Replies

1. 
   Catskinner | May 29, 2003 05:23am | #1

   At a dollar eighty-eight a square foot have them do your house and then send them to me.

   DRC

2. 
   Piffin | May 29, 2003 05:57am | #2

   cheap good price.

   .

   Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   FastEddie1 | May 29, 2003 03:40pm | #3

   There is a process called (I lost it now...dang memory!)...what were we talking about?...oh yeah...dash rock or dash crete or something.  My bank buiulding had it on the columns of the drive-in facility, and they had to patch it one day (many years after building).  Basic method was to trowel on a nice thick layer of cement or stucco, then throw little chips of granite at it hoping they would stick.  In reality, they had a small hand cranked dealie that flung the chips, kind of like one of those hand broadcast seed or fertilizer spreaders.  I think when it was first built they used an air powered flinger.

   Anyway, you could adapt this to your situation by trowling on a layer of mastic and pressing small pea gravel into it while wet.  I'll take the architectural attitude and let you figure out the details :)

   Do it right, or do it twice.

1. 
   mceline | May 30, 2003 05:25am | #4

   What I'm trying to learn, is what type of "binder" will

   1). adhere to building insulating foam sheets - while......

   2.) at the same time be able to be a binder for fine pea rock/gravel

   The materials cost of the commercially made aggregate sheeting was $30 for a 4x4 sheet quoted from our local building supply......that's material only........we would do the work of installing it. I was able to see an actual sample of this today......and I must say......we could do better workmanship than what I saw......we just don't know what material will bind to both materials well.....along with being able to be thick enough to hold the pea rock. If we are discussing economics here.......we have lots of insulating building foam sheets that we bought at a sale for $2 per sheet which could be used for this purpose.

   Besides...... we are always interested in learning.............

1. 
   Catskinner | May 30, 2003 05:44am | #5

   OK, I think I get it now.

   I doubt if you are going to come up with anything commonly available that will be both economically practical and strong enough to stay good looking over the years. I'm not trying to be discouraging, just realistic.

   If you want to insulate the outside of your walls and get the washed aggregate look I'd say you probably only have two easy choices.

   1) find a better quality product that fits the need. There are some good quality cultured stone products that can be applied over the foam. This will not be cheap, but it will look great and last a long time.

   2) insulate the walls with all that foam you already have. Then, using the very best trade practices, paying special attention to moisture control, stucco over that. Then use a bonding agent and do a washed aggregate finish as a previous poster suggested. If you try this, you'll want to brush up on your stucco skills first.

   Anyhow you cut this, you aren't going to get a finished product that is both good and cheap. It just doesn't go that way.

   DRC

1. 
   FastEddie1 | May 30, 2003 07:00am | #6

   Dave, why can't they use the bonding agent like you sid, and embed the pea gravel in the first (or second) layer of stucco?

   Do it right, or do it twice.

1. 
   calvin | May 30, 2003 01:56pm | #7

   What came to mind was much the same El, dri-vit compound applied to sheet laying flat.  Now, getting the sheet up and applied w/o losing the stone would be the next problem.  I suppose if on a 4x4 with a slightly beveled edge that would be caulked while in place it would work.  Maybe use the dri-vit mesh on the first coating and apply the stone to the last coat.  Beats me.__________________________________________

   Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

   http://www.quittintime.com/

2. 
   FastEddie1 | May 30, 2003 03:50pm | #8

   Why not install the board first, and apply the stucco and stone second?Do it right, or do it twice.

3. 
   calvin | May 30, 2003 04:08pm | #9

   Just not sure how to get that stone up on the wall.  Here, some stucco applications with small river stone / shells were done with a hopper flinger that shot them onto the wet stucco coat.  If you could coat the foambd thick enough to hold it and get a hand crank hopper flinger then I spose you could apply the aggregate up.__________________________________________

   Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.

   http://www.quittintime.com/

4. 
   tenpenny | May 30, 2003 04:30pm | #10

   Throw a sheet of plastic on a flat surface (garage floor?) Build a form on top of it, 4x4 or whatever size your sheets of foamboard are.  Spread a nice even layer of aggregate over the whole thing.  Spray it with a thin layer of low-expanding spray foam, and then cover it with your sheet of foamboard.  Let it harden, and then go buy the stuff for $30 a sheet...

2. 
   mceline | May 30, 2003 08:26pm | #11

   Ok....I see I need to clarify my idea.......

   The idea is: to apply the aggregate to the building foam sheets BEFORE they are put in place on the basement wall.

   This is the idea so far:

   1.) Lay the foam sheets flat.

   2.) Apply the "yet to be named binder" (mastic?) to the foam. The thickness of the binder may be about 1/4" thick - depending on the size of rock, which we want fairly fine.

   3.) Would probably trowel on the binder - sprinkle the rock in place -- use a flat board (maybe 12") square or so to "tampen" the fine rock into the binder, to make an even and level surface.

   4.) Let the whole thing dry and set.......THEN put in place on the basement wall. (I can't imagine this process working when trying to apply the rock with the building foam vertical!)

   ..........Which brings me back to my original question..............what type of binder could be troweled out to about 1/4" thick, and would bind to the foam AND the fine rock (thinking the rock will also be about 1/4" or so).

1. 
   swingblade1 | May 30, 2003 10:55pm | #12

   Pre cut sheets of Wonder Board or Durrock. Adhere your aggragate matrix with a latex modified portland cement mix. I'd go 3 sand, 1 pc. Make sure your surfaces are clean. Use latex (Laticrete 3701) undiluted in place of water.

   Install board w/ exposed aggregate over you foam board with construction adhesive and fasten 16 oc to firring strips.

   Allow for expansion between sheets of cement board. 1/2 inch+or-

   Call Stowe or Dryvit companies for more info.

2. 
   FastEddie1 | May 30, 2003 11:52pm | #13

   If you plan to use 1/4" stone, don't use 1/4" thk mastic...too much chance of the goop oozing up between the stones and being visible.Do it right, or do it twice.