Dry stone sometimes called drystack or in scotland drystane is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together.
Dry stack stone wall construction.
When putting your wall together mix the stone sizes throughout the wall rather than using only large stones at the bottom and small toward the top.
The stability of dry stack stone walls comes from interlocking stones and compressional force rather than a mortar so the strength shape and size of the building stones is a key to the durability of the final product.
Even if you don t plan to sit on your wall 3 feet is about as high as i would recommend building any dry stacked wall.
Dry stack walls with surface bonding develop their strength through the tensile strength of small fiberglass fibers in the 1 8 3 8mm thick troweled or surface bonded cement plaster coating astm c 887 ref.
Sort out the coping stones from the collapsed wall first and place them two to three metres from the wall.
Here are the basic steps involved in building a dry stack stone wall.
Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction method which is characterized by the presence of a load bearing façade of carefully selected interlocking stones.
As a result larger losses in prestressing force is probable for dry stack masonry.
Rocks can be purchased at local landscape retail centers or can be collected from local creek beds.
Take out the main stones and put the top ones furthest from the wall.
The ideal height for a dry stacked retaining wall is 18 to 22 inches so you can sit on it when your gardening chores are done.
Keep the largest ones nearest the wall to aid building.
Higher walls should be engineered for stability.
And i love rock walls.
Try to cut the ditch into native soil rather than loose added soil as the former provides a more stable foundation for the wall.
This ditch will act as the wall s footing and prevent the rocks from sliding forward due to pressure from the earth behind.
Big small retaining free standing.
Each layer of a dry stack wall is called a course.
How to build a natural dry stacked stone free standing or retaining rock wall.
Hands on techniques for building a dry stone wall stripping out.
How to build a dry stack stone wall.
Make your wall siting height.
Dig a ditch the length of the wall that is about a foot wide and 8 to 12 inches 20 5 cm 30 5 cm below the ground level.
Dry stacking is a traditional form of building still popular today in many different cultures and locations.
It sincerely breaks my heart every time i see a wall built with stone blocks courtesy of big box stores inspired by diy cable tv.