New Papa Bear Owner

[Don H]

Laying stone is quite different than block or brick. Block and brick absorb the moisture from the mortar allowing it to set quicker. Plus the weight of the brick or block are evenly distributed on the ones below. Compare this to stone which doesn't absorb moisture readily and has an uneven surface to subsequent courses. My experience is that real stone work, not "lick and stick" stone, can proceed at a rate of up to 2' of elevation per day. Of course this depends on the size and thickness of the stone and mortar.

The stone in the picture above was laid one course at a time considering the size and weight of the stones, some of them weighing maybe 50 pounds. The work is tied to the block wall behind it using standard masonry ties.

 

[bholler]

can proceed at a rate of up to 2' of elevation per day. Of course this depends on the size and thickness of the stone and mortar.

How could you ever get anything done at 2' a day? of course you are not going to build a whole stone chimney in a day like you can with block but you absolutely can build way more that 2' a day.

 

[Don H]

How could you ever get anything done at 2' a day? of course you are not going to build a whole stone chimney in a day like you can with block but you absolutely can build way more that 2' a day.

Note that I said "can proceed at a rate of up to 2' of elevation per day. Of course this depends on the size and thickness of the stone and mortar."

This chimney built by me 30 years ago and is made from locally quarried Butler Broken Face stone. It is 6' wide, 2.5' deep and 25' high. There is matching stone work on the interior of the house too. So you have about 17 linear foot of stonework going completely around the chimney. Considering I did this job by myself including setting scaffold, picking stone, carrying stone to the top of the scaffolding, mixing mud and carrying that to the top of the scaffold, cutting stone, etc., 2 foot a day was an entire days work. This chimney took about a month for me to complete.

The stone on this chimney is on an average of 3 - 4" thick. You just can't pile a lot of 30 pound stones on top of their 3" edges and expect them to stay put. I don't think I even managed 2' between trips on this job.

 

[bholler]

You just can't pile a lot of 30 pound stones on top of their 3" edges and expect them to stay put.

Yes you really can we do it all the time. I am assuming your chimney has a block core under that stone right? If that is the case we would have the stove veneer on in 2 days at most. We have done many and have yet to have one fail. Yes doing it your self is obviously going to take you allot longer but that does not mean you cant do more than that in a day. If it is actually a stone structure it would be 3 to 4 days after the base and firebox was done. That is with a 3 man crew

 

[Don H]

Well, next time I need some stone work done I'll call you!

 

[bholler]

Well, next time I need some stone work done I'll call you!

We actually have a guy that used to work for my dad that we have had do most of our stone work for the last few years he is a true artist at it and way faster than me to. I still enjoy small stone projects but we let him do the big stuff now. But I do go work with him on at least one project a year to keep my skills up. We still do allot of repair work on brick block and stone mainly rebuilding tops and lots of repointing.