Del:

My question is: What would be the best way to create facing stones that resemble old Greek or Italian limestone exterior walls.

I am trying to create an effect in our kitchen that resembles an old Tuscan or Mediterranean wall face where the original stone wall was later covered by concrete plaster and chipped away exposing random patterns of the underlying brick or stone.

My concern is this: I do not want the stones to be thicker than 1/4 to 3/8" thick to alleviate making the surrounding wall plaster too thick. Which mold formula would be best for this?

Hello Nicholas:

I have thought about your question and cannot think of an easy way for you to do what you asked about. If you had a piece of wall that was done the way you want you could probably find someone who could duplicate it for you.

Trouble is it would be expensive as hell. You would need a large sample so that it did not repeat itself to often.

I think it would be cheaper for you to hire a local plasterer and ask him if he could help you.

You could do this yourself with very little practice. This could be your chance to learn the plaster / stucco trade! You do not want a smooth finish like sheetrock so it should not be too hard.

It will be something that you can brag about when people come over to see your renovations. Next thing you know you will be doing it at your friends place.

Maybe they will want the rec room to have the appearance of an old 1930 style Pool room. I can see it now, the walls stained yellow from years of cigarette smoke. (Fake of course) A couple of posters of Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman from The Hustler. Your stamp on the lower corner with the date of completion.

What will your next project bring?

I would go buy a trowel and some plaster or stucco mix and have at it out in the garage. After a couple of hours practice you will probably feel confident enough to start the real thing. It is just a matter of getting a feel for how the plaster spreads and what sort of stroke gives the texture you want.

Use plaster, it is very light when dry. Stucco is more like concrete in the weight department.

You should be able to build the thickness you want without worrying about the walls ability to support the weight. You will find it will take more than one layer to get the effect you are looking for, so be patient. You cant do it all in one day. It will take 3 or 4 applications.

Dont rush it. Put on 1/8 3/16 of plaster and let it dry, then ad to it. If you try to do it 1/2' at a time it will shrink and checks will develop making the job last longer and making it very frustrating.

There are also places that do overlays using proprietary mixes and stamping. They have some beautiful stamp patterns. I know they have brick patterns, I have not seen any like you have asked about but that does not mean they don't have any.

I also wondered if you could try to get the thin veneer type bricks that glue on and then have your plasterer sort of stucco over them, maybe leaving a few exposed here and there. Or knocking some of the plaster off after doing the job to get the look you want.

I hope this helps a little, and thanks for thinking of me with your question.

Del