Here are a few helpful points in thinking about stonework on your project:

Types of Joints                                                                                                                                                        Stone is either set “dry” or “wet”, which has to do with whether or not mortar is visible in the joints. The dry look is when stones are fit very tightly together, and no mortar is visible. Mortar is used to level stones in the dry look, however it is raked out to leave just the natural edges as the prominent design feature. “Wet” means that stone is set with a visible mortar joint the typically will be between 1/2” and 3/4” wide.

The stone sample on the left is “dry” and the one on the right is set “wet” with a mortar joint.

Edges                                                                                                                                                                        All visible edges in stonework should be kept either natural or with the marks left by a chisel, indicating that the stone has been worked by hand. All visible corner edges from new World Stoneworks are left natural with no cutting - see the left edges on the above samples. Along the perimeter of each stone, notice how the edges have been hand finished to provide the natural, irregular edge of artisan stonework.

Copyright © 2007 New World Stoneworks LLC