How to choose the right mason for your stone veneer installation.

How to choose the right mason for your stone veneer installation.

Here are a few questions to consider when choosing a mason. Make sure your mason is current with the best practices of the industries. Over the years there has been significant changes and improvement to masonry installation.
Products now exist that are designed to prevent water damage by allowing moisture to escape from behind the installed stone. Your mason should be informed and following these best practices.

What you should ask:
Do you follow the Manufacture Veneer Masonry Association recommended installation guidelines?
These guidelines are only recommendations created by a coalition of stone veneer manufactures. Masons are not required to use them. These guidelines have been revised due to the need to allow proper moisture drainage which over time can cause damage. Make sure your mason is following these guidelines for the prevention of water damage.

Are you a Certified Cultured Stone Installer?
A Cultured Stone Certified Installer has been trained,
has had: their quality of work checked, background checked, are licensed and properly insured.

Are you current with the manufactures best practices?
Manufactures and Dealers offer training on new products and best practice yearly. A good mason will be informed and following these best practices.

What brand products do you install?
Warranty, stone thickness and depth of color is very important as not all stone veneers are created equal. Know what is going under the stone. This is important to protect your home from damage. Here is a list of recommended products:
• Cultured Stone • ProStone•
Semco Natural Stone Veneer• Keene Rain Screen Drainage Systems
• Keene Weep Screed• AMICO EZ Bead, Window/Door Drip Edge
• Self Furring Lath: AMICO Metal self furring lath & Spider Lath self furring fiberglass lathFor a list of Select Installers and Dealers please contact Instone today 888-467-8250 http://www.instoneco.com/

Thin Veneer Stone Installation - Run to Grade

Natural Stone Veneer - timeless beauty

Whether you’re a homeowner, designer, or architect there’s no matching the pride you’ll feel when you see the breathtaking allure of natural stone adds to your project. Natural stone helps communicate your vision, from sophisticated elegance to bold ruggedness.

Few building materials possess the durability and versatility of natural stone. From traditional installations to contemporary designs, from intimate buildings to towering structures.

Stone colors and textures vary from region - Quarries in the northeast tend to be of grays and blues, while stones from the Midwest regions have rust & browns, while out west it in the light range with tans, light browns and reds.

There is no replacing natural stone although there are many manufactured stone that could fool an expert mason. Natural stone has life long durability and is timeless.

Natural Stone is recommended when installing a wood burning fireplace, as the smoke and suet can damaged manufactured stone. Natural Stone can be scrubbed clean with out worry of damage.

There are numerous stone quarries, natural stone producers but few have the appeal and reputation as Buechel Natural Stone Veneer.

Buechel Stone has a vast selection of natural stone types and textures to add visual distinction to your project. No other building material offers the unique textures, natural colors, and exceptional visual appeal found in natural stone. When it comes to beauty, strength, and longevity, Buechel natural stone is in a class of its own.
To learn more about natural stone veneer and Buechel please contact instone or visit our website http://www.instoneco.com/ or visit http://www.buechelstone.com/index.php


http://youtu.be/JxozzUl3pmA

Masons, maybe it’s time to consider a new method for fireplace construction.

Masons, maybe it’s time to consider a new method for fireplace construction.
If you’re not already installing fireplaces with a pre-engineered fireplace unit/system, you may want to consider them now, here is why:

With the focus being money and saving on energy cost a masonry modular fireplace unit helps you overcome these hurtles to win more jobs. Experts compare traditional fireplace installation to masonry modular fireplace units.

• It takes masons two or more weeks to build a fireplace using the old fashioned construction method. Alternatively, a masonry modular fireplace unit can be installed in one or two days. The components in a masonry modular fireplace unit are large and fit together easily, so construction is quick and hassle-free. Installation is as simple as stacking the components, mortaring them together, adding firebrick, and finishing the outside with the veneer or mantle of your choice.

• Labor and materials average around $8,000 to $15,000 for a site-built masonry fireplace. Because a modular fireplace unit install in a matter of days, labor savings can be significant, typically cutting overall costs by at least 50% compared to a site-built masonry fireplace.

• Brick absorbs heat. That is why a brick fireplace takes time to heat up and doesn't send adequate heat into a room. Modular fireplace unit masonry materials are engineered to reflect heat so that your fire will heat up quickly and burn more efficiently. That means more heat output while using less wood, gas, or other fuel.

• With a modular fireplace unit, you get peace of mind knowing that they have passed rigorous testing procedures to comply with applicable Underwriters Laboratories standards, and each fireplace is backed with a manufactured warranty.

For more information on a masonry modular fireplace unit please visit http://www.instoneco.com/
Or call 888-467-8250 info@instoneco.com
Isokern FireRock

Masonry Industry and Building Inspectors need to get on the same page

Use this To prevent this

I've had conversations with building inspectors who have told me they advise home owners to stay away form masonry applications, stucco and stone veneer to be specific.
Why? Because they have seen too many faulty installations that created mold, stone falling off houses and water damage.

