The main ingredients for a faux stone wall are:

- Your choice of faux stone panels
- Complementary faux stone wall caps and capitals
- A wood-framed wall to attach the panels and caps to
- Optionally, faux columns or posts

Faux stone panels

Start by choosing the stone design and color you like. All our panels are suitable for outdoor use. Panel height is different for different product lines, and this might affect your choice. For most efficient use of materials, you’d want the wall height to be a multiple of the panel height, or a little less.

Faux stone wall caps and capitals

The wall caps come in gray and tan to complement just about any panel color. They also come in two widths. For this project you want the standard (narrower) ones, which are sized to fit a paneled wall framed with 4-inch lumber. The wider ones are sized to fit a paneled 8-inch block wall.

If your wall has some length to it, consider adding decorative capitals on top of the wall cap at intervals to really dress it up.

Wood-framed wall

The core of your beautiful faux stone wall is an ordinary wood-framed wall built with 4x4s, 2x4s and sheathing. It’s really half-wall, half-fence, because you have to sink the 4x4s into the ground and anchor them in concrete to support the wall.

So plan the wall just as you’d plan a fence, anchoring the 4×4 posts no more than 8 feet apart. Then frame a wall between them with 2×4 top and bottom plates, and studs spaced 2 feet apart. Finally, attach 1/2-inch sheathing to both sides. Keep the bottom of the framing and sheathing about 1/2 to 1 inch off the ground for longer life. Of course you need to use pressure-treated lumber and galvanized or stainless-steel fasteners.

When you attach the faux stone panels, use a good exterior adhesive and caulk all joints. The panels won’t rot, so lay the bottom edge right on the ground. Then top it all off with the faux stone caps.

Faux columns or posts

For extra class, you can add one or more faux stone columns or posts to your wall. Imagine your driveway flanked by two massive stone columns, with a stone wall extending out to each side.

Some columns are designed to fit around wood posts, and others attach to a pad anchored to the ground. Locate each column so the panels and end caps butt against the side of the column. Scribe the last panel to the contour of the column, and then caulk the joint to blend everything together. (The photo shows a column in the middle of a fence, but the idea’s the same.)

And when you finish your wall, be sure to send us photos to add to our gallery!

Don’t get me wrong, while I thought this skit was hysterical – it was due more to Fred and Scarlett’s comic enthusiasm than anything. I actually think columns can add really nice visual interest to your home – although the ones they were hawking may not be up your alley.

How about some faux columns? They look really realistic, but lightweight enough that you won’t be lugging around heavy stone or brick and spending tons of money on a professional mason.

One of our customers recently put these Drystack Quarry Gray faux columns up at their model house and sent us this photo.

Another nice use of columns is to set off a yard or border fence. It can turn a boring wood or metal fence into something a little more interesting looking. This photo was sent in by a customer using Majesty Augusta stone fence posts:

Watch this clip for a good laugh – then go get yourself some faux columns!