# Best mortar mix for stone veneer



## heinlein0311

Hey, I finally got all my stone ordered to stick onto my foundation. I'm using a cultured stone made by "Dutch quality stone"....a few questions. I'm using a dry stack technique. My walls are clean poured concrete. I wasn't going to use lathe... The company's recommended mortar mix is 3 parts Portland cement, 2 parts thinset mortar, 7 parts sand. Does this sound like a good mixture? I'm also using a bonding agent called "Tammsweld". Anyone have any good/bad experience with it?.......last question, with thinset mortar, is that different from type n mortar? I've read a lot that says to use type N mortar. Thanks for the help


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## heinlein0311

As I'm looking at the I Instructions there is an alternate mix:

1 part type N masonry cement
2.25 parts sand
Bonding agent
Water


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## concretemasonry

Keep in mind there is a difference between Type N masonry cement and the common pre-proportioned Type N mortar that already has the sand in it, and the proportions may not be exactly the same as those you mentioned.

Dick


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## jomama45

heinlein0311 said:


> As I'm looking at the I Instructions there is an alternate mix:
> 
> 1 part type N masonry cement
> 2.25 parts sand
> Bonding agent
> Water


I can speak from experience that this will certainly work, and it may even be a little too sticky for your liking. If so, add a little more sand. I haven't dabbled with the thinset for this, and I don't know if mixing additional Portland & sand into it is the way to go......

One more thing, if the stone your using won't benefit from being stained by the mortar, start at the top and lay down..........:thumbsup:


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## heinlein0311

jomama45 said:


> I can speak from experience that this will certainly work, and it may even be a little too sticky for your liking. If so, add a little more sand. I haven't dabbled with the thinset for this, and I don't know if mixing additional Portland & sand into it is the way to go......
> 
> One more thing, if the stone your using won't benefit from being stained by the mortar, start at the top and lay down..........:thumbsup:



Looks like that's what I've seen the most, the 2:1 ratio......the instructions say to start from the bottom up if using the dry stack technique to ensure tight fits. Now, I've never done this before but I would like to go from top to bottom So I'm not dropping mortar on the stone but can you get nice tight fits doing it that way?


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## jomama45

I've laid a lot of Dutch Stone in the past, but can't recall if I ever used their drystack. What's the actual name, I have the brochure in my files.....

......and if you want to lay from the bottom, you may want to consider a colored mortar that won't show up nearly as drastically on the stone.....


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## heinlein0311

jomama45 said:


> I've laid a lot of Dutch Stone in the past, but can't recall if I ever used their drystack. What's the actual name, I have the brochure in my files.....
> 
> ......and if you want to lay from the bottom, you may want to consider a colored mortar that won't show up nearly as drastically on the stone.....


I'm using their ledgestone..,.I will be using a mortar tint


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## heinlein0311

The lady where I'm buying the stone from says to use a "type s mortar" and add sand. The manufacturers Instructions say to use type n or s "masonry cement" and add sand. I'm not real certain on the differences so which seems better? She says that some people throw some Portland cement in with the mortar but since I'm using a bonding agent I won't need to do that. Please enlighten me


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## heinlein0311

Ok, did a little more research. I'm buying this stuff from a place that specializes in concrete. She's trying to sell me type s mortar which I'm assuming is pre-mixed. But, she says it still requires sand. Something like 20 scoops per 75 lb bag. Is this normal?


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## jomama45

heinlein0311 said:


> Ok, did a little more research. I'm buying this stuff from a place that specializes in concrete. She's trying to sell me type s mortar which I'm assuming is pre-mixed. But, she says it still requires sand. Something like 20 scoops per 75 lb bag. Is this normal?


What you're likely buying is a 70# bag of Type S masonry cement which is merely lime and Portland cement, and possibly a few other cementicious components to replace the cement. Yes, you need to add sand, and the number of shovels is subjective based on how big of a shovel, how dry the sand, etc... The bags should have mixing instructions & proportions on them. You may still want to add a few ounces of bonding agent per batch to aid in adhesion.


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## heinlein0311

Got some clarification this morning. She keeps calling it mortar but it doesn't have sand in it. You have to add the sand separately. So basically it's masonry cement right? The sand is what makes it a mortar? I tried explaining that to her but to no avail. ....Hell maybe I'm the one still wrong. So


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