An introduction into traditional Masonry Walling. This video is a useful guide to anyone walling with reclaimed stone and wants to learn the proper technique handed down the generations.
Great to see a true old school mason,beautiful job and thank you for sharing your know how, money cant buy what you have. All the best to you mate from Aussie.
good job fella. liked and subscribed. i'm a bricklayer myself. done a bit of stonework in my time. takes a bit more thinking about.always looks good though
I'm a third generation stonemason who works primarily with reclaimed stone... I absolutely loved watching this video.. there are so few people who can do this kind of stonework work and who know how it should be done... unfortunately it is a dying trade.. Also he reminds me of my grandad... has the exact same dialect and accent... what is the area you are in?
Cheers mate! We are based in the Holme Valley near Huddersfield. Ace that you're carrying on the family tradition. I enjoyed making this video with mi dad, it's important to get this knowledge out there for the next generation of masons!
This is an excellent video. Does anyone have more information about the "pinning" that he talks about at 4:55? edit: I found a comment already discussing this so I'll just copy and paste. >the pin is pushed into the mortar bed until it binds with both stones. >Also as you build the wall up during the day, more and more weight, the wet mortar can squeeze out, throwing the stone out of true and creating sliders, kicks in the wall etc. The pin stops this happening, as the mortar sets.
Good video! My problem is different: stones were not in raws with fixed hight in my old stone house which had collapsed same 10 years ago is not all lost though as bits of walls still standing and now got to raise it up as before. Job no 1 need finds an old stone master and possibly learn along the old trade and restore the crumbled house once again. ...
Son replying here! That was a great competition! Shame there's not much happening in the cotswolds anymore . Hopefully they get that comp going again one day.
I guess the turning to find out the way it "wants to be down" has to do with which position the stone has more mass near the down face, which makes it more stable, since the mass of a stone is not smoothly distributed on it's volume. It probably wobbles a lot more when it has the heavier side up, that's why throwing it around is a good way to feel the right side.
This knowledge is treasure and thanks for sharing it. Can I make a suggestion?-- after editing the video, export the audio as a file, bring it into Audacity (free audio editing software), and raise the volume of the speech parts using the envelope tool. I bet it would take 5 minutes to learn, and 20 minutes to do. Then import it back into the video and mute the original audio tracks. If you work in WAV files, you won't lose any quality. There might be a better way, but I'm only a hobbyist. [edit, the audio is much better in this video. I think it's only in the left speaker though?]
I loved watching this (even though I often do the same but with a different stone!). I might try shaping a trowel to your style & see how I get on with it. Every day is a learning day! Interested to see that you do not fill as you go .. is there a reason that you prefer that? I assume that you fill with stone?
So this wall is being build with a cavity so there won't be any fill, the stone will be attached to the block with stainless steel building ties - common practice here in Yorkshire to combat damp. If we were building a solid wall we would definitely fill as we go. Glad to hear you enjoyed the video! Cheers.
Also as you build the wall up during the day, more and more weight, the wet mortar can squeeze out, throwing the stone out of true and creating sliders, kicks in the wall etc. The pin stops this happening, as the mortar sets.
I have a question: I am going to build a small log "shed" on my grass lawn 3 meters x 2 meters... I want to make a dry wall underneath... how far down do you think i need to dig to make it stable and not "sink into the lawn"? :)
You'll have to take all the top soil off for a start , so about 20cm . Then the depth of your footing depends on the type of ground under the soil. If it is sandy or clay you'll want to dig deeper than if it is good subsoil or rocky. If you're on good ground and there aren't any problems with frost in your area then a trench 20cm deep in your lawn should suffice for a foundation.
