Many people do not realize that real thin stone veneer is available for use in residential as well as commercial construction. Manufactured faux stone is quite popular today in the residential sector. It is concrete that is died and placed in a mold to look like a stone. It is usually about one and one half inches thick . Real thin stone veneer is available as well and is priced competitively to the manufactured faux stone. The look is completely natural because it is real stone. A benefit of real thin stone over manufactured faux stone is that it will never fade over time. Manufactured stone has the potential to fade over time. Another major benefit to real thin stone is that if the real stone becomes chipped or is cut during installation, the look is always consistent. Whereas, manufactured faux stone if broken will show the pores of the concrete and the back of the molded product. Real thin stone is available in many different varieties, colors and shapes. They are usually an inch to an inch and a half thick and weigh 15 pounds per square foot or less. This meets BOCA code. To install the real thin stone, you usually must hang sheets of wire lathe to the surface over a felt paper sheet which acts as a vapor barrier. A scratch coat of mortor is applied over the wire lathe using a knotched trowell . It is applied evenly to the surface and allowed to dry, approximately 24 hours. Before the stones are mortored to the surface, a general layout is recommended. The stone should be placed so that there is minimal joint space and consistency of joint widths. Also, look at the placement for visual asthetics. You want the stone placement to look balanced. It is generally recommended to start working from thetop of the wall and work your way down. This minimizes the mortor droppings on stones and keeps a clean job. When applying the stone, use your knotched trowel and slather mortor on the back of the stone and push firmly onto the dried scratch coated wall. If some of the pieces of stone don’t quite fit, you can use a stone hammer and just break away pieces of the stone so that they fit. This gives a completely natural finished look to the stone. This is another huge benefit to using real stone versus manufactured faux stone. After all stones are in place, the final step is to grout the joints. A grout bag and striking tool is used. You will be pleased with a beautiful finished product that will retain that beauty for a lifetime.
