# stone veneer column size



## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

Take a photo of your home, load it into a computer, and then use a drawing program to play with different looks.


----------



## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

Cut a piece of scrap lumber and set it against the 4 x 4 to get a feel for what you like.


----------



## Tscarborough (Mar 31, 2006)

If you are using fake stone they need to be at least 12x12, preferably 24x24.


----------



## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

Tscarborough said:


> If you are using fake stone they need to be at least 12x12, preferably 24x24.


 I don't really think the size needs to be adjusted just because it's fake stone. Using fake or real stone dust and make an impact. They need to be made a size it looks good with the house!


----------



## Tscarborough (Mar 31, 2006)

Then you have never laid fake stone (or real stone for that matter). It is produced in standard sizes that require certain minimums to work without cutting, and other minimums for aesthetics.


----------



## Tscarborough (Mar 31, 2006)

Sorry for the short answers, my time was short as well.

Fake rock is made by spraying a color-coat into a rubber mold. The color-coat is 1/8 to 1/4" inch deep, so when you cut the stone, it exposes gray cement and aggregate (usually expanded shale, dark grey to orange). Cuts are hard to hide on small areas, although buried in the middle of a large area not a problem.

Fake stone corners are made with one leg that is 4", the other is not random, but is a length between 4" and 18" depending upon the stone, but normally will mainly consist of 8". Therefore, it is easy to see why the minimum column size is 12" (one 4" leg + the 8" leg of the next stone in the course. You make a 12" column out of 4 pcs that are 4x8, reversing the 4" leg every other course.

The problem is that very few types of stone will consist of all 4x8 corners. Most will have 4x4, 4x8, 4x12, and 4x16. Therefore, on a 12" column you will almost always be making cuts and they are very visible on that small of an area (or you cull the expensive corners by 75% to get 4x8 only).

This is normal, as the normal size of real stone is also 4" thick by whatever. The smallest column from standard dimensional real stone is also 12x12. Funny how that works.

The other issue with small columns is an effect described as "zippering". This is what happens when you reverse the legs on fake stone, it looks like a zipper.

24x24 gives you enough room to make the stone appear random, real ofr fake.


----------



## ryansdiydad (Aug 16, 2015)

it is real stone.. veneer but real stone.. I built a 16x16 x 4 column out of some scrap foam board I had.. my wife signed of on that dimension.. now my problem that you can see in another post is that I am too incompetent to rock face some limestone


----------



## Tscarborough (Mar 31, 2006)

If you are using dimensional stone (stacked, not adhered), cut the inside joint and leave the factory rockfaces out for the corners.

edit-Dimensional stone is also veneered. Your choices are adhered or stacked, not "veneer".


----------



## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

When it comes to stone, "fat & chunky" is in currently. Tall and slender, not so much.

Usually, I insist on laying 16" or 20" wide piers out of block for the backup, so as to avoid the additional prep. and problems down the road by laying it on lumber and plywood. Because of that, most of our piers are 19-20" wide finished, or 23-24" finished, respectively. 1.5" -2" overhang on each side of the caps is pretty common, so 20" x 20" and 24" x 24" column caps are normally stocked.


----------



## jomama45 (Nov 13, 2008)

I just realized you had posted about your veneer on your house earlier. "IF" you're laying the piers on the front stoop yourself, I would match the exact height of the sills on the rest of the stone wainscoat. If you don't, I think it's going to look silly......................


----------

