Retiling with a stone veneer..do it yourself?

[maleora]

I have planter at the back of my pool. The tile surface on this planter including front back and sides is 78 sq feet. (Don't judge me for the sad state of the pool area, this was taken while the house was vacant before I purchased the home.)

I want to resurface the planter with natural stone veneers as shown in the 3rd picture here http://www.norstoneusa.com/gallery/application/Pools Sorry the site would let me download a copy of the pic so I could just attach it. The retail cost on the site for this stuff is 14-16$ a square foot.

I had a pool contractor do me up a quote to do several things... pavers, pebble finish, including redoing these boxes. His price came back at $3,296 just for the front! to do the back and sides he wants another $3,690 !!!!

So thats almost $7,000? I don't know what product he is using, the one I linked to was just one I found by googling around, but still. Based on the prices on this website the amount of material I need should range from $1,200-1,400 retail.

The site says that this stuff can be installed by your average home handy man that has laid tile in the past and that if you want to hire someone a tile setter is who you should call, they make no mention of any special installation instructions around pools, only that the stone should be sealed when used in wet areas. At this point me and my husband are considering doing this ourselves. But I am wording if there is something I don't know or realize that is making this so expensive. Is installing something like this yourself as easy as it sounds or is there something I am missing?

Any advice would be appreciated.

P.S. Does anyone have any ideas on dealing with the cantilevered coping at the top?

 

[Killer95Stang]

Hello,

I'm using that same type of stacked ledger stone for my BBQ island build. I contacted Norstone which led me to a local distributor that is selling the stone panels for $9.75 sq ft for straights and $10.75 sq ft for the corner pieces. Those amounts should be pretty consistent with quotes you are getting if you go with that brand. An alternative would be EastWest stone products which was used on my pool build and are about $2.00 less per panel, or what I'm using for my BBQ build is MS International panels which are $5.50 sq ft for straights and $6.00 for the corners.

Using a modified high quality thinset like Mapei Ultralite, Laticrete 254 or 255, Custom Prolite will work well in this application. Make sure you order about 10% more stone than you need.

 

[Corleone]

I have planter at the back of my pool. The tile surface on this planter including front back and sides is 78 sq feet. View attachment 34269 (Don't judge me for the sad state of the pool area, this was taken while the house was vacant before I purchased the home.)

I want to resurface the planter with natural stone veneers as shown in the 3rd picture here http://www.norstoneusa.com/gallery/application/Pools Sorry the site would let me download a copy of the pic so I could just attach it. The retail cost on the site for this stuff is 14-16$ a square foot.

I had a pool contractor do me up a quote to do several things... pavers, pebble finish, including redoing these boxes. His price came back at $3,296 just for the front! to do the back and sides he wants another $3,690 !!!!

So thats almost $7,000? I don't know what product he is using, the one I linked to was just one I found by googling around, but still. Based on the prices on this website the amount of material I need should range from $1,200-1,400 retail.

The site says that this stuff can be installed by your average home handy man that has laid tile in the past and that if you want to hire someone a tile setter is who you should call, they make no mention of any special installation instructions around pools, only that the stone should be sealed when used in wet areas. At this point me and my husband are considering doing this ourselves. But I am wording if there is something I don't know or realize that is making this so expensive. Is installing something like this yourself as easy as it sounds or is there something I am missing?

Any advice would be appreciated.

P.S. Does anyone have any ideas on dealing with the cantilevered coping at the top?

Setting stone isn't too hard, I hired a concrete worker on a side for my owner/build, he's done it all and it all looks quite easy.

If you really want to save money, you could go to home depot and hire someone looking for work who knows how to do it. You'd be surprised some of the work experience some of those guys have. What'd I do, is hire a few guys to do the demo, and the one who looks like he knows what he's doing the most, pull him aside and ask for his phone number. Have him come back and do the stone if you feel comfortable with him. This stuff ain't rocket science, but if you want, you can take it a step further. Call out a specialized tile guy to give you a bid. Question him on the install (what kind of mortar thinset mix, whether he'll waterproof the wall etc). Then you'll be a bit more well informed when trying to decide if the laborer you're hiring really knows what he's doing.

Some may disagree with that practice, but many laborers have a lot of experience setting stone.

Check around for some stone distributors, there's lots in FL. I bought my panels for 3.50 per sq/ft here in So Cal. I'd have paid triple if I bought them from a tile store. Check craigslist, there's some places where you can save money.

