Stone Work Photos and Ideas

[Gulf]

Re: My home grown fieldstones and stonework

I don't know whether the moss will survive on the rocks, but it would be cool if it did.

Mingy, It's looking great!
I am all about using recycled, found, or free building materials . As for as the moss surviving, I can only speak for a subtropical climate. Down here the moss would have to be in mostly shade to survive. It may survive on certain sides and near overhangs. Even if it does die it should hang for a long time although it will not be the pretty green color. It will still give that aged look that looks great on stone.

If it does die and later you decide to put a cover over it, like a patio cover or on an out door kitchen, try this: Gather a source of live moss. Mix it thoroughly with beer and milk. Paint the mix on with a brush.

Note: Moss needs moisture, As you know, WFO's don't. If there is sufficent insulation between two it just might work.

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Moss, beer, and milk! I wonder how that was discovered?

Thanks for the tip ..

[Gulf]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Moss, beer, and milk! I wonder how that was discovered?

I'm not sure how or who, but I found it while researching another of my hobbies, hypertufa. A broader search which yeilded (vermiculite+portland) is what got me interested in WFO's

Go figure

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Hyperturfa! Looked it up and I'm gonna try it!

BTW did a whole 'loop' of stones on the oven today. I found I can do about a row of about 12 to 16" high now. It takes a bit of practice, but the trick is the mortar consistency being right and making sure I arrange the stones with the proper 'tilt' at the top. When I started, I had a few places where the top sloped away from the block wall (high side on the block side), but flat or sloping toward the block means I can stack more field stones.

Another trick I learned, which I discovered when I was doing my dome, is that if you have a nylon (not rubber) mallet, and you tap a rock a bunch of times, it'll stick rather than slide off. When I was doing my dome, I used the same technique to set bricks almost vertically. The challenge with bricks is that the next one will fall down, so I made some clips to hold them.

In any event, if you are trying to place a stone and it wants to fall, you just put lots of mortar and tap the rock into place with your nylon mallet. Then it stays. I have no idea why.

I hope to do another cycle tomorrow, which should make me level with the floor of the oven. I'll post more pix then.

[Mingy]

Few more pix

Here's were I finished today. First pic is the angle iron for the door. I figure I'll have to work a bit on the roof trim soon so I'll know how to finish the stone up top.

I also have to order a stone/granite 'countertop' now I more or less know the dimensions needed. My wife figures it'll be deep enough for her to make a pizza or prepare bread.

[C5dad]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Mingy,

That is looking nice. How "thick" are those rocks? I am considering doing the same thing, but just need to get the stony materials.

Best wishes,

Chris

[azatty]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

That looks like 2.5" or 3" angle iron, so I'm guessing that field stone is probably 4-5" thick.

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Azatty: good guess! I left a 'reveal' on the slab of about 4" and most of the stones I use are 4 or 5" thick. Sometimes I have an 'interesting looking' stone (fossil corral, for example) which may be 3", so I back fill with mortar. Other times I may have a nice looking stone which is 6" at its thickest and I try cut it with my rock hammer (flat on one end, pointy on the other). This does not work with granite type stones usually, but corral and a lot of other stones can be broke with a couple whacks of the hammer. The sometimes don't break the way you'd hope, but what are you going to do?

Time will tell if I've done something stupid, but the wall seems pretty solid. Its pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. Besides the sore arms and legs, its much easier then I thought it was going to be. The arch for the door might change my mind, but I have been setting appropriate rocks aside for that.

C5Dad: as I posted in 'Where to find building materials' these rocks are off my property. I live on a farm and discovered 'pre-picked' rock piles all over the place. I have only seen a small part of Arizona, but I bet if you are near any farms and have a truck or trailer a farmer would be happy to sell you rocks for not very much money.

Would anybody be interested if I shot a series of pictures showing how I place rocks? I'm not an expert or anything but it was pretty daunting at first.

[C5dad]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

A photo series would be great. Although lick and stick are nice to use in most locales, out here in my area, I see that the faux stones are losing their coloring and have other issues related to the UV levels - Dino and those in humid places are lucky to have that natural filter to assist. Out here in the Phoenix area, we are in what is called Basin and Range when you are away from the mountains. That means lots of clay, silt and sand. As such, we live with dust storms (Haboobs - and I like them at least with a C cup ) To see this wondrous phenomenon go to Haboob in Arizona.

So, during my outings, out to the hills I go for stone. I left about 4 inches around the back side of my oven for stoning in my oven.

Now to collect/

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

I'll shoot a 'how to' series when I start putting more stones (probably within a day or two, as I am working on the roof trim).

I got a quote for $4,000 for 'cultured' natural stone!

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Okay

Here we go. So I picked up a suitable looking rock and placed in on the wall. This tells me which side should face out so it looks ok and the top of the rock is flat(ish) or at least slopes down towards the block.

As you see from the second photo, it has a bit of a protrusion which makes it stick out a bit.

In the third photo, I put the rock between my feet and whack it with the pointy end of my hammer.

In the fourth photo you see the protrusion is gone.

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Now I clean up the rock with this awesome wire brush I picked up. Its supposed to be used for stripping furniture. I leave the outside surface of the rock 'natural' so it looks aged

I check the position so I know what the orientation of the rock is going to be and where the mortar has to go

I glop a lot of mortar into place. This was a little too liquid, but close to being perfect.

Note that I keep the mortar on a piece of plywood below. A lot of it falls off as you put the rock into place. I used to let it pile on the ground, then I realized I could recycle most of it if it landed on the plywood.

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Sometimes I put too much mortar or I need to move rocks together. I found a nylon mallet works well for this. It also seems to make the rock 'stick' which is good to know when a rock wants to fall out of place.

This is what it looks like after you've done a bunch of them. Pretty messy, with lots of tool marks from the trowel. You have to wait a while (like a couple hours) for the mortar to set up.

Then you 'tool it' which this funny looking finger thingy.

Then you brush it. The tooling and brushing goes real fast.

[Mingy]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

And this is what it looks like.

I wanted a sort of rustic look, which means lots of mortar and flatish walls. There are techniques where the walls are much lumpier and there is less mortar visible.

Of course, this is the first time I have even done any stonework, so if anybody has any advice or suggestions, feel free.

[C5dad]

Re: Stone Work Photos and Ideas

Excellent Mingy!

It is a lost/dying art. At the mine I work at (over 100 yrs old) we have some stone retaining walls that are all dry fit and holding up well - just 2+ ft thick. Having wanting to do this for some time, you have been elected to my hall of fame along with the other trail breakers.

When taking the kids out shooting this weekend, I found a source of stone in many colors and styles - a good thing with AZ. And since it is only 30 minutes from the house, not a bad deal.

I have developed the plan for the enclosure, so now to execute (and buy the other goodies.).

Question = are you just using strait mortar?

Chris