Project 1/2022 | White Hall MD | Rebuild Field Stone Retaining Walls | Custom Patter Bluestone Patio 

Thank you Sis! I like to be very informative for any one who may have the same questions or concerns. As you know with what you do. Everyone is an expert. I'm no expert but I've learned from many that are. Not to mention hands on experience can teach you more then you could ever imagine. Thank you for checking out my latest creation and reading the comments. 🙂

Thank you!

Thank Brandon! Happy to have it wrapped up before we got any scary winter snow. Can't wait to see it come spring. The client plans to plant everything out and fill some of the patio and step joints. What a transformation and now all the usable space. Love it!

Thank you.

Hello John, as many Yorkshire style retaining walls that I've built, it would only seem fitting for me to come to the world headquarters for dry laid stone. I do hope one day. I have lots of Walling friends in the UK. There is no shortage of places to stay. Have you seen Nobles Stonworks? Great family!

@@RockinWalls I had not seen their work, I just had a look at their portfolio amazing work!

It's totally amazing. It was a real honor to work with all of them a couple of times up in Canada. I even have a short video of Bill talking about how to figure out an arch. One thing you won't see on the website is the fact that the family travels a good bit to do bar signing (excuse my ignorance on the property term) No you want to hear something that will blow you away. Try to connect up if you can hear them at a pub near you. 😉 The Walling song is amazing that Lydia signs.

My pleasure, Henk. Thank you! -M

Thank you. I love every opertunity I get to create with stone. 🙂

@@RockinWalls you'd love my place. We grow rocks. I've done some building. Kinda new to building up. I love the stone because it will be here forever. Thank you!

So true stone just gets better with age. Best part it never goes out of style.🙂

Thank you for the positive feedback. Loved working with this clients stone.

@@RockinWalls Yup, nice stones, good shapes :3 Looks natively wildish :3 Very nice :3

Thank you again. 🙂

I had hard times in April 2020 with with some stones that owner bought for his supporting wall... Stones were simple compound quartz. Half of them were hard as bedrock. Half - was falling apart into sand just from strong sight :D

I have something like that at a local Quarry 15 mins away. Super expensive quartzite. Some issue over time some is good others I call rotten. This has always been the high-end stone for construction in our area. I stopped using after having issues in 10 years. I've seen others that failed in 20. I just stick to sand stone as much as possible for new construction.

Yes Mark does some really cool stuff.. Sounds like an amazing plan. I've always wanted to do more with gabion. I love the idea of stainless steel cages and the teal cobbles would look so cool. I have a buddy Russ out in Washington state who has done a bunch of mixed medium with gabion. So if you are in Maryland you definitely want to pick up the sheet stock at Balducci Stoneyard at Maryland Line. Kim and Greg are incredible to work with. 🙂

@@RockinWalls thank you Mark. Everything these days goes through new freedom, PA. It’s rather scary

www.borrowedground.com

Each job will vary based on jobsite, stone type, hauling, labor costs, construction methods, size. There is no one price to share since there are so many variables. For example this client had all the stone on the property. With the excpetion of patio stone and stone I brought in for the back wall construction. Keep in mind that even for retaining walls and patios pricing may very drastically. For example this 5" high wall is easily 22 tons plus of stone. Most companies sadly don't understand proper dry laid stone methods and wouldn't have tie stones or large caps or even a back wall. Each is important part of the construction methods to build a proper dry laid stone wall. Therefor the price may be half of someone who is certified and building to proper methods. Or the price is the same but you have the likely hood of failure with in 10-20 years. Most walls should last 100-200 before needing maintance not complete rebuilds. Things to be mindful of when hire someone who says they know who to build dry stack walls. Heard that one to many times. Feel free to reach out to me by email if you have any other specific questions. - Mark

Great question this is the angle of the face of the wall. A 1:6 batter means for every 6 inchs up - the wall comes in 1 inch. On the back I did a 1 to 12 batter. You will see in some of the photos the wooden batter frames. This is my guide to use with string lines on the inside to help keep everything in line. Thank you again for asking this question. I have another video showing how to build wall frames. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zuOhk0EoHQ8.html This YT video covers everything in detail.

@@RockinWalls thank you for the info and link for the batter boards. I thought it was a mortar mix. I've got a wall to rebuild. Really liked the swell idea. Great high quality build! You are definitely skilled sir!

