DryStack Stone Wall – Concord, MA

At this home in Concord, MA the new owners seek to retain the slope on their front lawn with a drystack stone wall.   Above the driveway there is also an existing stone wall that is overgrown with ivy and beginning to deteriorate.

Planning + Design

The site here requires a number of considerations seeing as there is a curved driveway and multiple sloping grades.  After a couple of on-site discussions we decide on the height, curve, and taper of the wall.  In order to better visualize the final product we produce a simple overhead plan, and also a rendering.  To produce the rendering we take a photo of the house and superimpose a wall.  The wall is meant to be just high enough to create a gentle slope above without being to imposing.  It is also meant to mirror the curve of the driveway.

Stone Wall – Plan

 

Drystack Stone Wall – Construction

To build the wall we dig out the base and fill with crushed stone.  We start with the largest stones at the bottom, and build our way up to meet the cap line.  There is no mortar used.  The heaviest part of the stones are tied back into the wall so that gravity holds everything together.

Filter fabric goes behind the backing stone to keep soil completely separate from the wall.  This ensures that soil/plant growth never filters into the wall over time.  Soil holds moisture and causes frost damage, and allows root growth which further degrades a stone wall.  In the end this wall will drain freely, remain flexible to any slight movements, and should last a lifetime.

Drystack Stone Wall – Construction

The main stone wall gets capped and we build the upper wall in a similar fashion but with smaller scale stones.

Both stone walls are finished and backfilled with loam so grass can grow on the hillside