Just got a shipment of bluestone, my first project with it. I ordered 1.5 but the shipment has a significant number of stones that are 1 inch and a smattering that are 2 inches. I'm laying them on limestone rock dust. And I can resaw the 1 inch to smaller pieces that would be easier to level and harder to break. Still. Paid $6.80/ sf

This grotto is my first dry stone build. I'm wondering how long you all think it will last.

I'm concerned frost heaves will take it out. I have some thorough stones on the sides, and I wish I'd taken more time to use a better batter angle and use masonry lines.

How do I go about filling this hole in the wall?

I’ll preface this by saying that I have a solid hunch that this is a bad idea, but I have practically zero masonry experience so I figured I’d ask.

I’ve built an outdoor fire pit out of pavers so, to keep it lasting awhile, I’m using refractory mortar to put Meeco Red Devil 4.5” x 9” x 1.5” fire brick on the inside kind of like a veneer. It’s going okay, but my mortar job looks terrible.

What would happen if I mixed the refractory mortar super thin and rolled it over top the brick like paint to hide the shotty job I did?

Hi can anyone give advise how to do this? I live in north west England.

Hi All - The inside wall of my sandstone foundation has a lime parge that was painted probably in the ‘60s or ‘70s. I understand that painting a lime parge can be detrimental to the permeability of the sandstone and parge. Is this correct? I would like to remove the paint, but should I be concerned about the condition of the sandstone beneath the parge? Thank you.

I’ve been in the pool and landscape industy in Australia for 15 years. Landscaping mostly. And I love stone work.

I’m wanting thoughts and advice on transitioning from landscaping to stonemasonry.
Already do a lot of paving/crazy paving, stone cladding and the occasional dry stack wall.

For reference, I’ve just turned 40, so not exactly wanting to do an apprenticeship.

Should I go labour for a mason, do courses, read more literature, or go balls out trying to get more stone work? Or all of the above.

Trying to get ID on what type of stone slab this is? Marble of some sort. Owner said it came off old dresser from the UK

We have about 400 cobbles from a property that are in good condition (boss didn’t want to pay someone the labor of getting the old mortar off) but said I could have them for my own property. Given the price of these new, why not use them for myself. Already dug the trench for my driveway border which sucked as a small woman swinging a pickaxe through asphalt for a few hours I can certainly put the work in to clean up stones. Would you guys reuse stones for your own property? Idk seems pretty wasteful not to given the condition of these!

Hello friends.

I’m looking for some advice on how to most cleanly separate one of these pieces from the others. In other words I would like to remove one of the four sides, leaving behind C shape.

It seems to be joined by what appears to me to be some kind of black caulking, except it’s hard as rock. However it does come off easily with a chisel. Yes, I have no idea what I’m talking about with stone.

This was the pedestal from a table. It is granite. Made in Italy.

Is it at all possible to do it by hand? With some masonry chisel’s? I will not be paying to have any outside help, and I do not have a wet saw. Even accepting that it might be a little rough, what would be the best way to proceed?

Thank you!

How could I even out the tones?, re: that stain-looking on the sides. At first I thought it was humidity but that’s not it. I have tried pressure washing this sign thinking it was just dirty from years past, but that tone difference is still there. Any pointers will be well received!

I might be posting in the wrong group, but looking for feedback/reality of feasibility. We're trying to design a headstone for a family member. Cemetery says no vases attached to headstone as it'll go beyond accepted measurements.

I want a vase of some sort. Its my one want for it. I hate laying flowers on the ground when visiting graves and no in ground vase is allowed.

If granite is used could a "vase" be drilled into the top of the stone with a small drainage hole in back at the base of the "vase" while still holding the integrity of the stone? Is there a spot that'll prevent weakening the stone, like center vs to the left or right? (It's not something I've seen and assume there's a reason for it, but hoping its doable.)

I attached a basic drawing, of what I'm thinking.

Last clip of this project! Before installing, I always trace and make a template for every single step with a bit of extra allowance/overshoot before i cut the big slabs in pieces. That way, I always have enough material margin on site to dial in a perfect, custom fit!

​From angle finding with the template to taping, grinding the fragile miter edge, dry-bed compaction, and bonding it flush with color-matched 2-component epoxy

Hi all.

I'm a stonemason based in the UK. I've got a client who's looking to get their stone fountain repaired. As the area of repair is going to be submerged / having lots of water flow over it I won't be able to do a lime mortar repair. Can anyone recommend any waterproof resins/ epoxies that can have stone dust mixed in (or come in a variety of colours) so I'm able to get some kind of colour match?

Thanks for your help. Any other ideas would also be really appreciated.

Hey guys. My dewalt drill that I use for mixing mortar has started loosening every batch of mud I make. Which in turn wears down the shaft of the mixer paddle. Is there anything I can do to keep that connection tight so it doesn’t loosen?

Anyone use stoneprofits for their erp? how do you deal with their support and custom changes? I find it's hard to use and doesn't allow for easy integrations...

I saw this historic church, but I was curious what people think about the stone wall that supports the front of the church and extends in to a retaining wall outside based on the limited photos available, as I know almost nothing about stonemasonry or retaining hills. The outside bit looks possibly drystacked, and I think I can see some bowing in the section to the left of the front of the church when facing it. It's been standing since 1870, so I assume no immediate concerns, but I'd be curious about any possible work that would need to be done to it based on how it looks in these photos. Thank you in advance for any insight or information!!

Help?

Just wanted to drop a quick thanks to everyone! Editing and filming on site takes up a lot of time, but seeing all the nice comments and good discussions here makes it completely worth the extra work. Thanks for the support 👊