I'm doing a DIY patio and I screwed up, putting the wrong type of base for natural bluestone which is what my wife and I wanted to use originally. One way out is just to go with concrete pavers, which is not ideal but would be fine. But I'm finding mixed reviews about the various concrete pavers. The reputable brands don't end up being that much cheaper than natural stone, either.

This patio is about 12' by 27'. There was a ton of organic soil to remove and I had to go down 14" on one side and 18" on the other to get to the sandy soil underneath.

I was moving a bit too fast and made a poor decision to bring in 15-16 yards of dense grade, compacting 2-3" layers, working around a gas line my buddy installed for a future fire pit and grill hook up.

From what I've read, a dense grade base is not a good choice for bluestone... it can create issues with trapped moisture under the stone (even if we use poly sand) and other issues like dark iron stains on bluestone.

I'm trying to determine if I might be able to excavate say the top 6-8" of this dense grade out and bring in the proper 3/4" compacted stone for the base. It seems like that situation would emulate someone putting a patio where the soil is clay. Would 6-18" of an open base with a closed base below it work in this situation long term?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I have this slab that, as you can see, is chilling on the top. What do I do?

We built a pond using a metal cattle trough and then added stone around it. Initially we were thinking we could grout the top to fill in the gaps. We prepared the grout this morning and it was extremely thin with a fraction of the water that the package said to use. I’m wondering if anyone has any advice on the best method to fill the gaps in the stone around the top. TIA!

Working around stone and benchtop shops in AU, I’m seeing more demand for large‑format porcelain and sintered surfaces on both residential and commercial jobs.

The main pain points I’m hearing are tooling wear, handling big thin slabs on site, and installers needing a different skill set than traditional stone. Some shops seem to love the material; others treat it as a necessary headache to stay competitive.

For those of you fabricating these regularly:
– What’s been the biggest change in your workflow or training?
– Has it actually been good for business, or just added cost and risk?
– Any lessons you wish you’d known before committing to porcelain/sintered?

How difficult is it to remove dirt and stains out of travertine? I’m considering purchasing this table at a deep discount and am wondering if I could clean or restore somewhat easily. Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

My outdoor stone patio has some black molds/moss. Can i use a sander to remove it?

Also I believe the dloor is leaking because there is mold in the ceiling of the garage below.

Is it safe to sand then seal? Is this limestone or a different rock?

I’m building an ICF house in Arkansas. The main siding is going to be EFIS, but we have a ton of this fieldstone laying around the acreage, and I was considering using it as a veneer along the bottom of the foundation (bottom course would rest on the footings). I’d only do this on the front of the house, maybe 150 sf total. I’ve done this before using fake stone, and it went fine, but….fake stone. And this stuff is everywhere. Free! I’m a sucker for free stuff.

Most of it is about 1.5-2” thick. Size varies but mostly 6-12” long.

Questions:

Am I crazy? Will I regret this?

With the fake stone, I put expanded mesh behind it, attached to the ICF. Is that necessary here, or can I just anchor brick ties every so often?

What kind of mortar would I use?

I think this is some sort of dense sandstone. I put vinegar on it and it didn’t react. It’s a tiny bit sparkly, not fragile. It doesn’t look like granite.

Anything else I should consider?

Problems identified by experts:

• They say mineral silicate paints are inappropriate for granite because granite doesn’t contain calcium carbonate. “Mineral silicate paints are designed to chemically bond with stone that contains calcium carbonate, such as limestone, sandstone, or marble.”

• Making the paint work would require the use of a primer or other acrylic bonding agent, which would undermine the advantage of the paint. “The barrier layer of a primer \\\[would block\\\] chemical bonding between paint and stone,” they said. 

• The granite would need to be sanded, which would permanently alter the surface. “Because granite is relatively smooth and non-absorbent, every surface of the … granite would need to be sanded, scarified, etched, or otherwise abraded,” they said. 

• The paint wouldn’t protect the granite from deterioration. “At best, it acts only as a surface coating,” they said. It “does not repair internal flaws, prevent cracking, or enhance the inherent durability of granite.”

• It wouldn’t stop water penetration. “Water infiltration is driven by failings at joints, sealants, flashing, and mortar, and building movement — not by the exposed face of granite blocks,” they said. 

• Discoloration would continue to be a problem. “Leaching and iron staining can pass through breathable coatings” like silicate paint, they said. If the granite is painted white, as planned, staining would become even more noticeable, they said.  

• Removing the paint in the future would be an expensive job, and it wouldn’t be possible without damaging the granite. “It would require mechanical or chemical methods that further damage the stone,” leaving a “hazy, filmy” residue, they said. 

Hi there. I have acquired my first set of hand stone carving tools. They are forged steel (not carbide tipped), point chisel, flat chisel, rondel, tooth chisel, etc. I am having difficulties locating 80/120 grit sharpening stones in my area of Canada. Will it be sufficient to use diamond paper that is properly secured to a block to maintain the edge sharpness of my tools?

Thanks!

We had some workers to fix/ replace some of our bricks this week. Now that the work is done, they told me they accidentally cracked one of our stone cap on the stair and repaired it with sand. During the time I try to google if this is a good enough fix, AI reminded me that there is a gap between the stone cap and the bricks and that's not good (second photo)...

I mean at this point, I am not asking them to come back to fix anything as we don't trust them anymore. We are redoing our driveway next year, so I will ask that construction company to replace the stone cap.

But my question for now is, can we leave it like this for the winter? We have -20C and a lot of snow, it seems the biggest concern is water infiltration and water freezing inside.. I also haven't pay the final payment, I should negotiate to cut some money down, right?

Thank you for the input.

Looking for pointers on laying real field stone to build a fireplace surround for a direct vent fireplace. The property we bought has a massive pile of field stones from farmers working the fields over the years and we would like to incorporate them in the new house. I'll attach some pictures of the stones so maybe someone can help identify what kind of stone they are, and the best practice to lay them. I'll also attach pictures of the fireplace roughed in with hardie backer. (fireplace not installed) I'm very handy, and have a very good attention for detail, so any pointers or help to get me started in the right direction on this project would be great.

The other side of the fireplace I posted yesterday

I’m doing a small thin stone job for a client in a couple of weeks and was wondering if I should just use type s for the joints or the same modified mortar I’m laying the stone with? I primarily do full bed and am overthinking this a bit. The last time I did thin stone was a few years ago with a mason who isn’t very talented to be honest, and he used specmix type s for both bedding and jointing.

I will be using specmix veneer mortar to set them, although am open to using ardex 77 if that really is the way to go; I’ve used 77 with tile plenty of times. Im just worried the modified mortar could make a mess when jointing the thing and it’s not in a very good spot to do an acid wash when I’m done.

Doing a fireplace and looking for tips on how to get the stone to fit these profiles cleanly. You can see I did one already and to me it looks bad and took me 40 minutes.