On Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:23:41 -0700, Don Y
wrote:
On 2/18/2016 8:59 AM, wrote:
The Eldorodo type "cultured stone" can be had in panels but it is
pretty easy to see it is not stone and your sun may fade it pretty
fast.
The two places are probably the ONLY two places that are guaranteed
to be in perpetual shade (both being porches with significant overhangs)
Again, you're fitting individual "stones" (that are presumably very "thin",
front to back)?
These stones vary from an inch to an inch and a half thick but I
actually have a mix of 2 different styles here because we wanted a lot
of variation. It is all basically the same stone though. We have
similar stone (flagging) on the patio and front porch too so it
carries all the way through the house. It is a quartzite quarried from
the Rockies, up the road from you. (Colorado,Wyoming Idaho is loaded
with it). We have picked up pieces that are a perfect match hiking.
The opposite is true, here -- I can't recall ever seeing a "wooden
shingled" house! Everything is slump block, cinder block, stucco
finish, stone-and-mortar, etc.
And, folks seem to think there is only *one* color -- that of
sun-bleached dirt!
[A neighbor had planned on painting their (stucco over frame) house blue.
Another neighbor, on hearing of this, promptly marched over and FORBADE
them from doing so. "It will lower the property values!" Really??
So, his brown, sadly in need of a paint-job home is BETTER for us
than *their* freshly painted blue??
It must have popped his cork to see other homes in the area getting
painted bright yellow, teal, purple, "metallic chocolate", etc.]
That was the appeal of the wood or fitted stone approach -- something
not quite as monotonous as the dreary stucco (that covers most of the
house, already).
We have stucco over block for most of our houses, just because of the
wind code. You have to put so much steel in a stick built home, block
is cheaper.
My "village" has pretty much decreed that baby poop beige is the
standard here but my neighbors have all sorts of different colors on
their house.
The first guy to break from the earth tones is a Mexican guy who went
with school bus yellow and once people understood that there are other
colors in the box, we see blues, greens and soft purples.
(sorry if I am not real good on the real colors, my crayon box only
had 7)
I suggest you find a good stone yard around there and walk around. If
you are like us and like stone, it can be addicting tho. We are in a
state with pretty much no natively occurring rock and our house looks
like a Rocky Mountain CCC project. It is all stone and wood.
I'm just trying to see what options are available *before* putting
myself under the salesman's "spin operation". Always (IME) better to
have contrary arguments ready at hand to see how well (if at all) he
handles them.
I kicked rocks around at my stone yard for months before I bought the
first batch. Those guys are pretty easy to get along with, at least
here. They will usually give you a handful to take home and play with.
They are only about a quarter a pound so you really can't carry away
any significant amount, money wise.
We did zero in on the quartzite pretty fast once we got serious about
it, then it was just the color (silver or gold).
This stuff in flagging seems to be the perfect pool deck. It has
enough texture to be safe when wet but still easy on your feet and it
is totally maintenance free. We hose it off now and then but that is
about it.
It is a little labor intensive laying them but the time consuming part
is doing the puzzle. We always end up playing with rocks for days
deciding which one goes where. It is sort of fun tho.
http://gfretwell.com/ftp/rocks4.jpg
Then you mud them in.
http://gfretwell.com/electrical/addi...0them%20in.jpg