It s self-holding, there s no counterweight, it doesn t push down. It s very light. In fact, I started this fireplace from the top down. That s how I keep it from getting dirty. If you start laying the stone from the bottom, when you squeeze out the joint, it can fall off the trowel and onto the stone.
Cultured stone marks up very easily.
They re difficult to clean because you can t use a wire brush. If you do, you expose the base. Laying real stone in a fireplace like this would be very difficult, because you have to trim the back. Cultured stone doesn t need to be trimmed down because they re narrow. It s a veneer stone.