Hey guys, I’m kicking off a new photo series on how to create an authentic stone facade. And I have to tell you—I wasn’t expecting what I found when I got to the site. Lori and I had been away on vacation for a few weeks, so I was really excited to see the progress on this Montecito project.
I parked on the street and literally had to climb over six or seven pallets of this gorgeous French flagstone to get to the back of the property. I could hear the stone masons at work—saws buzzing, chisels tapping—and when I rounded the corner of the freestanding garage, I discovered they were already doing the overgrout process.
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Listen as I walk you through this stone facade job site as you check out the photo
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“Hey guys, I’m starting a new photo series on authentic stone facade installation and I thought I would kick off the series with this image. To set the scene… I hadn’t been to the job site in quite a few weeks. Lori and I were on a little vacation and came back, and was really excited to see what was all happening.
I parked out on the street- (this is a project in Montecito)… and, literally had to climb over six or seven pallets of this beautiful flagstone that was imported from France. I could hear the stone mason’s chipping away using their saws and chisels to create something in the back, but it was fun to get around the corner. This is a self-standing garage, and then of course the house- which I’ll show later- but this was where they were starting.
And what I wasn’t expecting was that they were doing the overgrout… um, right away. I thought maybe they would install all the stone, and then come back and do the overgrouting over the entire thing, but was kind of clever was they can give this facade an old world French style stone house look by kinda doing it in stages… so I hope you’ll follow along.
I’m gonna be uploading photos through the process. I don’t know when, or how often I’ll do it… but you know it’s very tedious process and I’m very excited to see how this project is gonna turn out”—Jeff Doubet, August 22, 2025
Montecito Stone Mason Techniques for an Authentic Stone Facade
I assumed the stone masons would install all the stone first, THEN come back to grout everything in. But their approach is actually really clever—by working in stages, they’re creating the authentic Old World French stone house look, right from the start!
This close up shot shows the stone mason measuring for his next piece of French flagstone. Notice how he has an overlapping layout he is creating?
The other thing I thought was fascinating with his process is he would cut these random sizes of squares and rectangles from natural shapes of harvested flagstone. After his saw cuts, he would take a stone chisel and literally chip on the freshly cut edges.
You can see it in the photo above. some of the stone pieces have bigger chips out of them than others. A masterful way of making the French stone facade “less perfect”. The exact effect desired!
