Cassandra.org
Before
After
This page describes one of the first phases of the multi-year Master Bathroom Remodeling Project. Adding a stone accent wall was the first of the construction phases. This would replace what was very dated and not very attractive wallpaper that I had grown to strongly dislike.
Selecting the Stone
Stone Tile Interlocking Shape
There is a product that consists of real stone pieces, but glued into large panels. The panel arrangement makes it easier to install and are specially shaped to conceal the seams between them. The final look is what is referred to as 'stacked stone'. This product comes in many different styles where the stone composition varies to create very different looks. The specific style we settled on is called Golden Honey Ledger Panel.
Ordering the Stone
Stone in the Box
Shipping Palette (800 lbs.)
Home Depot has the stone panel product on their web site, but not in their stores. Given the quantity I needed, it would weigh over 800 pounds, the shipping cost for home delivery was the best option. Although sold by Home Depot, this product really just comes from the company MS International.
The act of spending the $500 for the stones was the real point of commitment for the bathroom remodel project. This purchase then cascaded to a bunch of other needs, such as a tile (wet) saw and various other masory tools that I did not have (this was really my first masonry project). The stones were delivered in less than a week (they only needed to travel from Houston) and I was impressed with their packing: there were very few damaged pieces and the crate was built damn near indestructible (as I found out when I tried to break it down to discard).
Wall Demolition
Below is a picture of the wall just before being demolished with the wallpaper I really came to dislike. Wall paper removal can be a real pain. Removal of the entire sheetrock ensures the job gets done quickly and thoroughly.
Original Wall (lower)
Original Wall (right)
Original Wall (left)
The first cut is the hardest to make (emotionally), maybe even more of a committment than the $500 in stones. The first cuts are exploratory cuts to scope out situation, such as finding a hidden sewer vent pipe for the tub drain.
Exploratory Hole
Surprise Insulation
Surprise Vent Pipe
Wallboard Removed
There was some crazy wiring in here and I could have easily cut a wire. I do cut carefully and stop at any resistance, but I was much closer than I would have liked on some cuts.
With the bathroom already a mess, we decided to remove the popcorn from the ceiling which would be needed for the Main Wood Slat Ceiling Phase of the bathroom remodel project.
Wall Backer Board
You cannot cement 800 lbs. of stone to sheetrock. It will just tear the paper and come falling off, so you have to use a cement wallboard as you would for tiles. For walls, you have to use the half inch thick version of HardieBacker Board, and this is very heavy stuff. The 3x5 ft. sheets of the backer board did not quite fit in my car, so had to rent Home Depot truck to get them home.
With the weight of the stones and backer board I had a period of worry about putting so much extra weight on the wall structure, especially because this was already a load bearing wall holding up a good section of the house. Would the frame be strong enough? Would it stress and warp the frame and create leaks or other problem? I started to be more at ease when I thought about all the people that install this that probably never give this a thought. Also, from previous projects, I remember looking up some material strength sheets for 2x4 studs. Each 2x4 can support something like 16,000 pounds and this wall have about 9 of them. Seemed a good margin or error.
Hardiboard Cutting Tool
I watched videos online of how to cut the backer board and it seemed just like sheetrock you score it and snap it. After having some difficulty with it I realized that all these videos showed cutting the thinner version used for floors. The 1/2 inch version does not cut anywhere as easy as the 1/4 inch version.
I bought a special diamond-tipped tool for scoring the boards. Some say you can use a utility knife, but because it is a masonry product, you will quickly dull the blade and spend a lot of sweat trying to get the job done.
Hardiboard Seams
Some other considerations for the backerboard include needing to plan the layout of the boards. You need them fully supported by studs and they advise not having the corners of 4 boards all meet at the same place.
Outlet Hardiboard Cutout
Hardiboard Cutouts
The cutouts for the outlets and wall switches were tricky. The trick is to ensure everything you do not want removed is supported, then score heavily then bang out the rest. If the back is not supported, it will not break along the score lines so reliably.
Hardiboard Screw Problems
Hardiboard Screws
You have to use special screws for this cement backer board. The guidelines for the screws also ask you to do the impossible. We have a 1.5 inch studs and both joining boards have to meet on it. The guidelines say that screws should be no closer than 3/8 to edges and that you must leave a 1/8 gap at the board joints. This gives you nearly no tolerance to keep the screws far enough from the edge, but still hitting the studs. They also say that the screw heads must be driven in to be flush. The picture at right is what happens if you try to do all this.
Once all the boards are screwed up, you also have to tape and mortar all the seams. Being my first time, this wound up looking ugly and rough, but since a lot more mortar will go the wall to adhere the stones, this was not a big issue. I got the hang of mixing cement once I read that you should make it the consistency of peanut butter.
