What it is
Stone veneer is a non-structural facing — limestone, fieldstone, or a manufactured equivalent — applied to a wall, chimney, or column to read as solid masonry. Two installation methods, two different looks. Dry-stack sets the stones tight with no visible joint. Mortared leaves the joint exposed and tooled to a profile.
When you need it
- New construction facade or feature wall
- Fireplace surround, interior or exterior
- A wood-frame or block wall being upgraded to read as stone
- Replacement of a deteriorated original facade
- Outdoor kitchen, pool surround, or pier wrap
How we do it
A veneer is only as good as the wall behind it. We start with a clean structural substrate, install a weather-resistive barrier and corrosion-resistant metal lath, and lay a scratch coat of Type S mortar. After the scratch cures, we set each stone individually — back-buttered with mortar, pressed into the bed, leveled. On a mortared install we tool the joint to match the architecture. On dry-stack we set tight and brush the face. Weep screeds and drip edges go in at every termination so water exits the assembly, never the substrate.
Materials and methods
- Wisconsin lannon stone — local, weathered, ledgy
- Indiana limestone for cut-faced ashlar work
- Fieldstone — round, weathered, gathered, never cut
- Manufactured stone — Eldorado, Cultured Stone — when load or budget requires it
- Type S mortar on structural substrates, Type N on weather-protected interior installs
- Stainless ties on exterior installs, galvanized only where local code allows
A veneer should look like it was always there. The wrong stone selection, the wrong joint, the wrong scale of unit — any of those and the wall reads as a renovation forever.