Fieldstone Retaining Wall

At this property in Concord, MA an old timber retaining wall is beginning to deteriorate.  The owners would like to rebuild with stone and we suggest a drystack fieldstone retaining wall as an attractive, fast, and long lasting solution.

Dry stack stone walls rely on gravity and the mass of the stones to hold it’s form and retain the slope.  They look natural, progress quickly, and will last years and years.

 

 

To build the new wall we first remove the old landscape timbers and shrubs and excavate the hillside.   A trench is dug at the base of the wall and filled with crushed stone (gravel), and crushed stone is also used to fill behind the wall.  The crushed stone base lets water drain away freely so frost does not cause movement in the wall.  The crushed stone backing also drains freely while adding mass to the wall.  A layer of filter fabric (heavy felt) separates the crushed stone backing from the existing dirt behind the wall.  This keeps dirt and plant growth from ever filtering into the stone.

20 tons of fieldstone + 10 tons of crushed stone is delivered and will make up the new fieldstone retaining wall.

 

 

A few days of building and the wall is stacked and complete.   We follow the grade and stretch a cap-line to achieve a traditional but clean look.  The wall is several feet thick consisting of ~30 tons of stone and gravel.  This wall should last years and years, and if/when it needs to come down, the stones are perfectly re-usable and will only gain patina and character with age.