It helps to have a methodical approach to work when dry stone walling. Below are some points of guidance.
Stripping out: Cope stones laid in line approximately 2 metres from the wall. Cover stones and throughbands laid next to them. Building stones and packing placed both sides of the wall. Foundation stones laid on top of building stones. Clear space, free of stones both sides of the wall.
Preparing and laying foundations: Foundations dug out and levelled. Foundation stones reaching as far into the centre of the wall as possible. Large stones should be in used as the foundations. Foundations to be well packed with hearting stones.
Building and packing: Stones laid tight together with good contact between stones. Stones laid "end in" and "end out". No running joints further than two rows of stones. Coursing of stones (if applicable) and a definite line for throughbands, appropriate to wall height. This should be mid height but can vary regionally in style. Thoroughly pack hearting. Tight wall, no loose stone. A definite line at coverband or coping.
Placing of throughbands: Laid at approximately one metre intervals. Check they are laid solidly on the wall. Dependant on the stone they may protrude on either side of the wall or at least match the batter.
Straightness of line of batter: Wall should align evenly. Absence of bulges or hollows in the wall. Taut line and level line.
Copestones and wall finish: Stones should sit solidly on their own base. Variations of finish regionally (slant / vertical / turf / coverbands).
Cheekend: Stones well tied in to wall. Corner stones to be well tied in to the body of the wall. No running joints. Finished with a nice solid end cope stone. Working from the cheekend back in to the body of the wall.
All of this information can be found on the Dry Stone Walling Association's website www.dswa.org.uk
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