Stone veneer installation in Napa CA - a finish that looks like it belongs on your house

Across the US, installing stone veneer usually costs about $25 to $40 per square foot, and that's a national figure for the installed work, not our price. Where your wall lands depends on its size, its shape and the prep it needs before the stone goes on. For your own job, I'll come out and put the work and the reason for it in a written estimate.

It can if the wall is sound, because the industry's installation guide says manufactured stone veneer should go only over a sound wall, not one that's deteriorating or one clad in EIFS, a foam insulation siding with a stucco-like finish. Masonry and concrete walls also need to be clean and free of dirt, paint or waterproofing that could weaken the mortar's grip. Have you noticed cracks, flaking or damp spots? Tell me when you call (707) 254-6004, and if the wall isn't ready, I'll say so.

The state licensing board's masonry contractor class covers installing natural and manufactured stone, so that's the license to look for. A general building contractor, a "B", can take the job as prime contractor if it holds that class or subcontracts to a licensed specialty contractor, so ask which one applies. We're fully licensed and insured.

Start with the City of Napa's Building Division, which issues permits and asks owners to contact it first. Its list of work that doesn't need a permit names tiling and similar finish work but not stone veneer, and there's no online portal for submittals, so questions go to the counter, open to the public 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Thursday. We check with the city early, and if your job needs a permit, we take care of the application and set up the inspections.

Workmanship in the field is usually the main cause, according to the industry's installation guide, and most veneer trouble comes down to rushed setting. The guide says installing to it helps the stone perform as intended for decades, so ask any installer how they handle the prep. We take our time on the prep and on every stone, and our work is satisfaction guaranteed.

Mostly you don't, because the prep is part of our job, and the industry's guide lays out what it involves. Where a masonry or concrete wall needs it, the guide calls for cleaning by power washing or shot or bead blasting, and where there's no surface the mortar can bond to, a metal mesh called lath and a rough first coat of mortar called a scratch coat go on before the stone. On framed walls, it calls for the water-resistant barrier in two separate layers, lapped like shingles from the bottom up.