Ugly Rusty Stones

[Robert Dalga]

Gentlemen;
Did a recent inspection on a nice two story home with stone veneer on the front exterior and vinyl on the rest. Overall, the stonework looked fine (including the mortar joints), however there were a few stones that had ugly rust on them (random occurance). My guess is that over time this is just going to get worst (and maybe more occurances). Any ideas on what's causing this?

[Charles Guinn]

Robert,
We have something similar on our patio. Rust stains have been appearing on the stones, and the installer told us that it was iron content in the stone, which, when exposed to water actually begins to rust.

[Scott Patterson]

Looks like faux stone (man made) that had some iron in the mix when the stones were made. It is a defect and should be covered under the warranty by the manufacture.

All that can be done is to remove the pieces that are "bleeding" and replace with a new stone. It is not all that hard if it is faux stone, but it does take some skill.

That is some ugly stonework on that home!

[John Arnold]

...That is some ugly stonework on that home!

I agree! Even without the rust!

[Jerry Peck]

Looks like faux stone (man made) that had some iron in the mix when the stones were made. It is a defect and should be covered under the warranty by the manufacture.

All that can be done is to remove the pieces that are "bleeding" and replace with a new stone. It is not all that hard if it is faux stone, but it does take some skill.

Possibly even something like a screw dropped into the mix used for the mold, or metal shaving, or ???


That is some ugly stonework on that home!

Completely agree with that. :eek:

[J Moore]

Is there a screw head visible in the image? I swear I see one.
But I'm old and wear tri-focals.

[Jerry Peck]

Is there a screw head visible in the image? I swear I see one.
But I'm old and wear tri-focals.


I zoomed in 400%, 600% even 800% and there definitely IS a "round something" there or which was there. Either a screw, and anchor, or an embedded something which rusted out in a circular shape.

[Scott Patterson]

It looks like a Phillips head screw.

[Dan Harris]

That is some ugly stonework on that home!

Those people paid a heck of a lot of money for those stones :)

[Jim Luttrall]

Is there a screw head visible in the image? I swear I see one.
But I'm old and wear tri-focals.
Yep, phillips head.

[Rick Hurst]

There is enough ugly on that house to distract away from a few rust spots.

I guess evergreen trees are the only thing carried at the nurseries in the area. Maybe in a few years they'll grow and hide that McMansion.

[Robert Dalga]

I also thought the spots that were rusting had what looked like and 'anchor' but what are they doing there??? I'm pretty sure these are cultured stones which are just 'lick and stick'.

[Scott Patterson]

I also thought the spots that were rusting had what looked like and 'anchor' but what are they doing there??? I'm pretty sure these are cultured stones which are just 'lick and stick'.

Who knows why they are where they are, but it is what it is.....! Could be that they were hanging a plumb line or maybe they even screwed some of the stones in place but for whatever reason they have a mess now. Some faux stones are only a couple of inches thick so a 3" screw would leave just about what we are seeing! Na, they wouldn't have done that. Ya think?

[Ken Rowe]

Or the home owner was hanging Christmas lights...if there were a bunch of those screws.

[Raymond McCann]

Hi Robert;
I can see that you have alot of response to the making of the rust, I have a solution to getting rid of it. I was at a property that had a sprinkler system and there was rust on the stone foundation and the vinyl siding. I used all the products that are at Home depot for this and none of them worked on the Iron content that was in this water. I, by accident used ZEP toilet bowl cleaner in a spray gun, applied it and let it sit for about 30 minutes then power washed it and it came as clean as it was when it was installed. Hope this helps with you getting it taken care of. As well as giving your client the ability to maintain it. :)