Stone Masonry: perfect fit!

Yes folks, yet another reoccurring theme in my blog posts; excellent stone masonry work! When a true craftsman puts his hands to a stone wall, I cannot help but stare and admire it.

This past summer I was working on a landscape design for a custom home project built by a friend of mine, John Sever of Sever Homes, Custom Design and Build . The interesting thing for me was that I had ventured onto the job site to take pictures of the surrounding property so I could begin my design concept for the landscape plan...

Instead of focusing on the task at hand, my eyes were drawn to the stonework that was happening around the home itself. I snapped these pictures in admiration and decided to post them today to share with you... Once in a while you will see stone masonry projects where your eyes go immediately to mistakes in the stone layout, or forgotten corners of stone pieces that should have been chiseled smooth instead of left razor sharp. I've even seen cases where mortar is falling out of joints on a 2 year old house that is valued at about 1.5 million!...that to me would be like buying a Ferrari and having the wheel bolts shear off the first time you drive it....

Well, none of that scariness was evident on this project!... The masons took their time and poured their hearts into their craft as they put this exterior together. It was a pleasure to watch them work and always a pleasure to see what details John creates in his new home projects.... John will always demand good quality work from his trades when building a home... I do the same in my landscapes and that is why I like working with him, makes for a perfect fit.

The stone used here is a mixture of Dani stone mixed with Ebel stone... The Mason's technique is to mimic the style of stonework you would see on structures in the old parts of Downtown Toronto and in other various parts of Ontario where Credit Valley stone was used about 100 years ago.

The home is near complete and the landscape will be finished this spring... I will be sure to visit once everything is done and photograph it all for a future post update...

Define: Stone Mason

There are lots of pitfalls and hidden risks when hiring someone that has a business card which portrays the image of a professional Stone Mason or Landscape Contractor. A Stone Mason is a professional that knows stone material and is an artist at working with Natural Stone.

Just yesterday I was on my way to an appointment with a client and I had to stop my car, back it up and take this picture! Wow! Yikes! I'm willing to guess that this home is probably valued at about $700 000 to $900 000 in Toronto's current real estate market.

Yet the masonry work done on these front steps is scary! I hope it was a family member that sets tiles for a living who built the steps and did not ask for any money. I think it would be highway robbery to pay a contractor calling themselves a stone mason and you end up with a job like this.

When you interview a potential stone mason to do the masonry work around your home, it is an investment! Always make sure you ask to see past projects to avoid mistakes like the picture above!

A proper masonry job should look like the picture below. Solid 2 inch or thicker tread edges that are professionally finished with a rock-faced edge. Straight and level lines are also a plus to keep the steps looking neat.


This picture displays a work in progress as the Stone Mason is building the new set of steps into the walkway. This particular job is something I designed for one of my clients and I highly recommended the stone mason for this work because of the quality he puts into his craft. Even the unfinished work done by a professional mason looks better then the finished work seen in the photos at the beginning and middle of the article.

Natural Stone: Credit Valley Sandstone

Credit Valley Sandstone: This is a widely popular Natural Stone used throughout the GTA and Southern Ontario. It was made popular in the 1900's by it's widespread use for building facades and patio/walkway materials.

(Photo courtesy of Gardenstructure.com)

Origins: Sandstone is known as Sedimentary Rock and is formed from layers of sand-grain like material being compressed together over time. Credit Valley stone would have had some help in being compressed from the glaciers of the last ice age. Through pressure and heat, the minerals in the sand grains bond together and form the hard material we see today as sandstone.

Character: Credit Valley stone is usually quarried out as a chalk-white colour with a sandpaper-like texture. It is a soft stone that is easy to shape and work with for masons. As it ages, it can change colour according to sun exposure. Most often the aged stone is seen in various shades of grey with a slightly weathered texture.

Common uses in landscaping:

• Random Flagstone (loose fit): When taken from the ground in the raw format, Credit Valley stone breaks off in sheets of various sizes and irregular shapes. This type of stone is commonly used for an informal path such as in the picture below. This layout allows for planting groundcover perennials between the stones. (i.e. creeping tyme)
  

• Random Flagstone (motared): A more formal and clean look for the random pattern. This application provides a more stable pavement surface in which the stones have been shaped by hand tools or a saw and then mortard by a mason.

