|
|
Stone walls
09/15/02 09:48 AM
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I am going to build a stone retaining wall behind my house. Does anyone have any suggestions or resources for me as how to take on such a project?? 
nick
Post Extras:
|
|
knucklehead
|
|
Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/11/02
|
|
Posts: 58
|
|
Loc: Maine
|
|
|
Hey Nick, this is a good book. My Dad got it, my brother is now using it - all common sense, no BS.
Post Extras:
|
|
rancar
|
|
New Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 20
|
|
Loc: Cambridge, New York
|
|
|
I suggest a good tractor with a FEL and a strong back bone. I'm now in the process of building a field stone retaining wall around my barn buildings. Every time I work on it I somehow knock my back out that puts me on the sidelines for several weeks. This is one reason I bought a JD 4710 compact tractor earlier this Spring. This will save my back and likely aid in finishing the wall much quicker.
Bob
Post Extras:
|
|
tenebrous
|
|
Gold Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/11/02
|
|
Posts: 413
|
|
Loc: Geneseo, New York
|
|
Re: Stone walls
[re: rancar]
09/16/02 08:09 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
I could not see building a wall without a FEL but then again I use it all the time. I don't do much that the tractor or FEL don't help some how. Good luck with your wall. I have 30 ' to go on the same project.
Tim
Post Extras:
|
|
hazmat
|
|
Gold Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/11/02
|
|
Posts: 417
|
|
Loc: West Newbury, MA
|
|
|
knucklehead inspired me to see what the local library had in the way of books on stone walls. His recommendation wasn't at the local library, but they are going to get it for me on intra-library loan. I did find one on the history of N.E. Stone walls called Stone by Stone by Robert Thorson see it at amazon Fasicnating book covering the entire (and I mean entire as in how the rocks were formed billions of years ago etc) history of the stone walls.
Hazmat
Post Extras:
|
|
s1120
|
|
Gold Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 437
|
|
Loc: Niverville NY
|
|
|
One thing. How high is this retaining wall going to be? I dont know if I would go over 3 to 4 feet high without a professanal looking at it. You don't what it falling down, and landing on someone with all that dirt behind it.
Paul Bradway
Post Extras:
|
|
rancar
|
|
New Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 20
|
|
Loc: Cambridge, New York
|
|
Re: Stone walls
[re: s1120]
09/17/02 08:06 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Paul...
The retaining wall I'm building goes from about 2 feet to about 7 feet high. At it's tallest point, my wall is approximately 2-3 feet thick at the base and narrows to about 18 inches as it rises to the top. I start off at the base with the biggest flattest boulders I could find; then, I progresssively stack smaller flat stones as the wall rises. All throughout the wall building, I interlock the stones as best as I can. This is particularly important with the right angles if one is joining two walls at 90 degrees. Because the wall is so high, it's also important to vertically slope the wall at a slight angle....otherwise the wall would most certainly topple (likely through the freeze/thaw cycles).
Bob
Post Extras:
|
|
knucklehead
|
|
Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/11/02
|
|
Posts: 58
|
|
Loc: Maine
|
|
Re: Stone walls
[re: rancar]
09/20/02 12:50 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Bob, needless to say, pictures would be appreciated. Even during construction. I'll try to get some of my brother's - if he has a digital camera, maybe sooner than later.
Post Extras:
|
|
rancar
|
|
New Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/12/02
|
|
Posts: 20
|
|
Loc: Cambridge, New York
|
|
|
Hi Mark...
Yep....I've got the pictures, but the wall is still in process of being finished. I should be finished this fall. My problem is I don't have a digital camera. I have to take pics using my 35mm SLR, then I have to finish the roll, and scan prints as a jpg file. I thought I would wait until the wall was finished then I could post pics of the wall from start to finish. Sometime this fall I'll post here or I'll start another thread.
Thanks for your interest, my friend.
Bob
Post Extras:
|
|
knucklehead
|
|
Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/11/02
|
|
Posts: 58
|
|
Loc: Maine
|
|
Re: Stone walls
[re: rancar]
09/20/02 03:50 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Cool.
I'd better write me bro now or I'll forget!
Post Extras:
|
|
Youare
|
|
New Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/18/02
|
|
Posts: 3
|
|
|
|
|
I thing I have built around 300 linear feet of stone retaining walls around the house over the past 20 years. I'm in the process of walling in the garden with a stone wall.
One retaining wall goes from 2 feet to almost 8 feet high and has been in place for 15 years. You have to have a good base nice and wide and the wall must lean into the bank if you don't want it to fall over.
I found that back filling the wall as you go up helps with placing the stones. A man down the road from me almost a mile did some dirt work around his house, more stone than dirt. He also is a logger and he used his log loader to build the stone wall, pretty slick.
The thing you have to watch out for the more is what is known as the granite kiss. I have had a few of those.
Randy
Post Extras:
|
|
knucklehead
|
|
Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/11/02
|
|
Posts: 58
|
|
Loc: Maine
|
|
Re: Stone walls
[re: Youare]
09/22/02 04:26 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
Izzat where you end up with one finger wider than the others?
Post Extras:
|
|
Youare
|
|
New Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/18/02
|
|
Posts: 3
|
|
|
|
|
That could be the end result, but it is generally known as the smack your finger(s) get. 
I guess an old stone wall builder has fingers that resemble a tree frogs feet. 
Randy
Post Extras:
|
|
hazmat
|
|
Gold Member
|
|
|
|
|
Reged: 09/11/02
|
|
Posts: 417
|
|
Loc: West Newbury, MA
|
|
Re: Stone walls
[re: Youare]
09/23/02 09:44 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
|
|
The granite kiss is also the title of a book on stonewall building. Just finished that one. Also Knucklehead's recommendtaion. The granite kiss was a bit more detailed, but also a bit more "artsy". I'd recommend reading both. Good pictures and illustrations on what to do & what not to do.
Hazmat
Post Extras:
|
Previous
Index
Next
Flat
Threaded