Stone facade major problems

[bprhodes]

My Chiang Mai home is 3 years old.  After about 6 months the stones of my facade started falling off.  They were “glued” to the gypsum board that forms the walls of my steel frame house by workers who didn’t know what they were doing and probably used the wrong glue (looks like the same stuff used to glue down floor tiles). Today I tried to replace the missing stones using silicone as the glue.  I discovered to my dismay that 10-20% of the stones are loose and ready to come down anytime.

 

I need to think about a redo.  I could have all the stones removed but then I would be left with all the glue adhering to the gypsum board and that would have to be removed somehow too, or I might have to have all the gypsum boards removed and start over.   
 

Does anyone have any suggestion on either how to affect a repair or an alternative to the stone facade?  I like the look of the stones, but they were relatively expensive.  I’m NOT a DIYer, so for any repair or replacement I will need to hire someone.  I need ideas for a permanent, worry free, good looking, economical solution.

[bankruatsteve]

Most of the Home places have "Construction Adhesive" in the same type of tube that silicone comes.  You might try that on one or two of the bricks and so that the adhesive is also connecting the loose brick to those surrounding it.  

[sometimewoodworker]

9 hours ago, bprhodes said:

Today I tried to replace the missing stones using silicone as the glue.

That may not be a long term solution as while silicone will stick to things it is generally not a great adhesive. You probably need a polyurethane based construction adhesive but they will take quite a time to cure.

[carlyai]

6 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

That may not be a long term solution as while silicone will stick to things it is generally not a great adhesive. You probably need a polyurethane based construction adhesive but they will take quite a time to cure.

A few years ago a friend in Isaan used 100% Silicon to glue these type of tiles to the outside of his house. So I tried it with some sandstone like tiles inside the house in Pattaya, and 4 years later they are all still secure on the walls. So 100% silicon may work.

 

The tiles on my pool were layed with Crocodile Light Blue Cement, and they haven't moved.

 

I'd tend to go for the cement as the environment outside would be fairly harsh like in the pool. 

 

I am no expert though.

[johng]

I would be very worried having gypsum board walls on the outside of my house, when it gets wet it tends to just fall apart.

[sometimewoodworker]

3 minutes ago, johng said:

I would be very worried having gypsum board walls on the outside of my house, when it gets wet it tends to just fall apart.

I forget that. If indeed the board under is not cement board but some variation of gypsum/plaster board then the only cure is to reaboard first.

 

The rock slips are not waterproof and will allow moisture to penetrate, whatever is being used to hold them to the walls will not be able to completely stop that so the substrate must be unaffected by water such as cement board.

[Denim]

A little bit of ' no more nails ' will do the job.

 

Maybe too well though because once stuck on they are next to impossible to remove without taking off the wall they are stuck to.

 

Therefore only use a blob of the stuff at each end of the tile.

[canopy]

Remove all the gypsum board. Gypsum is for indoor use only. It molds, deforms, and crumbles when it gets wet. Many stories on thaivisa about this. And beyond that gypsum cannot possibly be expected to hold the weight of a stone wall to it. It's inexcusable and criminal to misuse it so badly for something it can't possibly be asked to do.

 

Get thick cement board. Probably the stones will need 20mm thick or more so check the book. Use an approved thinset to fasten the stones, again checking the book for the stones. Crocodile gold thinset for instance is widely available and excellent for outdoor use and on cement board. There are two overall approaches being discussed. Some advocate making up a quick and dirty hack without enough knowledge that won't last just like the builder did (the Thai way of doing things). Another way is to use suitable materials known to make a long lasting, hassle free wall (the developed world way of doing things). I think leveraging the knowledge of mankind rather than burning the books and learning the hard way is the way to go here.