r/stonemasonry:

u/BrimstoneOmega

Not this time man. You asked why people said you were wrong. I told you why. This is why. And you are still wrong. This needs water to drain from it, not be stopped from getting in. Edit: Sorry, I’m not telling you why, which would likely help put it in perspective. This is gonna move, no matter what you do to it. That means if the joints are filled with mortar, that mortar is going to crack. Once it cracks, you have your water ingress. But where the joints didn’t crack you have a dam. That’s where the real issues are going to come from. Water trapped inside with nowhere to go.
u/BrimstoneOmega

Because that’s not a structural issue. Take a look at a lot of these kinds of things, you will find over hangs are actually incorporated into builds because that helps masonry in certain situations. Such as this even, if the slab goes past the stones, that is a water ingress and will make these guys move/deteriorate more easily. (Edit: it is not necessary in this build. I would have cut the stones down to fit the slab, but it’s not really anything to worry about on your end). Look, I’m not saying they did a great job, but they are landscapers, full stop. Hire a mason for masonry work (I say this as a 20 year stone mason that has spent time working for landscaping companies in the past). Landscapers slap shit in as fast and dirty as possible (gotta buy the boss a new truck or excavator each year, after all). They do not have the knowledge or tools to do stone masonry, if they did they wouldn’t be landscapers. I’m not faulting you for this, just giving perspective. I wasn’t even allowed to dress stone as a landscaper, they see it as a waste of time. I was just as surprised as you when I found this out. This was from two different companies. I do landscaping like this as a side gig now in my own business, my company’s name is Brimstone Masonry and Landscaping. The work you received would not fly if one of my guys did that. But my guys are masons, and wouldn’t do that. This is perfectly functional and is not going to fall apart. My biggest gripe, to tell the truth, is that messed up cut against the house. That’s not ok for a mason or a landscaper.
u/BrimstoneOmega

Yikes. Just build it with stick framing and use veneer. You’re going to be over your head, quick, if you’re trying to build a full stone house with no experience and no skilled labor. This is going to take a long time. This is a lot of work you’re talking about.
u/BrimstoneOmega

Omg! The first time I’ve seen someone use the correct term here, and you actually have tuck pointing already on the wall! I would use type s or N on this, likely, but it’s hard to tell from the picture. You may need to use a lime mortar, like an NHL 3.5 depending on how soft the existing mortar is.
u/BrimstoneOmega

Lmao!
u/BrimstoneOmega

Tear it down and use the correct product with a good drainage system.
u/BrimstoneOmega

Good luck. Make a line by chiseling a few hits and moving. Once you get a line all the way around, do it again. And again. Think of it like a typewriter. I usually pull the chisel towards myself, hit-move-hit-move ext, then go back to the start. You don’t want to be too aggressive in one spot. Even if you think it will help. It won’t. You’ll just sheer off a chunk and have a hell of a time recovering from it. If you’re especially confident, I just pull the chisel constantly, hitting it like a typewriter once I get a nice line scored into the stone. Take your time. Hit the chisel like you’re cracking a whip, not like it’s whack-a-mole. The snap is what you want, not sheer He-man power. I’ve taught 100lbs girls to shape stone. This is not going to be easy. It will take a very long time. Do everything you can to keep the corners from breaking off. You will likely fail. But that’s fine. Go rent a partner saw if it’s too hard. Cut a line all the way around it, not the full depth of the blade. Take as many chisels as you have, and start pounding them into the cut line, one every so often. Once one starts to sink and you don’t need to hold it move on to the next one, and then the next, and then the next. Relatively the same principle; you want your cutoff to come out as one piece. Don’t get too aggressive in one area. Don’t break off the corners.
u/BrimstoneOmega

Are you asking if this is true? Because yes, it is very true. You want the weak point of a wall to be the mortar. If the mortar is too hard it will shift any damage or movement to the brick or stone. In stone you’ll see them sheer apart or split, in brick you’ll see the faces get crushed and start popping off, known a spalling. Think of crumple zones in cars. It’s kind of the same idea; you want the weak points to be placed so they take the damage and not the parts that you really don’t want taking the damage.
u/BrimstoneOmega

No fucking up needed. This is a good job. I personally like the contrast of the material.
u/BrimstoneOmega

When I doubt use a smaller piece. You’re going in the deep end without ever learning to swim. Drystack is tough. Cultured stone is a nightmare to get looking good. The other guys gave great advice. Take your time. After making your cuts and snapping a live edge onto them, take a bit of mortar and smear it over the exposed aggregate of the stones. It won’t look perfect but it will help hide the concrete.