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Drystone walling: simplicity and strength

Drystone walling is arguably the oldest form of building. From Machu Picchu in southern Peru, to the endless drystone fences throughout Scotland. These beautiful walls stand for years, often centuries because of sound building principles that have been passed down by stonemasons through generations. Ever since I saw my first drystone wall I've been fascinated with them, and sought the knowledge required to construct them. Skill, patience, strength, and creativity are all required in order to build these unassuming structures. I learned these methods from older masons and part of my mission with this business is to pass this knowledge on to keep the craft alive. This post is a brief introduction to the basic tenants with some pictures of a small wall that I recently completed. Enjoy!


Step 1: First a proper footing must be dug. It's best to dig below the frost line. Depending on your climate this can range from 4 inches to 2 feet. If your going up a hill make sure to step it up. Footer should remain level.


This footer can be filled with crushed stone or you can simply lay a footer course of stone.


Step 2: Base course. This is the first course of stone above ground. Usually I bed them in gravel and make them as level as possible. Starting out solid and level makes everything else easier from this point. Occasionally use larger stones to jump up courses. Larger , uglier stones make good base course pieces.



Notice the "backbuilding" has begun in the photo. There are essentially 2 walls being built back to back, leaning slightly into each other. the space in between is filled with smaller stones or large gravel aggregate.


Step 3: Coursing. This is when things begin to get more difficult. Entire books have been written on these subjects, but in essentially you stack one stone on top of two. Shim the backs of them with smaller wedge shaped pieces and avoid shims in the face of the wall. Line them all up with the string line. I like to stack two string lines in order to get my proper "batter". Batter refers to the angle of the face of the wall. It always must angle back into the hillside.





Additional stones are added behind the wall for drainage. Notice the two walls lean into each other and interlock. It helps to think of it as weaving rather than stacking. The interlocking stone make it a cohesive structure with great strength.


organizing the stone by size and shape every morning is essential! This will minimize the shaping needed and speed up the selection process.




Step 4: Capping! When you get to your desired height, cap it off with medium or large stones. There are many different ways to do this. I usually like to keep mine flat.


This is by no means a comprehensive guide, just glimpse of what goes into making these. Drystone walls have many advantages. They will drain water right through them unlike many types of retaining walls. They move and flex with the seasons and last much longer than mortared walls. And of course my favorite feature, like many types of stonework, the older the get the better they look!

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