Stone Wall Installation in Westford, MA

At this home in Westford the owners would like to add to the curb appeal of their home while creating some separation from a busy road. Weighing their options between a wood fence and a stone wall, they decide on a 2.5′ stone wall to run the length of the property.

Stone Wall Prep

The stone wall will be dry stacked with local fieldstone. A dry stacked stone wall is fairly fast to install, long lasting, and has a traditional New England look. The wall will be about 100′ long by 2.5′ high, and will take about 40 tons of fieldstone to construct. Our fieldstone is sourced directly from a farm in MA. The stone is unsorted meaning it comes with a mix of sizes and shapes like a traditional stone wall would. To prep for the wall we dig a trench and fill with compacted crushed stone. This will provide a solid base as well as drainage to prevent frost heaving.

Proposed Fieldstone Wall

Stone Wall Installation

To build the stone wall we use the largest stones first for the base course, and then build up from there. We choose nicer looking stones with adequate size for the face stones, and then fill the middle with small and odder shaped stones. Large flat stones are saved for the cap to create a clean finish and also to help hold everything in place. This stone wall has 3 different sections, that means there will 6 total wall ends or “cheek ends”. These cheeks ends take extra care to build so that they remain square and stand sturdy.

Stone Wall Installation – Westford, MA

Stone Wall Completion

The completed stone wall arcs to follow the slight curve of the road while maintaining a consistent height. It stands handsomely in front of the house while providing a physical barrier from traffic. The wall also helps to prevent erosion from the uphill yard, and, stops road salt from getting on the lawn. A drystacked wall such as this is very easy to repair were anything to damage it, and otherwise will stand quite a long time with little to no maintenance. In the end if this wall ever needs to come down, the stones will be perfectly reusable and will have actually gained valuable weathering and patina.