Is there anyone out there who has worked with SpecMix Type S (PortlandLimeSand) and cultured stone? My experience so far has been terrible and very frustrating. I started my project last fall and found that the SpecMix Type S did not appear to be holding very well. I tried SpecMix AVM and also tried VersaBond LFT. At that time I made myself a test board using the same cement board and mesh that I had on my fireplace and attached three pieces using the three mortars mentioned. As summer came I left that project and my test board to sit over the summer. I recently came back to that project and checked my test board. All three stones seemed to be attached pretty well which left me to conclude that the Type S SpecMix was OK if left long enough to cure. Since starting back on the project I have layed several rows 5 or 6 pieces at a time with a day to set. A couple of weeks later as I go over the stones with a bristle brush I find several are loose and not bonded. My conclusion is that after laying several stones and then coming back to lay a few more, as I tap the new stones with a rubber mallet to bed them in, the vibration breaks the bond on the partially set stones. Perhaps my technique is wrong and I should simply set the stone in place and not try and 'bed' it with the mallet or maybe I'm doing something else wrong. Is it normal that a strong adhesion should not occur until after a week or so? I find that anytime before that I can break the bond with my bare hands using progressively more force as the days go by. Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks

The basement is poured concrete - walls and floor slab. My basement has been suffering from some minor water penetration....mostly a small seepage at some random points...... I applied the special basement paint but after a few years there are large areas where it started to peel off...and some other spots where it simply din't stop the water and one can see a water stain running down the wall. So my next solution....I am thinking of applying a thin layer of hydraulic cement. Basically I would prep this special cement and work it over an entire sections that I have noticed have suffered from water penetration over the years. I wonder if this approach would solve the problem ?? Will hydraulic cement actually stop water penetrating into the basement ? I mean - I picture the water already making through the entire wall ....can a fraction of an inch stop it now ?? ANy other recommendations working with this material and is it feasible for large areas or only for small patching (like by a pipe entering the house) ?