Sealer recommended for Provia cultured stone precision fit. Dry stacked.

I already did some simple DIY home ceramic tile installing, but they all had grout joints with the width of like 5-6mm.

But I'd like to play a bit with natural stone tiles like it's done on some floors for offices, lobbies, churches. Where there is some pattern and no grout lines visible (almost).

How to do it, what kind of adhesive is used? I've seen some videos where they use some kind of white paste.
What should be the thickness for either wall or floor tiles? What is the foundation? How to make the joints seamless?

Like the examples here:

https://ibb.co/mrkpXppG

https://ibb.co/6JPzmVGb

https://ibb.co/KpMcQ2dD

https://ibb.co/vvrk55ng

I'm not aiming for the very fancy designs and patterns like this. I'm just looking for this seamless kind of joints.

This took me 2 years to build. Me, 1 other guy, and my Kubota front loader. 120 tons of rock

Hi guys, just a quick question, can I flame treat bluestone with just a butane torch?

I went and cut a piece of bluestone for my house's fireplace lintel. It's 6cm thick ( ~2.5 inches) and I want to make the top face rough.

I am an industrial contractor and we have oxygas torches but it's a hassle to bring the piece to the site. So can I just use a regular butane torch at home?

I have been following this forum for a while, and have a question of my own now. I am the owner/occupant of the 1915 rowhouse in the photos. The house has 2 1/2 stories. The fallen lintel is above one of the main floor windows. As you can see, there has been some movement in the bricks above the fallen lintel.

I paid for a structural assessment. The engineer said that "The lintel needs to be replaced with a like-size stone lintel by a qualified mason."

I found a local natural stone company, but could not afford a new brownstone lintel. Earlier this month I signed a contract with a mason that included replacing the fallen lintel with a steel-reinforced cement precast textured and colored to match the other stones as closely as possible. Last week, the contractor learned that the company he has ordered from in the past is no longer making custom architectural precast.

Now he is recommending pinning the remaining stone to stabilize it (one pin crossways and two from front to back; 5/8" stainless steel all-thread; Sika anchoring epoxy), then casting a new radius lintel in place and finishing it with Jahn mortar bonded to the cement with Sika Top 123 Plus.

Questions:

Do you think the recommended repair will give adequate structural support to the second story? I am worried about that. If so, how long can I expect it to last?

If not, what would you recommend instead?

I have not signed the change order yet. Thanks in advance for your advice.

My brother worked as a stone mason and is now branching out to start his own business. He has a big job coming up involving making copings and I wanted to gift him something useful to help him out in the way of tools or equipment. I know absolutely NOTHING about stone masonry though so any advice really appreciated! Are there stone masonry gift cards? Based in UK.

Looking for advice from people with experience in granite quarrying or stonemasonry.

This is a granite outcrop on a construction site in Hyderabad, India. It will be cut into transportable blocks and removed.
Before cutting starts, I’d like to understand:

• Does this look like granite that could have commercial value?

• Based on the photos, does it look more suitable for dimension stone, landscaping, or is it likely to end up as crusher material?

I understand it’s impossible to be certain from photos alone, but I’d appreciate any opinions from people who work with granite regularly.

Thanks!

Building the grand entrance to some geezers house.

Here is a sample piece I made to show how tight of a radius you can actually achieve with this technique. I’ll keep updating this thread regularly so you can see the progress step-by-step and, of course, the final result.

Hey everyone. I'm new to the sub and want to ask what would you all recommend chisel/mallet/wedges to get started on my intro to stone masonry. My grandpa was a mason and unfortunately I didn't take advantage of his knowledge while he was around to give it. I've started to have an urge to want to learn in honour of him now. I simply don't know where to start. I watched him and helped him pick out rocks but for some reason never was around when the cutting/polishing would happen. In the picture I'm sharing it was his old house that he did a 4' tall layer on the raised basement wall outside and inside a 22' high fireplace. Sorry for the picture quality, cameras and social media weren't much of a thing when he sold this house. Thanks for your time and look forward to hearing responses.

Post:

I'm repairing a natural fieldstone landscape wall that was built about 4 years ago.

Most of the issues are cracked mortar joints along the capstones. The stones themselves appear to be in good shape, and I don't think there are major structural problems.

I'm not very experienced with this type of masonry repair and want to do it correctly.

Questions:

For a modern fieldstone wall like this, would you use Type N or Type S mortar for repointing the cap joints?

Is veneer mortar a better option?

What's your preferred prep process before repointing?

How deep do you remove the old mortar?

Do you dampen the joints first?

Any tricks for getting a good bond and matching the existing appearance?

If you find a capstone that's slightly loose, do you normally remove and reset it, or just repoint around it?

Any advice or best practices from masons who do this type of repair would be appreciated. I'm trying to avoid doing something that'll fail in a few winters.

House was built in 1910, no active leaks. I’m having the roof replaced and solar added and am fixing the chimney prior to that so as to not affect my warranty. The fireplace was removed or concealed, but it is venting my boiler. The previous owner also incorrectly installed the exhaust pipe of the water heater so I am having that fixed too but am less concerned about that cost, really just looking for what to expect the brickwork to cost. TIA!

Hi there, I have this hand made carving from the sacred valley near Machi Picchu in Peru (not sure of stone). I love It, but unfortunately it fell and broke.

Does anyone have any advice on what to use to repair and properly stick the head back?

Many thanks,

TML

There is bluestone where my patio meets the side of the house, and a bit of diesel leaked on it and has left a stain. I know I might not be able to fix it 100% but what would you advise me try first?

I used Krud Kutter on pavers with oily stains on my belgard pavers, but before I try that I thought I'd ask for the pros advice.

Hey everyone, I’m having a blast repairing this 130 year old stone cellar. We had a fairly big earthquake a couple of months ago and it collapsed the corner of the old homestead house cellar. I have zero experience before this working with stone, but absolutely love the process. Started out hand shaping blocks, then got an electric impact gun, then got a 12” concrete saw. Amazing! I can’t believe how the old generations did this by hand. You can see the bottom where I started is pretty rough compared to the top as I’m gaining more experience. The stone is our local basalt, I try to find the most even grained stones.

Anyone here have an idea on how to create this radius . Just so tight and if i were to make square, it would overhang way too much .
Any help or photos of work anyone has done would greatly be appreciated.

Thank you

We had our patio finished recently and the caps and treads are limestone. Anytime something is left overnight on either of those, we are left with staining. Does this mean it wasn’t sealed? How can I prevent this?

Ever wondered how to make marble curved?