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#1
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stone wall help needed..
i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about
2' high and 50' long. has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but nothing teaches like experince! gena |
#2
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stone wall help needed..
yes a few tips
1 - spread the work out over many days - say 2-3 feet a day - or your back will give out 2 - you dont need mortar at all - unless you go over 4 feet - all of my walls have no mortar and are dry stacked 3 - add dirt into gaps so that you can plant some plants for looks, you can even skip a stone or 2 to leave a larger gap for a planting hole - 4 - 2 over 1 is the rule of thumb - 2 stones then the stone on top goes in the between the split 5 2 foot is not that high - however you want a slight lean backwards to the wall 6 - curves are nicer than straight lines 7 - I did not worry about the bottom being flat, the stones can compensate for the uneveness 8 - I backfilled mine with mulch that was ground 3 times (by me with a chipper) 9 - soil upto 2 feet from the wall will be very dry - the sun heats the stones and drys out the soil, plus the increased drainage so plan accordingly 10 - keep the bigger flatter stones for the top cap 11 - you may even want to place a stone out like a ledge - toads like these little shade ledges 12 - be prepared for snakes in the spring - they use the wall to scrape off their skins. send a picture when you are done - tomatolord ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gena" Newsgroups: triangle.gardens Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 8:19 PM Subject: stone wall help needed.. i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about 2' high and 50' long. has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but nothing teaches like experince! gena "Gena" wrote in message ... i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about 2' high and 50' long. has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but nothing teaches like experince! gena |
#3
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stone wall help needed..
Luck Stone on US1 usually has free classes dealing with dry stack walls.
Tomatolord's advice was right on the money. You might want to invest in a rock hammer to help even out the uneven edges and a large level 8'm or so to make sure you aren't sloping you seams up or down. Some types of stone are easier to work with and have smoother edges than others. I also built walls that got over 2 feet high and needed to order several yards of topsoil to backfill. However 50' of wall will take a lot of time so you may want to do a little bit each night. From personal experience I discovered that after about 4 - 5 hours of wall I tended to get less critical of my joints. Good luck. "Tomatolord" wrote in message ... yes a few tips 1 - spread the work out over many days - say 2-3 feet a day - or your back will give out 2 - you dont need mortar at all - unless you go over 4 feet - all of my walls have no mortar and are dry stacked 3 - add dirt into gaps so that you can plant some plants for looks, you can even skip a stone or 2 to leave a larger gap for a planting hole - 4 - 2 over 1 is the rule of thumb - 2 stones then the stone on top goes in the between the split 5 2 foot is not that high - however you want a slight lean backwards to the wall 6 - curves are nicer than straight lines 7 - I did not worry about the bottom being flat, the stones can compensate for the uneveness 8 - I backfilled mine with mulch that was ground 3 times (by me with a chipper) 9 - soil upto 2 feet from the wall will be very dry - the sun heats the stones and drys out the soil, plus the increased drainage so plan accordingly 10 - keep the bigger flatter stones for the top cap 11 - you may even want to place a stone out like a ledge - toads like these little shade ledges 12 - be prepared for snakes in the spring - they use the wall to scrape off their skins. send a picture when you are done - tomatolord ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gena" Newsgroups: triangle.gardens Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 8:19 PM Subject: stone wall help needed.. i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about 2' high and 50' long. has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but nothing teaches like experince! gena "Gena" wrote in message ... i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about 2' high and 50' long. has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but nothing teaches like experince! gena |
#4
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stone wall help needed..
Charles Lanier ) wrote:
: Luck Stone on US1 usually has free classes dealing with dry stack walls. : Tomatolord's advice was right on the money. You might want to invest in a : rock hammer to help even out the uneven edges and a large level 8'm or so to : make sure you aren't sloping you seams up or down. : Some types of stone are easier to work with and have smoother edges than : others. : I also built walls that got over 2 feet high and needed to order several : yards of topsoil to backfill. : However 50' of wall will take a lot of time so you may want to do a little : bit each night. From personal experience I discovered that after about 4 - 5 : hours of wall I tended to get less critical of my joints. : That's because those joints were aching so much |
#5
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stone wall help needed..
thanks all for the great advice and funny comments, public and private
i've got my courage up and lots of good info, suprisingly that doesn't all contradict itself ::heh:: so we'll be getting stone delivered in the next few weeks and give it a go, a little at a time and i'll report back how we've done! thanks again, gena |
#6
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stone wall help needed..
There are many books, even at HD and Lowe's. For sure, you want a good hard
soil upon which to build. Digging down 6" and tamping would help, I think. Wilson "Gena" wrote in message ... i am going to build a stacked (and mortared) stone wall that will be about 2' high and 50' long. has anyone here done this kind of work themselves? i'd love some feedback on your experience before i get started. i've read a couple of books, but nothing teaches like experince! gena |
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