Drystone wall replacement.

[Archibald]

Had a wall of around 50 metres give way during the winter gales. It will take the rest of the year to cut away the trees who's collapse caused the wall to partially demolish.

I have very good reason to believe my drystone walling skills will not be up to rebuilding the wall in its original style.

Some time back I saw farm walls being constructed using a casement of two boards nailed to a series of short wooden battens that held the boards a uniform 14" apart.

The boards were placed on the foundation and after levelling, a sand, gravel, cement mix war poured in and rodded down by hand using any convenient length of timber to pound away at the mix.

After drying out, the boards were separated and moved horizontally or vertically and the fill repeated until the wall was the height and length required.

This technique is probably more appropriate to my skill level. Has anyone experience of this technique and potential pitfalls likely to be encountered?

The original wall contained large stones, could these be added during the fill in order to reduce materials costs? Can the quantity of stone be increased to a point where it forms say, 90% of the volume of the wall?

Thanks for reading. Any comments would be appreciated.

AB

[Michael Chare]

I have always fancied a drystone wall, on the grounds that if anyone damaged it with a vehicle etc, it would be easy to put back together and they would likely come of worse. I settled for a laurel hedge instead.

[Nick Odell]

Before you give up on the possibility of using authentic techniques, take a look at this video which was designed to encourage absolute beginners. I have to declare an interest: one of our teachers composed the background music which was played by our youth orchestra. The video is pretty fascinating too!

Nick

[Vir Campestris]

Do it right and a drystone wall will be there long after we've left the planet.

Andy

[Nightjar]

Falling trees permitting.

Colin Bignell

[Vir Campestris]

Once you've learned it, putting the section back has to be a lot easier than chipping the mortar off old bricks.

Andy

[meow2222]

If doing that I'd stack stone up the sides before pouring the concrete.

Realise though that lines form where sections of poured wall meet, and to be frank it looks crap, at least if its concrete. Stacking stone first may hide these joins effectively.

90% stone is optimistic. Look at standard concrete mixes. People have done it though in alternative building.

NT