Full Stone Arch

This stone arch is around the corner from my home. This is an entrance to an office setting. Each one of the stones are loose. No mortar was used or any re bar. If you notice two metal rods with the flat bars on the end. This is what is holding the arch together. Notice how the top stones are tapered, wedge shaped. The wedge shape is what keeps the stone from falling through. The top of the arch stone is wider than the bottom of the arch stone. Have you ever noticed man hole covers in the street? Every man hole cover is round. This is for a reason. The cover can not fit through the hole, so it can not fall through and hit a worker in the hole. The forces on the arch are straight down and outwards to the sides. The bar keeps the columns from falling outwards. If the arch and columns were in a wall section, the metal rods would not be needed to hold the arch together. This is a great entrance for the office, and it is very neat to pass by and look at daily.

Correct Stone Application

Today I stopped by a job site where the stones had to be removed due to poor installation. The pictures above shows the back of a stone that has been applied to the wall and has been removed. The back of the stone was struck with mortar around the edge of the stone. This creates a dry cup in the center of the stone. This causes two major problems using this technique. Number one, the stone does not become a solid piece with the scratch coat. When you tap on the stone you will hear a dull, dead sound. This is not a 100% adhesion with the scratch coat. The send major problem is the center void will act like a cup. When water (rain) is running down the wall, water will gather in the cup. Now, if the cup is full of water and the temperature just happens to drop below freezing, need I say anymore? Some people say by having the void on the back of the stone, this will create a suction to hold the stone on the wall. I agree, but, do a full mortar bed on the back of the stone and use your trowel to create a small divot and apply the stone to the scratch coat using a wiggle motion and pressure. The mortar will spread out around the edges. After a little practice one can master the amount of mortar to be applied to each stone. Ideally the edge mortar from each stone will join to form a good seal around the stones. This will ensure no water will get between the stones and the scratch coat. Whenever dealing with exterior siding, always think like water. Like Chevy Chase says, "see the water, be the water, feel the water, na na na na na naaaaa." The number one enemy to your home is moisture, so lets keep it OUT!!!

Ferncliff Development, Artistic Stone

Here is another fine job by Teger Stones. The builder is Ferncliff Development. The job is located in Chesapeake, VA. You can see how JP is using a circular pattern and fitting the pieces together. They will fill the joints with mortar using a grout bag. Then they will rake the joint half the depth to give texture to the edge of the stone. This technique helps to give character to the stone. The colors of the stone are rich in earth tones. Great job Teger Stones.

Full Stone Masonry

Here is a picture of a full stone application. Notice the white ledge at the bottom of the stone? This is what the stone is sitting on. In order to use this type of stone, you have to pour a larger footer. The stone has to be tied to the block work. Each piece has to chipped to fit. This type of application one could spend up to $50 per square foot. Do the math. One can get the same look by using man made stones without the high cost for application. One could use natural thin veneered stone and also reduce cost drastically.

Red Shiners

This is what I call a sore thumb. The red bed side of the brick showing is the actual body of the brick. If the brick color was a red range brick, this would not be a problem. The color on the face of the brick is actually very thin. Paint thin. If something were to strike the brick on the face, a red chip would show through. Manufactures use clays, engobes, and other additives to color the face of the brick. Another additive used is MNO2, manganese dioxide. This is added to the body of the brick during the extrusion process, this darkens the body of the brick. Brownnish color. MNO2 could also be used on the face of the brick for coloring. Other additives are frit, iron specs, and iron oxides. A manufacturer can produce many ranges of color by applying additives to the face of the red body brick. The red brick you see is the bed side of a solid brick, (no holes). The mason needs some brick to finish off turns. If the mason used a cored brick, the holes would be showing. Not good. The bed side of the brick is not exposed during manufacturing, so, the additives can not be added to the bed side. In order to color the bed side, one has to turn the brick over on the bed side and apply the additives. Then place the brick on a kiln car to be burned. One at a time, but you do not see the RED THUMB!!! It boils down to attention to detail. I supply TB-1's, the brick is finished on 4 sides. This resolves the red thumb.

Brick trim work

While I was out doing my daily travels, I noticed this trim work. This accent was done using only regular brick, no special shapes. With the tutored header edge of the brick this gives more character to the home. During these times of slowed residential sales, this is thinking outside of the box and giving that buyer something different. Over all I was impressed with the whole look.

Top Rock, Heritage Stone

This is a Heritage Stone Top Rock with Piedmont Buff mortar. This home is located in Mayberry subdivision in Virginia Beach, VA. Teger Stones installed the stone. Good looking job.