Cultured - Exterior Drystack Ledgestone

Tommy C

Hey guys,

Am I the only one who is wary of exterior mortarless jointed cultured ledgestone? Do you guys seal it afterwards? Or am I just being overly cautious? Appreciate your thoughts here...

-T

artisanstone

I think you're right to be wary, esp. in your freeze thaw climate. I don't do cultured anymore as I can't stand many aspects of it, and units falling off the wall from poor bonding/ freeze issues is a big part of it. It runs against centuries of masonry rules to A: glue thin units to a wall and expect it to last, and B: purposely have heavily raked/ nonexistent mortar joints.

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Bill Baddorf
Bill@artisanstoneworks.net
www.artisanstoneworks.net
www.stonefoundation.org

Tscarborough

When I was in Colorado I saw a lot of it, but it does not seem right to me. Here it is not much of an issue, freeze-wise, but I still only recommend it for interiors.

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laybrick

I lay them all the time and the climate sucks here. All I ever think about is water rolling back on the ledges & finding it's way behind or freezing & snapping. I'm overly conscious when it comes to makeing sure every stone is sealed all the way around when it's laid. I do a lot of extra slicking because I'm not satisfied unless mortar is filling all voids possible. Haven't had any problems yet without sealer. IMO They are sold as an exterior product, so I have to think that applied correctly, that there shouldn't be any problems

Tscarborough

Laybrick, Drystack ledgestone is the type that is problematical. Jointed should not be a problem anywhere.

Edit-- But you should still seal it with something like Prime-a-pell 200

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laybrick

like I said, been layin them for years & never had a problem. It's all in the application

laybrick

Like I said, they are sold as an exterior product. Just need to focus a little more on quality than on how much you can make throwing them in

3-D Mason

I agree w/ what all you guys are saying, but my biggest concern w/ these cultured stone is the fact that the color is just a dusting, in my opinion someone is gonna make a lot of money reappling color to these "stone" houses in about 20 yrs

artisanstone

If 90% of those houses are not rotting out behind the "stone" in 20 years, I'll buy you a beer. BTW, we call it frock.

__________________
Bill Baddorf
Bill@artisanstoneworks.net
www.artisanstoneworks.net
www.stonefoundation.org

Tscarborough

If you chip real stone the effect is similar, and the cure is the same: rub some dirt on it.

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It ain't Rocket Science unless you are building rockets.