[PSUscaper]

On this subject,

When doing something large and tall, like a chimney, can you start at the bottom and work your way up without stopping for the lower section to set?

I've been told you can only go so high before the weight of the veneer starts to 'slide' down. Is this true? For example, we have a 30 ft chimney I would like to do culture stone on. Can I just start at the bottom and work all the way up without a concern of gravity pulling it down? Or is better to do sections at a time, say 10 ft, let it set overnite, and then come back the next day to do the next level up?

It may not be a concern as I will probably not be able to go up so fast myself and going all the way up won't be a concern, but if I had a crew doing it fast enough to do it in a day, I'd like to know if it is a concern. I've seen natural stone veneer done where they use wire and twist it around every other stone to kind of hold it in place as they go up. Would something like this work also?

I also have a old brick firplace I would like to veneer and think I am going to go with the metal lathe and skim coat first as the bricks are those powdery kind that I don't think will develop a good adhesion with the mortar.

[4seasons]

whenever 1 wants to slide just put a rock in-between the stones
to hold it in place. My bro-n-law and partner lay up to 200ft2 a day with minimal slipage. Just dont have so much mortar on the back. Do like you said and compress the stone against the mesh, that will also take care of voids.

[Stonehenge]

To give you an example of how small the slippage is, one of my suppliers recommends starting at the top and going down, to save the mess of splashing mortar on the stone below.

I think the weight issue has more to do with masonry units or face brick, where there weight is being transferred from above. With these, the weight is being held completely be the adhesion of the wet mortar on the scratch coat.

[PSUscaper]

Thanks for the answers.

I've been doing a lot of tile work in bathrooms lately (always something to do in the winter) and have seen tiles slide down a wall slightly, so thought it might be a concern. The idea of starting at the top and working down seems like a great idea also. That would seem to make things far less messy. Plus, be kind of a mental plus as working close to the ground is easier and you get the hard part done first!

[KWSgroup]

I like to lay stone going up and point it from the top down. That way I don't have scaffle planks over my head while laying the stone. I put it up as I go up and take it down as I work down pointing. That way I never bang my head if you are tall you understand what I mean. To keep your work clean use a bungee cord and a tarp around your work. It is easy to move it up as you go higher and move it down as you point coming down makes for clean work. I leave the tarp on over night just incase I get any rain. As far as stone slipage put the stone where you want it and give it a light tap with a rubber mallet no scuffing and sets the stone solid. If you are doing a narrow tall space like a chimney dig deep with your rake get the scratch coat real rough helps when you go high fast.