock it is, but i have a E36 M3 ton.
Definitely not concrete. Looks almost like mortar.
The cosmetic application of the rock will be the easy part. Ill have the wife lay the pieces out in the driveway and put them up like she has them laid out. She loves doing jigsaw puzzles....
Its the actually sticking heavy rocks vertically that baffles me. I know it can be done, and probably in a buch of various ways. Ill admit to reattaching a couple to the retaing walls that were previously done with liquid nails. It was handy....
Anyway, hopefully tbe bad pictures help you guys lead me in the right direction for proper, durable rocking.
http://www.sakrete.com/products/stone-veneer-mortar for DIY
edit:
beware there are limits to adhered stone veneer.
Above a certain thickness/weight, it's just gotta be stacked stone veneer... and that needs to bear directly on a structural ledge or footing, and be tied back to the wall behind it. If the wall needs to be water tight, it gets a little more complicated.
No need for water tight. Near as i can tell, tallest wall will be about 3 rows above grade of block that needs covered.
I think ill wind up needing more stone as well.
Thanks for linking a product and name of what im doing! Stone veneer isnt a term id heard, but looks to be a promising google search.
At work we just finished a 3 story dorm project that was stone over block, the link below the reenforcement and stone tie system that we used. It is a multiple piece set up, the diagrams are very good and should point you down a rabbit hole. The site also has any weep holes or flashing that you may or may not need. If you need some actual installation photos I can cull my files to see what I have.
In reply to SlimShady218 :
That's the ticket for a new wall. For a simple residential (and not very tall) wall that is already standing - this kind of veneer tie is probably suitable.
If things get wet and freeze where you are be prepared for some repairs and possible failure in a couple years. Veneer in the masonry world is tricky stuff. Water gets behind and freezes and can do interesting things.
tuna55 said:I pictured you trying to sand the face of an engine block with a rock.
I am glad it was something else.
Oh thank jebus I wasn't the only one. My first thought was I don't understand how that will work or why you would do it but let's see what its all about.
dean1484 said:If things get wet and freeze where you are be prepared for some repairs and possible failure in a couple years. Veneer in the masonry world is tricky stuff. Water gets behind and freezes and can do interesting things.
This is very true. "Sticky stone" is a nightmare - a cheap attempt at looking like masonry. But a stone veneer in front of a block wall is pretty straightforward as long as it can drain when water migrates through it. (Dean, you know all this, obviously)
Like most things, it's not rocket-science, but it's still a skill that must be learned and practiced. There's a reason why good stone masons are very well paid and why an apprentice can work under a master mason for years before working on their own.
After reading as many books as you can find and watching as many YouTube how-to videos as you can, start on a wall that will be generally far from view and then work towards the more visible areas as your skills improve.
That said, it can be done. My ex's father and his brother built a 30' tall field stone chimney in their A-frame house. It looks beautiful. I think it also took them about two years of weekends and vacations.
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