I’ve had a few people ask me about the cost of my DIY engineered stone porch baseboards and how they compare to a prefabricated stone siding product. So I took some time last night to tally up the cost of my DIY version.
The biggest cost of the DIY version was of course my time. This was a pretty extensive and time-consuming project, but for me it was worth it. I have the advantage of being a DIY blogger, so working on DIY projects is literally my job. For someone who has another full-time job and then has to work on these DIY projects in the evenings and weekends, this might be different. But my main goal was to end up with a porch baseboard that looks like it was built from the exact same stone that was used for the rest of our house. So for me it was totally worth investing the time to get it right. But everyone has to decide for themselves whether this investment of time is worth it or not. If someone is short on time, it makes perfect sense to choose a finished product that is “close enough”.
But as far as the actual financial cost of this project goes, here’s how the costs break down…
Making the molds:
- GE 100% All Purpose Silicone Caulk – 8 tubes @ $9.48 each = $75.84
- Cornstarch – 4 18 ounce packets at $3.33 each = $13.32
- 1″ x 4″ x 8′ PVC Sheets – 5 at $19.98 each = $99.90
- Leftover plywood – on hand = $0.00
- #8 x 1.5″ Wood Screws – 1 pack of 100 at $11.47 = $11.47
- Great spray foam – 2 cans at $4.98 each = $9.96
- WD-40 – 1 can @ $8.78 = $8.78
Making and attaching the stones:
- Rapid Set Cement All – 4 55 lb bags $29.97 each = $119.88
- Rapid Set Mortar – 3 bags @ $20.97 each = $62.91
- Rapid Set Set Control – 2 bags @ $2.97 each = $5.94
- 6″ x 2″ Concrete Edge Trowel – 1 at $14.97 each = $14.97
- Mortar Bags – 1 each $6.97 = $6.97
- 5 Gallon Buckets – 1 at $3.98 each – $3.98
- 5 liter mixing bucket – 1 each $3.98 = $3.98
- 1 liter container – 2 at $2.98 each = $5.96
- Sprayer – available – $0.00
Total cost:
If I add taxes to these costs, the total cost of my DIY faux concrete porch baseboards comes to $480.48 whether I calculated correctly (which is always questionable ).
Price comparison:
How does this price compare to a finished product? Of course, there are many products that I could compare my engineered stone siding to, but of all the options I looked at, there was only one that I seriously considered. Most stone siding products that look like Austin stone don’t have the distinctive 1/2″ mortar lines between them like the stone on our house does, and that was important to me. Again, my goal was to match my porch baseboard to our house’s stone, and it was impossible to find an exact match with our late 1940s/early 1950s Austin stone.
But there was one that came close, and that was this EverStone polyurethane engineered stone slab product in the Castle Rock pattern.
None of the available colors would have worked for me, so I would have had to paint it to match. With my DIY version I had to do that anyway, so that didn’t deter me at all.
Each panel is 49″ wide and 25.5″ high, but as you can see, the stone pattern does not cover the entire dimension as they fit together seamlessly. I had to cover an area that was 13.5 inches high and about 230 inches wide overall. Since I could only get one piece out of each plate, I would need five plates in total. At $93.95 each, that’s $469.75.
In addition to the panels, I would also need one of the corner pieces. I needed to cover three corners, but these corner pieces are 48 inches high, so I could have gotten all three corners I needed from one piece.
I have to admit that the corner pieces were kind of a deal-breaker for me. These are the corner pieces that fit these panels, but visually they don’t really seem to fit the panels. These corner pieces are $46.55 each. So for the panels and corner piece plus shipping and taxes the cost is $579.09.
These panels are then attached with polyurethane glue. I estimated I would need about six tubes of glue like Loctite PL-3, which cost $7.48 each. This would increase the cost by $48.58 (including taxes). for a total price of $627.57.
So in the end my DIY version was cheaper than the finished panels. But again, the amount of time I spent making all the molds and casting each individual stone was much higher. Since I got exactly what I wanted, I think the extra time was worth it For me.
I think this is a kind of “Apples to oranges” comparison because I am comparing an exact match product with a product that is “close enough.” To have a real “Apples to apples“Cost Comparison: I would have to compare the cost of my exact-fit DIY version with the cost of hiring a professional to create an exact-fit stone exterior for me on my porch, and there’s no way to estimate that cost. If I lived in a big city like Dallas or Houston, I might be able to find a person who could do it for me. But I can’t even imagine there’s a person in my city who would take on a project like that, and even if I didn’t have the chance, I would imagine Due to time alone, it would have cost several thousand to have this done for me. Ultimately, my DIY version, which produced an exact fit, was the perfect option for me.
