Advice On Precast Stone Sills For Stick-on Stone

turbomason

I was wondering if anyone else has any advice on fastening pre-cast stone sills when using precast thinset Stone. I use galvanized brackets and screw to sill and then to wall and grout around sill, covering galvanized brackets and making a authentic looking sill. Sometimes i smear mortar on the back of the sills for level backer.
Does anyone else have any advice i have always wondered about those sills and havent really had much luck with the stuff as far as keeping it from cracking or moving.

thanks,

6stringmason

I butter the back stick it on, then put screws underneath to hold em while they set.

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laybrick

I keep a bucket of wood wedges of various thicknesses,butter the backs, stick a wedge or 2 until they set up enough,throw the wedges back in the bucket for next time ,slick & brush

stacker

i recently used these sills and i used the gal.brackets.i put the sill in place,then installed the bracket,pulled the sill back off.then i put a wad of liquid nails on each bracket,buttered the back of the sill,and then put it in place.i used two brackets per sill.i first tired to place a bracket at the joint of each sill,but that didnt work.i also tried installing the brackets ahead of time,but that didnt work either due to the difference in thickness and length of the sills.
after the sill were set,i was able to lay my stone up to the bottom of the sill and grout.
good luck

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laybrick

never had the need for brackets. Generally, the back side of the sill always butts to something. J-channel, trim, or if it's not sided yet, a temporary 2 by 4 to tuck under at the designated height. I lay stone 2 3/4 to 3 inches below the top. Then I back butter sill, tuck the back & put 1 or two wood wedges to hold it till it sets enough to pull them out & tool

turbomason

Yes perhaps i will try just sticking the sills on the wall and shimming them with something sometime. It just seems less frustrating not sticking those bulky warped-ass sill on the wall haha but i guess it would be eaiser to make them line up and appear to be straight. I really dont understand why everyone is going to Precast thinset stone except for the lack of a foundation. The brackets take all the guess work out of wondering if the stones will stick or not though haha..
hate to have stones fall off...


thanks guys

laybrick

the sills are resting on the stone and tucked under something. Yesterday, I did 75 feet of of this wanna-be sill on top of wanna-be ledgestone. I have a bucket of various sized (nothing to 1/2 inch) wood wedges cut from the width of a 2 x 4 that I keep around for such occasions. this way I am able to adjust them accordingly. When I was done laying, I was able to go back to where I started, pull out shims, slick & brush. (actually, my ol'lady did that while I tore down set-up on roof for chimney chase.) She lays these stone better than most masons I know. Same with Citadel stone. she lays my stone, then cooks me dinner. lol