All Hardiboard Up
Mixed Cement
Taped Seam Close-up
Finished Taped Seams
Stone Layout
The stone product, by random chance, can range from lighter to darker panels. If you mix them well, you never notice, but if you get a patch of dark ones, it becomes noticable and the wall looks splotchy. To guard against this, I layed out the entire wall on the floor of my garage and re-arranged until it looked uniform. This layout also served to double check that I actually had enough to cover the wall. I was previously just going on calculations.
Starting Stone Layout
Stone Layout First Row
Stone Layout Finished
Learning to Use a Wet Saw
'Wet Saw'
To cut this stone is the same as cutting tile and you need a 'wet saw' if you have any sanity. Generally, there are two price ranges for these: super cheap toy models (around $50) and super expensive professional versions ($500 and up). However, I did find a model slightly above the cheap ones in price ($100), but significantly more capable.
I assembled the wet saw and needed to learn how to use it. I spent an hour trying to figure out how to make a 90 degree miter cut on the 24" long tile. The fence could go a maximum distance of about 12''. With a table saw (the equivalent for wood) if you do not use some form of fence to keep it straight and support the piece, it winds up binding and sending the wood at a fierce speed in the general direction of your body (if you are standing behind it).
I expected a stone cutting saw to have similar problems as wood with an even greater risk. I was afraid. Because the built in fence was not big enough, I started to try to invent some custom miter fence/fixture. I was having problems coming up with something, so finally, I just decided to do it freehand. I has seen a video of a guy doing an outlet cutout freehand, and this gave me the nerve to try. Careful I was, but it turned out it was much ado about nothing. The stone cut easily and binding was never an issue even when I did not keep it particularly straight.
Cementing the Stone Panels
Pre-stone Install Spacers
Board Over Tub
With the backerboard in place, the stone positions decided and my newfound wet saw skills, it was time to mix some concrete and put up the stone. We first heavily masked the area and added 1/4'' spacers to the bottom where it would meet the existing bathtub and shelving parts. Generally, anywhere you have walls, floors, ceilings or fixtures meeting, you want a 1/4'' space so that someone can remove one of them without damaging the other. We also had to put a board over the tub to serve as a platform to be able to access part of the wall.
They tell you to mark lines on the wall to ensure you keep things straight. We did that, but found that by the time you got close enough to the line for it to be useful, the cement would be covering the line.
Putting up the first row was a real learning experience. Everything about the cement, spreading, positioning, applied pressure, etc. was subtle and needed experience to fully get the knack of. The first row took a long time, while the second row went faster, and each subsequent row faster still.
First Stone Row
First Stone Row (closeup)
Closeup of Cementing
First Two Rows
Switch Stone Cutout
Outlet Stone Cutout
Cutting for the outlet area was surprisingly easy, though I botched the measurements. I had measured the wall plate instead of the inner box itself, so I made the cutout too big. I would find oversized wall plates on Amazon since I was clearly not the first to have this problem.
End of Day One
Because of the weight of the stones, you can only do some many rows in a day before you need to let the concrete cure. Up to 3 feet is the guideline they give and since we were needing to put 6 vertical feet of stones on the wall, this worked out to a nice even two days.
Cementing the Stone Panels: Day 2
The following weekend, we went to work on the next and final 3 vertical feet. This would also include doing the small area above the doorway, which would turn out to be a bit tricky.
Begin Day Two
Finished Bottom Section
Only Door Area Remaining
Shim Supports
Shims
When we got to the area above the door, I realized that I had nothing to support the stones at the bottom. They are heavy enough that they would slide down while the cement was still not cured. I finally decided to put some supporting shims and wood using the doorframe itself to help provide support. The stone still wound up a little crooked here, but it is not all that noticeable.
Outlet and Switch Trim
Switch Box Spacers
Outlet Box Spacers
If I had not messed up and cut stone the outlet and switch to large, this final step would have been relatively easy. The reality was that I had to come up with something to compensate, so I added some wood spacers to give the outlet and switch something to grab onto. Then I installed the oversized covers to cover my tracks.
Switch Box Extender Modification
Switch Box Extenders
The double wall switch posed an extra complication. When you install a stone veneer wall or thicken the wall through tiling of some sort, the outlet or switch cover sits above the actual electrical component. This leaves a dangerous gap that is against the electrical code. To bring it within code, you need to install a special spacer that extends the box in a safe way.
For the single gang outlet, this is straightforward to add (see picture above), but for the double gang light switch, I did not find a double wide version of this extender. I bought two single gang extenders thinking it was that simple, but it turns out that the two put side-by-side is just a bit too wide. After much deliberation, I decided to modify the boxes by removing some material to make it fit. Not ideal.
Switches Installed
Outlet Cover Installed
Switch Cover Installed
Before and After
Before
After
Before
After