Today I am sharing our driveway entrance stone columns tutorial with Airstone. This was such a fun project and what a difference the stone columns make at the entrance of our driveway. I am loving the new curb appeal!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of AirStone. All opinions are 100% mine.
When Airstone reached out asking if we wanted to collaborate featuring their Airstone product, I jumped at the chance. Airstone has stone products that are DIY friendly and can be used in a variety of home projects, such as kitchen backsplashes or a fireplace makeover. I have many plans in the future (after doing this column project) to create an outdoor kitchen grill area and a focal accent wall in our basement using this same Airstone product. The stone was so easy to work with!
Our driveway entrance before the stone columns.
Before I get started with the stone column tutorial, I have a funny story to share. As many of you know, my dad, grandfather and I have always done a lot of our home renovations and smaller scaled DIY projects together. That is how and why the blog started 7 years ago.
(My dad, son and grandfather – 2014)
Throughout the years, my dad always would laugh when I said, “Dad, I have a great idea for the blog!”
His response was, “you mean, you have more work for me to do.”
As many of you know, my marriage ended last year and life changed. As time went by, I started dating earlier this year and while it was awkward and strange in the beginning, time went by and I met an amazing person this past summer who I have so much in common with. It’s really crazy how things work out sometimes.
This is the first project that my dad said, “Finally, someone to help you besides me!”
It was a family affair making these columns and working with Airstone as my dad, son, Jim and I worked together to get the project done. It was fun!
Driveway Entrance Stone Columns Tutorial
We decided to add two columns set off the driveway about a foot (so the plow has space to clear the driveway) to enhance our entrance. This project took one weekend. A day to construct the columns and a day to add the Airstone product.
Our column is 42 x 28 x 28.
The Airstone Veneer color we used was called Spring Creek which is a variety of neutral gray and light brown undertones.
Airstone product colors
Airstone has a variety of colors and only Airstone products fit precisely together which is important as you do not want gaps in between the stones. I wanted our columns to tie in with the natural stone retaining wall along the driveway and the stone accent wall on the house so the Spring Creek was the perfect mix of neutral tones. You can purchase Airstone products at you local Lowes Home Improvement Store.
Our Project Supplies:
4 boxes Airstone Primary Wall Stone – Spring Creek color blend
4 boxes Airstone Corner/Finished End Stone – Spring Creek color blend
Pressure treated 2×4’s (for the frame)
3″ exterior screws (for the frame)
Durok Cement board (for the walls)
Durok screws (to fasten the cement board to the frame)
6 large tubes (28 ounces) Loctite PL Premium Construction Adhesive (to fasten the Airstone Veneer to cement board walls)
12 bags of Quikrete (optional cement base)
3″ granite 30 x 30 stone cap (for the top of column)
4″ Diamond blade grinder (to cut the stones)
Once the columns were framed, we screwed the cement board to the frame to create the walls and placed the finished column on the cement base.
The 30×30 cement base was a last minute decision. We originally intended to place the columns directly on top of the lawn. I think the cement base adds a custom look and gives the columns stability (screw the column to the dried cement).
The stone is very easy to apply and cut. The directions are self explanatory and once we got organized with the flat and corner pieces, the process moved quickly.
The columns are fairly large so it took two of us about 3 hours to complete each column.
How to cut Airstone flat stones and corners
Tip: lay out your flat stones and corners separately so you can see what you have to work with. You can create any kind of design you want but we found it easiest to create a random pattern. Watch the installation video for further details.
We used Loctite PL Premium Construction Adhesive to adhere the stone.
You can either apply the adhesive directly to the stone or run long strips along the cement board.
Driveway Entrance Stone Column Ideas
The stone cap (top piece of column) is a 3″ thick granite 30 x 30 piece that we purchased from a local Landscaping supply store.
Here are the finished Airstone Spring Creek driveway entrance columns sporting pretty Christmas wreaths.
Here is the driveway during the Fall before the columns.
The Spring Creek stone features a variety of neutral colors and coordinates perfectly with the natural gray retaining wall.
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love these columns. I was hoping to get the project finished before the leaves fell off the trees but as you can see, I missed the window of pretty Fall colorful leaves. Our house number is difficult to see from the driveway so in the Spring we will purchase an address plaque for the center of one of the columns. We are also going to add a couple flower beds with smaller scaled shrubs as well in the Spring which will complete the look. If you try out our driveway entrance stone column tutorial, be sure to send us pictures! Thank you to AirStone for this fun project! AirStone is sold exclusively at Lowes stores nationwide, or at Lowes.com. Look for AirStone in the Building Materials department at Lowes.
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