Melissa writes,
Hi! We are in the process of renovating our 1927 home…it looks AMAZINGLY SIMILAR to your “bungalow 404” we were so surprised to find you. Had one question…how did you do the stone work over the brick work on the front of the exterior or what would you call that stone work? It looks great! We’d like to do something similar to cover up some cracks in the concrete porch colums. Thanks!
Hi Melissa,
Great question and I’m glad to help.
For a quick review, Bungalow 404 was the last house I lived in. It was a complete remodel of a 1920s bungalow.
The stone that was applied to the original brick columns at Bungalow 404 is a faux stone with a river rock appearance. We have a few different stone suppliers in our area but I usually go to John Deere Landscapes, you can use this locator to see if there is a branch in your area.
They had a few different manufacturers to choose from which were basically at three different price levels and they had sample boards for all three levels. I checked out a sample board and went back to Bungalow 404 to make a decision. I decided on Eldorado Stone, River Rock in Saginaw. Roughly I think just the stone for four columns cost me $1700.
Because its faux, you really don’t need a stone mason or someone experienced with hardscaping but my carpenter happens to have experience setting stone. BUT, you should only do what makes you feel comfortable so if you’re not an experienced remodeler or do not have a long standing relationship with a carpenter or a remodeler you might feel better about hiring an experienced stone worker.
Here’s the installation process in summary,
The columns were first pressure washed and then allowed to dry completely. Then a layer of wire mesh was installed on the brick. A layer of mortar was applied with a trowel on top of the wire mesh. The stone was applied and then more mortar was piped in between the stones with a plastic bag much like decorative cake icing.
El Dorado’s website offers some helpful tools like a step by step installation guide and a stone calculator so that you can figure out how much you need to purchase.
Before
After
Closer view of one of the columns
Melissa, I hope this helps. Best of luck in remodeling your bungalow!
