# thoughts on finishing edge of manufactured stone?



## tenax (Feb 23, 2009)

so, my fireplace wall is done..now, i have to decide what to do on the edges where the stone ends and meets wall. it sticks out between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch from the wall so there is a gap there to deal with..first thing i think i'll do is put some foam backing rod in there so i don't have to fill the whole gap behind the stone edge..my question becomes what do you think would be better. i originally was going to use floor grout in a gray to come close to matching my slate gray stacked stone, but then i thought maybe it would be neater and cleaner to use slate gray dap latex caulk instead.. anyone do anything like this or have thoughts on either way? the grout seems more natural to go with stone, but...

this is for an interior wall by the way in my living room.


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## Hogwildz (Feb 23, 2009)

tenax said:
			
		

> so, my fireplace wall is done..now, i have to decide what to do on the edges where the stone ends and meets wall. it sticks out between 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch from the wall so there is a gap there to deal with..first thing i think i'll do is put some foam backing rod in there so i don't have to fill the whole gap behind the stone edge..my question becomes what do you think would be better. i originally was going to use floor grout in a gray to come close to matching my slate gray stacked stone, but then i thought maybe it would be neater and cleaner to use slate gray dap latex caulk instead.. anyone do anything like this or have thoughts on either way? the grout seems more natural to go with stone, but...
> 
> this is for an interior wall by the way in my living room.



Can you post some photos?
I am having a hard time picturing how your describing.


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## tenax (Feb 23, 2009)

yeah, i'll see if i can find my camera tonight..thought it  might not make a lot of sense but..picture this if you can:

a 5 foot wide wall that has the scratch coat on it and on either side is simply painted wall. the scratch coated portion of the wall is raised about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch above the painted wall on either side. given i didn't want to cut anymore stone than i had to for a neater finish, i had to extend the stone on either side beyond the scratch coat so it is over about 2 inches of painted wall on each side...given the scratch coat sits higher than the painted wall though, there is a 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch gap between the back of the extending stone and the painted wall surface. if you look at it from the front, you'd never see the gap, but if you're to the side some, it's an unsightly gap that needs to be filled. that make more sense?

and i'll try to post a pic tonight for reference.


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## Highbeam (Feb 23, 2009)

Have you considered a wood trim piece? Nomatter what you do, it will not look like the stone has depth beyond the painted wall so it will always look like the stone is stuck to the painted wall unless you hide the transition with trimwork so that the profile view is stone-wood -paint instead of stone-grount-paint.

Even old fireplaces had this problem where the sheetrock had to but up to the actual masonry chimney. I think it looks bad when the irregular gap is filled with grout or caulk. Wood trim is neat and straight. 

Just hold a piece up there and see if you like it. It will have to be a piece of that 1" wide stuff meant to be put along the ceiling almost like a small scale crown molding. Or just be creative with trimwork.


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## tenax (Feb 24, 2009)

would have worked, except wifey didn't want a perfect straight edge (not sure i could have done a perfect edge anyway) the only way i think i could take a crack at it now with a frame is to frame then grout wherever there are gaps within the frame? but i can't picture how that would look? 

i still have some grouting to do between some stones (yes, it's supposed to be stacked with grout i guess but i found some stones are irregular size compared to others and to keep it level i had to gap it at times..i'll figure that out though..the colour is actually slate grey stone..on my computer, it comes out as brownish..it's actually variations of grey with the occasional brownish red.


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## johnn (Feb 24, 2009)

If it had ran out to window trim,,,maybe not so much work,however the base stones wouldn`t allow for it. I think the Wife`s right. Now that you have repainted the trim a straight edge wont blend as well as the rustic look. Cut strips of left over cement board and fill majority of depth,,,then break out the tuck point tools and groute her in. It`ll look great! Good job!


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## tenax (Feb 24, 2009)

thanks ML..you don't know how much the "good job" means to me..this was one of the toughest home challenges i've taken on and i was scared to death to do it..but i'm happy i gave it a whirl!


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## Hogwildz (Feb 24, 2009)

Looks great man!!
I think even a 3/4" 1/4 round painted to match the trim or wall trimmed against the side of the stone would not look bad.
You used a dry stack look, so any irregularities, or gaps would cast merely follow the dry stack look.
Seen many old homes done just that same way with real stone.
Anyways, will look great no matter how you finish it.


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## tenax (Feb 24, 2009)

thanks hog..i appreciate the encouragement!


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