First off, I need to know if you're talking about stacked stone (where the wall actually looks like rough hewn flat rocks stacked so all that shows is the edges), or river rock, which looks like pebbles on the bottom of a stream bed.

If you're talking about stacked stone, it doesn't get grouted. It's literally impossible to grout. If you're talking about river rock, it's not tough to grout. But it does eat up alot of grout, both in filling all the voids, as well as alot of it ending up in the wash water.

Now, as for the best look on the wall, my suggestion would be to add tile above it, so that it becomes an accent within the field of tile, rather than a border on top of it. it'll have a much better look to it, and will stand out alot more.

There's a thread over at John Bridge's forum where we've all posted examples of our best work, and there are several examples of both types of stone. I'll see if I can find em and show you.

Thanks Bill
Tven as a newbie here I know you have guru status!!

Below, if this works, is a photo of the sliced stone, while the url is the link to an online site for the rounded pebbles.
IMG_0140.jpg



Here is a link that might be useful: link to pebble stone

We went with a porcelain tile with a pebble tile accent border. Our pebble tiles are basically flat smooth long pieces of tile, as the pebbles are small and are embedded into clear resin. It has a different look than all the other pebble tile that is just rocks or stacked stone. I love the look because it's more uniform with all flat tiles.

I agree with bill that it would look nice with field tile above it and below it, that's how we have ours.

Okay!! I know exactly what you're talking about, and in fact, I can point you to pictures of that exact same product (or one very similar) in the forum I spoke of. The link's below.

Now, to answer this question--

Are there installation issues of stacked pebble stone on mesh compared to sliced stone pieces on mesh? I would think the grouting would be more difficult with the rounded pebbles, but would an installer find it a lot more difficult?

Actually, stacked stone does NOT get grouted. This means two things. First, your installer will need to make sure they bed the stones in a good amount of thinset, because that's all that'll be holding them in place. Secondly, if this stone is going to go into the shower, you may have a problem with reference to algae, depending on whether you have city or well water. One way or the other, it'll certainly present some unique cleaning challenges. Also, if it does extend into the shower and you intend to enclose the shower in glass, it may cause a problem in not giving the glass people a flat surface on which to mount the glass.

I don't know much about what you want to do with your project, so I'm trying to come up with whatever scenario you may run into. if you have any other questions or clarifications, don't be shy! :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out post #2788