Exterior
Exterior Stone Wall Cladding
The biggest surface on the job, and the one that has to survive everything Miami throws at it.
Exterior cladding is the bulk of what Miami Stone Veneer Specialists ships. It's also where the difference between a wall that lasts forty years and one that fails in six has almost nothing to do with the stone you picked.
The wall behind the wall
Nearly every exterior veneer failure we get called about traces back to water that got behind the stone and couldn't get out. Not through it — behind it, usually around a window head or a roof junction.
On a block wall that's rarely an issue; block doesn't care. On framed construction it's the whole ballgame. You need a weather-resistive barrier, then a genuine drainage gap, then lath. Two layers, not one. The stone is a rain screen, not a waterproof membrane, and it was never meant to be.
What Miami changes
- Salt. Within a mile of the water, use a pale face and seal it. Dark stone shows mineral bloom within a season.
- UV. A west elevation takes punishing afternoon sun. Through-coloured stone handles it; surface-pigmented product chalks.
- Driving rain. Hurricane-season rain arrives horizontally. Flashing at every opening and a proper drip at the base of the wall.
- Humidity. Use a breathable penetrating sealer. Film-forming sealers trap vapour and blow off in sheets.
Choosing a face for a big elevation
The rule that matters: the bigger the wall, the more formats you need. A single face size across 2,000 square feet will show its mould repeat and once you notice it you'll never stop noticing it.
Our Rustic and Galarza ranges carry six or seven formats each for exactly this reason. On very large elevations, mixing two collections in bands is normal practice and looks deliberate rather than indecisive.
What it costs
Material $9 to $19 per square foot. Installed, budget $22 to $38 including prep, mortar, and sealer — the range depends far more on substrate condition than on which stone you chose. A sound block wall is at the bottom. Failed stucco that has to come off first is at the top.
Send elevations and we'll do a take-off free, including corner linear footage, which is the number people forget.
Products specified for this
Manufactured Stone
The pillar of our range. Concrete stone that carries the colour, depth, and texture of quarried stone at a fraction of the weight and cost. Eight collections, 38 face formats, stocked locally.
View details →Mediterranean Stone
The Mediterranean look South Florida keeps coming back to. Long, low courses in warm limestone tones, with a radiused piece for columns and curved walls.
View details →Galarza
Our most geometric range. Six square and rectangular formats on a common module, so you can shift scale across a facade without changing material.
View details →Coastal Stone
Made for waterfront elevations. Pale, shell-flecked faces plus a cool riven slate, all rated for direct salt-air exposure with a penetrating sealer.
View details →Related applications
Commercial Facades
Commercial work runs on submittals and delivery dates. We supply to schedule, with samples and spec sheets your architect can drop straight into the package.
View details →Entryways
The entry is the smallest area with the biggest return. A few hundred square feet of the right stone changes the whole elevation.
View details →Columns
Columns are where cheap veneer gives itself away. Radiused pieces and tight formats wrap the corner instead of butting into it.
View details →Worth reading first
Stone Veneer Cost in Miami
Material, labour, prep, and sealer — broken out separately so you can see where the money actually goes.
View details →Stone Veneer vs Stucco
Stucco is cheaper on day one. Here's what each one costs across twenty years of Miami sun, salt, and storms.
View details →Stone Veneer for Florida Homes
A product that performs beautifully in Denver can fail in Homestead. What Florida changes about the spec.
View details →Common questions
What goes behind the stone on an exterior wall? +
Over block: a bonding agent and a scratch coat. Over framing: a weather-resistive barrier, then a second drainage layer, then metal lath mechanically fastened, then scratch coat. That second drainage layer is the one people skip and it's the one that causes the failures.
Does stone veneer meet Florida hurricane code? +
Adhered veneer over a properly built substrate is accepted throughout Miami-Dade and Broward. The stone isn't the engineered element — the wall behind it is. Your contractor pulls the permit against the wall assembly, not the finish.
How high can it go? +
There's no practical height limit for adhered veneer on a sound substrate. What changes above two storeys is access cost and the need for movement joints — on a tall elevation, thermal movement is real and the joints have to accommodate it.
Can I clad over existing stucco? +
Sometimes. If the stucco is sound, well bonded, and unpainted, lath can be fastened through it into the structure. If it's painted, cracked, or hollow-sounding, it comes off first. We'd rather tell you that now than get the call in two years.
Talk to us about exterior wall cladding
Samples, take-offs, and pricing for projects across Miami and South Florida.