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Mortar

I

Inno

Well-known Member
Attaching some natural stone veneer to an interior wall. Bought a 60lb bag of "stone mortar" from Menards. Mixing instructions are pretty ambiguous and open to interpretation in my opinion. They say something like "stiff but workable". To me that covers a large range! I tried a small section last night and it did stay put when I checked it this morning but I couldn't seem to find the right consistency to make it easy to work with.
 
larry at stines corners is the guy i would go to for stonework. he does some amazing stuff. drop down to tractor tales and give him a shout out.
 

Try a slump test. It should stay in a pyramid or cone shape, but is readily worked into that shape.
 
Mortar is for filling between stones after they are set. Use thin set for sticking stone to wall.
 
You are not trying to glue it to wall. Think peanut butter for consistency. Mortar
goes mostly behind and between stones. Best rock work looks like a dry wall. Very
little mortar showing. Nothing uglier than rocks stuck in a sea of mortar.
 
Dave beat me to it. I was going to say make it the consistency of peanut butter. The mortar just has to be thick enough it will stand up on it's own. Too thin you would trowel it on and it would slide off on the ground. It also helps to wet the stone when laying them. The mortar will adhere better.

Be sure to use some metal wall ties here and there in your mortar line.
 
"Be sure to use some metal wall ties here and there in your mortar line."

Yes! Very important!

A few years ago I remodeled the living room, took down an ugly brick fireplace front.

I had noticed it was separating from the wall at the top. Went to take it down, there was nothing holding it!

Could have very easily fallen at the worst possible time!
 
You find shortcuts in every trade. Every time you remodel you either find something done badly or termites. I have an awful time bidding remodeling work. There is always surprises when you demo.
 
I learner from an old brick layer that mortar, mixed properly will hold any marks you make in it, so once mixed right you can run a trowel or
shovel across it and the mark that you make in the mortar will remain,its ready to work with then.
 
Around here there is a stone product called "dry stack". The brick layers do it from the top down, to keep the stone clean. No mortar shown. Nice looking. Usually applied to a Densglass substrate.
 
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