Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - cement board vs wire lathe and scratch coat

HI all


I am looking to spruce up a covered porch with some veneer stone. The two thoughts are to enlarge the 6 columns holding up the porch roof by building a tapered box around them and covering them with a manufactured stone veneer (up about 4 feet), the second project is to remove the vinyl siding under the covered section of the porch and and apply the same stone veneer to around a 4" height and cap with a ledge stone and then use cedar siding the rest of the way up (the porch spans the whole front of the house)

My question is can i use cement board and thin set to set the veneer stone instead of the lathe and scratch coat.

The 2 reasons i have for doing this are thickness the cement board will take up less space and can be secured through the plywood into the studs. the second is i believe that hanging cement board is an easier DIY project than lath and cement scratch coat.

As for using thin set to set the stone instead of mortar it is my understand that for a DIY'er the initial tack is easier to work with as well and the bond if don correctly is as strong

TIA Paul

It should work as you plan. I would caution about the tapered posts, though, as they really only work well with river rock type fake stone. All of the others will require a lot of cutting to make look worth a darn, if it can be done at all.