My pleasure. I could see that might sound like a 1 to 6 mix LOL. For some reason I don't thing it would hold well. Thankfully I don't know the first thing about wet work. Yes I've learned from the best and have put a great deal of time into becoming certified with 2 organizations. Which I might only be 1 of 20 in the US to be Dual certified. As for my British certification with the DSWA I'm only 1 of 14 at my Advanced Level 3 in the US. So I guess you could say I clearly have a love to learn, share and work with dry laid stone. 🙂

Hello Blue Jay, check out this one tell me what you think. All larger stone! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PfQMk8ox2ls.html I want to take a moment to cover a few things which you may need clarification on. Key facts: - Each project is dictated by the stone at hand or availability. - Projects are dictated by clients desired outcome. Keeping within the limitations of the stone. Both with pattern and proper construction methods to match the stone type. - Client's budget. Conclusion - Client desired out come results in payment for services rendered. I can surely build a patio with larger stone as seen in the video link above. Which would result in higher prices. Based on more stone, extra waste and additional labor. 1 pallet comes out to about 54 sf (large). vs 70 sf (mixed) on average based on pallet. First your comments about the smaller pieces moving. This would be the case with much of the bluestone on the market found at many stoneyards in the Mid-Atlantic. This is actually very difficult stone that I use. A pallet of sheet stock is 6-7 sheets to a pallet ranging in size from 3' - 4' sq per sheet. The sheet stock is typically 3"‐4" thick. So each sheet would weight 300-600 lbs. As stated in the video at (7:16) Why I like using the thicker sheet stock is that it will not dislodge anf movement is unlikely with my construction process. Also on this project some of the much smaller pieces are place holders for the client to remove for plantings later and also between the joints in spots. This was the style they wanted. Also while these are wider joints for me they actually are only .25" - 2". Which by industry standards, are extremely tight joints. The benefits of this is less chance for stone shifting side to side since they are locked in. Which brings me to the next key point. The bedding material is #8 = 3/8" washed gravel. The next size up is #7 = 1/2" typically used for around septic systems for the drainage. Just to give a reference. All the joints are also filled with the #8 which really locks everything extremely tight. Traditionally many companies bed on sand or stone dust. You are correct in those materials I've seen movement due to the fact they hold more water. The #8 are great for drainage. My patio systems have all earth graded with drainage out and away. Then I put down a #8 with an average 4" for base. With such a permeable system this is great way to keep the water on sight and not running off. Wonderful for those who have wells. One last thing to point out which you may not know is I have degree from MICA Maryland Institute College of Art. A BFA in Visual Communication Graphic Design. So I've been trained in compositions, negative space, focal points just to name a few. The benefits of having all sizes from small to large is it gives a better balance visually. Allowing the viewer to start with the larger stones as the main focal points of interest. Then move from larger sizes to smaller. The client had originally only purchased 2 pallets of medium sizes. Based on medium only and the over all size of the space it would have looked unbalanced or too small. With no wow factor. From an installers stand point it helps to reduce waste and additional labor which equals $$$. I love all of them even those which may not be my preferred style because I get to work with stone. I hope this information has helped you and others understand some difference and the benefits of my construction methods over others. You have very valid points of concern. This is why I've spent so much time to respond. I love sharing what I've learned from all my training and others in my trades. If you have some time also check out my good buddy down in NC Mark @ Hammerhead Stoneworks. He does AMAZING stone work using #8 for bedding and thinner stone to create his patterns. www.hammerheadstoneworks.com/ Thank you again for your kind words and concerns. Also I'd like to share spring and fall I host dry laid stone workshops from patios to free-standing walls. You can see more here. www.RWTrainingCenter.com - Mark Certified: DSWA Instructor, Dry Stone Professional Waller Level 2 Journeyman DSC - Dry Stone Conservancy US Level 3 Advanced DSWA - Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain BFA - Visual Communication Graphic Design MICA - Maryland Institute College of Art . blog . web . www.RockinWalls.com . youtube . ru-vid.com . workshops . www.RWTrainingCenter.com . social media . facebook.com/RockinWalls . Baker Artist Portfolios . bakerartist.org/portfolios/mark-jurus-rockin-walls

@@RockinWalls 😎 must have gotten you riled up . Didn’t intend to. Viewed the patio link and I think the you knocked it out of the park. Much better floor surface that should last a very long time . Other aspects are not quite my style but you are very talented Are you primarily In Maryland? Have you done any other stone? Used to be some awesome material coming out of Tennessee and West Virginia that offered some other color options other than grey black tones Thank you for getting back so soon

I'd love to work with the west mountain squares and recs but at $15 + Tax (2021) for a 12"x12" that's just crazy. Sadly there is not a lot of offerings in our area. I love the Tennessee stone but it's to soft. With Maryland weather it doesn't hold up well. From what I've learned from other masons in my area (when set dry) There is pattern stone coming in from India which is also thin but seems to be very strong. Just hard to find thick sheets of stone at an affordable price except Bluestone ( no that's becoming a hot item based on demand and in general 2022 supposedlywe will see much higher pricing). In our area we also have the 2 quarries which have the quartzite. Only 2 issues super pricy and super hard at first but exposed to mother nature tends to rot with in 10-20 years. Trying to find large sheets of thick material is a challenge. I hate using stones that are 1-1.5" that's just to thin for my liking. We are starting to see more options but with hauling going up hard to say what to expect for 2022. Just sit and wait.

@@RockinWalls great insight. So that greenish quartzite doesn’t age well!!! I’ve always wanted something with greenish tones as the Victorian era house is shades of green. Bluestone in my opinion is too much off the color aesthetic. I don’t want concrete. I have put this off for a long time because nothing I’ve seen hit a home run.

Nothing comes to mind. Always best to work with native stone to the region. This way it can always be replaced if needed over time.