• Steps: As seen in the picture above, this is an example of Credit Valley stone being used for steps. This application shows the stone mortared in place with a riser and tread arrangement.

• Square Cut Flagstone (dry-laid or mortared): In this application, the stones have been cut and shaped into square or rectangular patterns. It can be used for a very formal look in either a mortared application or a dry-laid (no mortar) application. (Photo courtesy of Gardenstructure.com)

• Wall Stone Facing: This application is very commonly seen on older buildings such as the Eaton Hall located in King City. It gives a very formal and traditional look to wall faces for both buildings and retaining walls.

• Coping Stone: Much like the square-cut stone, Credit Valley stone was also widely used for capping walls or framing pool edges.
  

(Photo courtesy of Gardenstructure.com)

Due to the expensive nature of this stone, it is not so widely used in today's landscape construction. It is often requested in first considerations for materials until budget comes into play and the thought is to look for a cheaper stone alternative.

For small job applications or for jobs where the budget allows... it is one of the nicest natural stone materials you can use.

Natural Stone: Granite

Granite stone is a very common type of Natural Stone in Southern Ontario. It was a big hit for some architectural styles during the 60's and 70's and it is still used today in some fashion or another.

(Photo: "Hole in the Wall", near Parry Sound, Ontario)

Origins: Granite is known as Igneous Rock , and in Southern Ontario, almost any granite you see has had it's Geographic origins from the Canadian Shield unless it has been specifically shipped from outside of Canada.

Character: One of the hardest rocks found on earth, second only to diamonds. Commonly found in shades of pink, greys, blacks and whites. One single section of Granite can have all the colours mixed within. It can also be speckled with different flakes of colour/texture or solid in composition. Usually seen as a rounded, smooth stone unless it is split, cut or shaped by tools.

Common uses in Landscaping:

• Wall Facing: Split-faced fieldstone granite which is obviously split in half and chiseled to shape. The stone is then mortared in place with a fitting pattern that keeps most of the mortar joints uniform. (See Landscape Feature Stones below for origin details.)
  

• Landscape Feature Stones: Used as a garden accent, the stones are usually rounded or oval shaped with interesting patterns or colours to them. Attractive when combined with planting or other landscape elements... Sold by the ton or pound and refered to as Fieldstone... Found throughout Southern Ontario, it's origin is from glacial erosion scraping the Canadian shield and depositing the rocks in Moraine fields during the end of the ice age.
  

• Granite Flagstone: Random shaped patterns ranging in the many different colours that granite comes in. It can give a rustic and warm feel to an informal patio. Usually this stone is sold by the ton or pound and is quarried from bedrock. A more elaborate and thin (0.5 inch) type of flag is known as Mill Lake flagstone, quarried near Parry Sound, Ontario... commonly used as facing around fireplaces and is sold by the square foot.
  

• Beach Pebble or River Rock: A very popular garden or water feature edge material. Great for placing in areas where planting is hard to establish or in other areas to help keep erosion and weeds down. Sold by the ton or in bags and comes in different dimensions (2" to 5" is the most common size). It's origins are from river edges and glacial deposits known as Eskers. When looking for this material, ask for "scrubbed" beach pebble.
  

• Granite Cobble Stone: Used mainly as a natural stone paver, it can be both colourful and busy looking. A very labourious stone to install due to it's non-uniform shape and it can be uneasy footing for elderly folks or ladies in high-heeled shoes.

Cobble stone use dates back many years and is an old world practice found commonly on the streets of Europe. It was used mainly in Toronto during the construction of the Streetcar Routes throughout the city. It is a desired stone by some folks, but hard to come by in mass quantities. Reason being that this stone is not commonly quarried in such dimensions. The stones are carved out from bedrock and individually shaped.

If it is found on the market today, it is because a section of road base in the old parts of Toronto (pre 1950's) has been torn up and rebuilt. The Granite Cobble Stone is removed, packaged and sold. The demand for this stone combined with it's scarce availability makes it a very high priced stone.