TIPS: Q: Why is the rock not sticking on the wall? A: Dirty rocks - wash them well Rocks too wet - let them dry Mortar too wet or too dry - use more water or more sand and cement to adjust your mix Not enough cement in the mix - add more cement (add bonding agent) Poor quality stone (too shaley) Q: Why is the mortar not sticking to a Masonry wall? A: You did not use bonding agent to coat the wall, or rough the surface up - coat wall with bonding agent or rough the surface up Dirty or greasy wall - clean it and coat it with bonding agent Mortar too wet or too dry - use more water or more sand and cement to adjust your mix Not enough cement in the mortar - add more cement (add bonding agent) Wall too wet - let it dry Q: Why doesn't the mortar stick to a wood wall? A: Mortar too wet or too dry - use more water or more sand and cement to adjust your mix Not enough cement in the mortar - add more cement Forgot to put on metal lath - put on metal lath Q: How do I deal with mortar joints? A: Mortar joints make all the difference between professional and unprofessional looking stonework. The most important thing is to keep your work neat and clean. It is easy to clean the mortar off the stone while the mortar is still weak. It is a lot of work - if not impossible to get mortar off after it has set up. Q: What do I do to repair a loose stone? A: If the mortar is still solid in the hole, remove the stone and clean it well. Put a good adhesive on the back of the stone as well as in the hole it came out of and re set the stone. You may have to brace it until the adhesive sets. Q: What do I do if the mortar is crumbling or broken up? A: Remove any loose stone and mortar, clean the stone well, re-mortar it into place and redo your mortar joints. Use bonding agent in your mortar. Q: Why is rock falling off the wall after the job is finished? A: Stones were disturbed before they had set up. Stones were not tapped into the mortar to create suction. Note enough mortar was put behind the rocks or it was poor mortar. Bonding agent was not used on your Masonry wall. Poor rock that flakes off like mica was used (not our rock!). Dirty rock was used. The building settled and cracked the stonework. The footings were not adequate or settled too muck, (or perhaps a frost heave caused it). The metal lath was not secured well enough. The mortar froze. Q: Why is the mortar starting to crumble and fall out? A: You did not use enough cement in your mortar. You used bad cement. There was dirt in your sand, or you used poor sand. The sand must be sharp and clean. There was salt in your sand The moisture was sucked out of your mortar too fast so it dried too quickly and did not have a chance to cure properly. Bonding agent helps to prevent this. Mortar was used that should have been thrown out. Do not add water to drying out mortar unless you really know what you are doing. Once the chemical reaction has taken place, the mortar could be shot. Your mortar may have frozen.

Stone Library

GRANITE Granite is an important structural and decorative stone. It’s used for immense structural work due to its high compressive strength and durability. It is the hardest structural stone. Granite’s rich colors, stiffness and density, make it an ideal choice for flooring, counter tops, vanities as well as exterior applications. Many stylish patterns and colors make granite the most versatile and trendy of all stones. It is also a very low-maintenance stone. Granite is composed of quartz, feldspars, micas and other minerals. These minerals contribute to the color and texture of the granite stones. Granites get their wonderful variety of colors and patterns from minerals that are melted into the liquid mass as it is formed..

MARBLE Marble has been valued for thousands of years for its rich palette of beautiful colors and appearance and is perfect, pretty much anywhere in the house. Marble stones consist of limestone that has undergone heat and pressure. A transformation process takes place when the weight of overlying material, pressure from crystal collisions and heat from the earth's core generate temperatures in excess of 1800ºF.Texture of marble depends on the form, size and uniformity of grains. The element components of marble determine the color of the stone. Generally calcite and dolomite marbles are of pure white color. Variations of whiteness of pure marbles are due to the mixture of foreign substances. Such impurities form streaks and clouds.

TRAVERTINE Travertine is generally used for floors, walls, countertops and for outside as cladding and pavement. Travertine is generally filled with grout before it is honed or polished, which produces a uniform surface more like other marbles. Unfilled travertine is also quite beautiful, and is often seen as exterior surfaces of buildings. Travertine stones result from hot spring water penetrating up through underground limestone. When the water evaporates, it leaves behind layers of dissolved limestone and other minerals, giving it its banded appearance. Travertine stones are generally light-colored beiges and tans.

LIMESTONE The soft limestone stones are ideal for today's more casual and comfortable environments. Generally these soft beiges and tans are suitable for bathrooms, fireplaces, counters and floors. Limestone is a sedimentary rock that is formed at the bottom of lakes and seas, as organic matters settle to the bottom. As more and more layers build up over thousands and millions of years, adding more and more weight, the heat and pressure cause chemical reactions to take place to harden the sediments into solid stone.

SLATE The lively colors and unique texture make slates appropriate for interior as well as exterior applications. Slate is formed of compressed layers of sediments formed under ocean. Since it is formed in layers, it can easily be split to expose beautifully textured surfaces. The usual colors of slates are earthy browns, beiges, yellows, black, dark-grays, and greenish-gray, pinks, purples and copper are also found. They usually exhibit lot of variations even in the same quarry. Slates are used for flooring, cladding and landscaping.

SANDSTONE Sandstone consists of sand covered by silica, iron and lime. Cementing material determines the color of sandstone, iron sandstones are reddish, brownish; carbonaceous, black; siliceous, white and argillaceous, earthy to buff. The hardness of sandstones is important in deciding suitability for applications for sandstone.

QUARTZITE Quartzite stones are the same with slates, but with higher content of quartz in them, which gives them, a bright texture. They are very similar to slates. Like slates, quartzites are used for various applications depending on their hardness.

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