Now being in the masonry industry I found this very alarming, as my job is to inform our customers, contractors and home owners of the measurements to take now to have a healthy wall system. Stone veneer is here to stay, its beautiful, versatile and wanted by homeowners and designers. With proper installation a stone veneer application can last a lifetime.

Currently there is no building code in NJ or NY that enforce the use of a drainage system when installing stone veneer or stucco. Very few consumers are aware of the proper way to install and because these measurements add to the cost of installation, contractors will not recommend the extra expense in fear of losing the bid to a competitor.

Homeowners, you must demand your contractor follow the Masonry Veneer Manufactures Association (MVMA) guidelines. Its well worth the additional cost to protect your investment. Only use a contractor that has been trained and is current with the best practices of the industry.

Masons, help save your industry. Attend installation training on the MVMA guidelines, ask your dealer or distributor about drainage products. Educate your customers on healthy wall systems.

Please use me/InStone as a resource healthy wall systems, the MVMA guide, where to find a trained mason, product information and where to find these products.

contact me via info@instoneco.com or visit www.instoneco.com

(you can visit http://www.masonryvenner.org/ to down load the guide.) (Please know these guidelines are for stone veneer that is installed on the out side of homes/buildings. )

Lath Integrity Program

***PRESS RELEASE***
Birmingham, AL - June 7, 2011
Alabama Metal Industries, Inc. (AMICO), a Gibraltar Industries Company, has announced a new listing on ICC-ESR website for its re-engineered metal laths.
ICC-ESR #2247: http://www.icc-es.org/reports/index.cfm
With this new listing, AMICO has launched a "Lath Integrity Program" that will include color-coded bundle bands identifying the weight of the lath, the ASTM C-847 & ICC-ESR #2247. Chris Little, Group Product Manager for AMICO states the "Lath Integrity Program will demonstrate to the marketplace our commitment to produce galvanized metal laths meeting ASTM Standards for physical properties including dimension, weight & thickness. This identification band assures the installer & inspector of lath that meets code."
This Includes the new 97-inch MINIMUM length requirement in ASTM C 847-10
Bundle bands with identifying color will be on bundle straps at both the East & West Coast manufacturing facilities. For more information, contact AMICO at 800-366-2642, or sales@amico-online.com

Chris Little, CSI, CDT
LEED-Green Associate
AMICO- Building Products Manager
404-643-1944

For information on metal lath please contact Instone www.instoneco.com info@instoneco.com

Moisture Management - do it right now or pay later

Moisture Management
The new BUZZ term in the Masonry World
If you haven't heard the term Moisture Management being used in association with the installation of masonry then you might have been living under a stone !
Over the last 3 years the masonry industry in the United States began to get on board with the concept of moisture management. Due to the rise of failed installations and the hundreds of contractors being sued has sent up enough signals for the industry to start policing themselves. As a result new guideline to improve the failure rate and stop faulty installations has been written and is being recommended by the Masonry Veneer Manufactures Association.
The MVMA has collected data and performed studies that caused the implementation for the changes to the installation guideline.

Changes to the installation instructions required for installing Manufactured Stone Veneer changes include:

Double layer of Weather Resistant Barrier
Incorporation of Foundation Weep Screed
Self Furring Lath – fully embedded in scratch coat of mortar
(¼” behind and ¼” in front)

MVMA also talks about the option of using a Rainscreen product that will create a capillary break / air space between the cladding and the primary water resistive barrier. These products are used to improve the escape of incidental water and decrease drying time.

to get the full guideline please visit www.masonryveneer.org

More information :
Exterior Covering IRC 2006/2009 R703.1 General. Exterior walls shall provide the building with a weather resistant exterior wall envelope. The exterior wall envelope shall include flashings as described in section R703.8. The exterior wall envelope shall be designed and constructed in a manner that prevents accumulation of water within the wall assembly by providing a water resistant barrier behind the exterior veneer or required by section R703.2 and a means of draining water that enters the assembly to the exterior. Protection against condensation in the exterior wall assembly shall be provided in accordance with chapter 11 of this code.

Summary:

Astm 926 & 1063
2 Layers Grade D Paper 1 layer 60 minute grade D with rainscreen seperating
Weep Screed
Furred Lathe over sheathing
Flashing – Windows, Doors, Sill Pan, Kick Outs,
3 coat over wood based sheathing 3/8”, 3/8” and 1/8”
Expansion break at windows doors fascia and caulked
Rainscreen- Enhances drainage plane

Stick on stone – Plaster section of code
Paper – ESR Reports

“It’s not going to be a matter of choice any longer. It’s going to be demanded by the Architects, Home Owners, and by Building Inspectors. “ said Kevin Grotke General Sales Manager of Instone, a masonry wholesale distributor. Instone is assisting the industry by making available the moisture management products that are in compliancy with the new guidelines and local building codes” States Grotke. For more information please visit http://www.instoneco.com/

To learn more about the this top please contact instone info@instoneco.com