Chateau Limestone

The Chateau Limestone material comes in a pre-packaged 6 piece Ashlar Pattern.  Pictured above the limestone material fits tightly together and is easy to lay over a concrete slab or sand base.   

The Chateau Limestone product has a natural weathered face which gives the stone a rustic or worn European feel.

The Chateau Limestone was used on a house in Daniel Island built by Structures Building Group.  The homeowners fell in love with the distinct blue hues of the stone.  They liked the look of a traditional Pennsylvania Bluestone but wanted a more consistent color.  

Erin Masonry installed the product over a concrete slab and cut the edge of the patio to give it a rounded shape.  

Once the area was cleaned up and landscaped you can see how well this Limestone contrast with the house and landscape colors. 

The rounded shape of the patio help break up the symmetry of the house. 

One of the wonderful features of Daniel Island are the picturesque views of the sunrise over the golf course.  

The Chateau Limestone was also used on the entry walk and front steps.

T

The homeowners chose to use the same 6pc ashlar pattern on the walkway. 

The steps were all custom fabricated to have offsetting joints and finished rock-faced ends.  

Chateau Limestone is becoming one of our most popular stones for is consistency in color and natural feel.

Spring Valley Fireplace

It is not very often that you find a customer interested using rounded river rock on a house on Daniel Island.  But it is exciting when a the builder and architect have a vision and it all comes together in the end.  I have included some photos of fireplace on an exterior porch on Daniel Island.  The homeowner chose one of our natural stone river rock products we call Spring Valley.  The Spring Valley flats and corners were applied as an adhered veneer.  Also referred to as a sawn-back thin veneer product this product is light weight and applies directly to the scratch coat on the wall and does not require structural support on this raised porch.  

The stone mason on the project was Benjamin Mora Construction.  They first installed the L-shaped corners on both returns of the fireplace so that it would be easier to fit the interior pieces into place.  

The wood beam in the picture was cut out of an old barn beam and was installed first so the masons could get a tight fit around the mantel piece. 

The builder J D Smith Custom Homes waited till the very end to measure for the stone hearth and check that everything was square before ordering the marble hearth top.  

One of the most impressive things that most people will not see in this fireplace is the attentions to detail.  Most importantly the mason broke up his head joints by staggering the stones across the front of the fireplace.  This is extremely difficult to do when working with a river rock type veneer stone.  Because all the stones are similar in size and shape it is hard not to create vertical lines up the fireplace giving the appearance of one stone stacked on top of the next.  

Here is a closer look at the stone hearth. 

Take a closer look at the L-shaped corner pieces used in the installation.  Using these corner stones give the fireplace the appearance that all the stones were full size when installed each stone appears to be at least 4-6" in bed depth.

This is illustrates the head joint issue more clearly.  It is very difficult to follow any of the mortar joints from top to bottom without it being broken by another piece of stone.  

Take a look at the wood mantel again.  Rarely do you see a mason arrive on a jobsite with all materials accurately laid out so that they can install the material tight to a tv box or mantel stone.  If the mantel has not been fabricated yet the builder could have blocked this area with some wood to get a tight fit when the mantel comes in at a later date.

I really enjoy the color combinations used in this fireplace and to me I really appreciate the choice of using a river rock on this particular home.  

Fire and Water Display

The Fall 2013 Charleston Home and Design Show was held at Johnson Hagood Stadium.  Now in its ninth year the event showcased thousands of the newest and finest custom home products by many recognized and respected local companies.  Landscape designer Patty Craven put together the layout for the 2013 Outdoor Living Experience.  Patty described the space as, "an experiential trip into a big huge garden."  One of the main features of this years garden was a joint effort of HLG Grower's Christian Teague and Steve Smith of William Smith Fireplaces.  Fire and Water Display The two companies collaborated using Fieldstone Center's products to create an outdoor fire and water display.  Imagine the possibilities of having a fireplace and water feature in your own backyard.  Click on the video for a closer look at the display.

Grand Island Bar comes to life!

I have included a step by step guide in this post on how to put together one of our new products.  Manufactured by Mid-Atlantic Concrete products the pictures detail the installation of the Grand Island Bar in front of our office on Johns Island.  We had the help of the crew from Superior Surfaces Concrete.  The picture above shows the area before construction began.  

We began by filling in the void of the existing water feature.  The next step was to dig out the space so that we could add base material from our pavers. 

Using a laser level we check the grade and started to form the outdoor kitchen area to pour a concrete footer.  The Mid-Atlantic Grand Island bar is designed to be installed on at least a 4" concrete footing.

We squared up the forms with the building and waited for the concrete truck to arrive.  

We added additonal 4" PVC pipes to gain access to the middle of the outdoor kitchen for electric and potential plumbing.  

After the footer was poured we prepped the rest of the area with an ROC crushed limestone base.  

The limestone base was compacted in 4" lifts

Now it is time to start installing the outdoor kitchen

If you have ever played with Legos or lincoln logs as a kid this process should be pretty self explanatory.  The Mid-Atlantic system comes with a layer by layer diagram to follow throughout the installation process. 

One of the most important things to check as you are building the unit is to make sure everything is square and plumb as you build up. 

Once the base layer is set and checked for square the process of stacking moves much more quickly. 

All of the custom size pcs in the Mid-Atlantic kit come pre-cut and labeled to match the diagram.  There is no need for additional equipment for this job. 

The openings come with pre-cut angle iron support.  

All of the Mid-Atlantic concrete products kits come with gloves and the masonry adhesive used to put the products together.  

The process of installation goes fast with extra hands.  Included with the literature for each product you will find a man hour estimation to put each kit together.  If you are planing to install these products often this information is extremely helpful to have in your estimating process.  

I have never seen an outdoor kitchen come together this quickly.

If you follow the directions correctly the door and grill provided in the kit slide right in. 

One of the great features of these kit systems are the unique attention to detail in the design.  

Checking to make sure the blocks are correct before sliding in the grill.  

This shot is a good example of the specialty cut pieces.  You can also see the shims that are provided in the kit.  

Almost there.

After putting the provided countertops into place this job is complete.   

ISO'ven Design Ideas

If you were needing some inspiration for the design of your outdoor pizza oven take a look here.  These are all photos of recent installations by Isokern.