 

[bdavis466]

Setting stone isn't too hard, I hired a concrete worker on a side for my owner/build, he's done it all and it all looks quite easy.

If you really want to save money, you could go to home depot and hire someone looking for work who knows how to do it. You'd be surprised some of the work experience some of those guys have. What'd I do, is hire a few guys to do the demo, and the one who looks like he knows what he's doing the most, pull him aside and ask for his phone number. Have him come back and do the stone if you feel comfortable with him. This stuff ain't rocket science, but if you want, you can take it a step further. Call out a specialized tile guy to give you a bid. Question him on the install (what kind of mortar thinset mix, whether he'll waterproof the wall etc). Then you'll be a bit more well informed when trying to decide if the laborer you're hiring really knows what he's doing.

Some may disagree with that practice, but many laborers have a lot of experience setting stone.

Check around for some stone distributors, there's lots in FL. I bought my panels for 3.50 per sq/ft here in So Cal. I'd have paid triple if I bought them from a tile store. Check craigslist, there's some places where you can save money.

I would advise against this practice and at least recommend that you utilize a licensed/bonded/insured contractor for any work that you are not going to do yourself. Taking advantage of a contractor who offers free estimates to teach you how to install your materials is also ethically questionable.

The quote you received does seem high. I would suggest getting another quote.

 

[duraleigh]

No matter if it "looks easy", it is not.

Work like OP is proposing is a difficult tile job and I would never encourage anyone with no experience to tackle a job like that......period.

It may not be "rocket science" but it requires a skill set and experience that few homeowners possess. It is quite labor intensive and unforgiving if you do not have any prior knowledge.

 

[Corleone]

I would advise against this practice and at least recommend that you utilize a licensed/bonded/insured contractor for any work that you are not going to do yourself. Taking advantage of a contractor who offers free estimates to teach you how to install your materials is also ethically questionable.

The quote you received does seem high. I would suggest getting another quote.

I would suggest getting another quote too, and taking some mental notes for future reference.

Give me a break on ethics, it's a common practice to compare quotes. It's quote possible that after doing the research I advised, they may decide to choose the route of a licensed bonded contractor. In every instance it may not be the best option based on budget. An uninformed homeowner is a homeowner who's easily taken advantage of. Contractors can be like bad mechanics.

 

[maleora]

Hello,

I'm using that same type of stacked ledger stone for my BBQ island build. I contacted Norstone which led me to a local distributor that is selling the stone panels for $9.75 sq ft for straights and $10.75 sq ft for the corner pieces. Those amounts should be pretty consistent with quotes you are getting if you go with that brand. An alternative would be EastWest stone products which was used on my pool build and are about $2.00 less per panel, or what I'm using for my BBQ build is MS International panels which are $5.50 sq ft for straights and $6.00 for the corners.

Using a modified high quality thinset like Mapei Ultralite, Laticrete 254 or 255, Custom Prolite will work well in this application. Make sure you order about 10% more stone than you need.

I have since met withmy PB. He states that he can use any products I like if I find something online that I like he can get it, however he said that all of these products are priced about the same. The price could change and he would let me know if it did. Based on the above post it sounds like the prices of these products actually can fluctuate quite a bit. I know he currently uses EuroVeneer Direct, does anyone have any experience with these veneers? I am wondering how their cost compares to the other options out there.

 

[Divin Dave]

If you can find a contractor yourself, you will save $$. The PB is most likely going to employee a contractor to do it, and then add his profit on top of what the contractor costs him.

Its pretty easy to find contractors to do this type of work. Ask friends or building supply stores for references. Yellow Pages, Yelp, Houzzz, Angies List are also sources for finding someone who will do you a good job.

As for doing it yourself. Duraleigh is right. Experience and skill set is the key to making it look like a pro did it. And the right tools.
If you dont have the right tools, it will look like a caveman did it no matter how attentive you are to acuatlly setting the stone.

 

[Jabooh1]

I have done lots of tile/stone work. Doing vertical tile is harder and I wouldn't recommend starting off with this. If you have time, and want to learn, get a sheet of hardiboard (concrete board) and some of the stone and see if you can do it. Might be $100 test but at least you would 1) realize it's too hard and not start something your not able to do or 2) realize you can do it and save a few thousand dollars.