Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation

This is the first post in a six part series on how to build the adobe wall that you see in the above photo.

All the posts in this series to date are:

Building An Adobe Wall: #1 Stone Foundation,

Building An Adobe Wall: #2 Getting Started,

Building An Adobe Wall: #3 Putting Up Adobes,
Building An Adobe Wall: #4 Putting On The Cap,
Building An Adobe Wall: #5 Hip Roof For The Gate,
Building An Adobe Wall: #6 Plastering And Creating The Designs,
Building An Adobe Wall: #7 One Year On And A Companion Fence.

In this post I will cover all the aspects of this wall from the stone foundation to the metal cap...

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #7: More On Steps

In the last post we looked at a set of steps with three treads:

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps,

 and this time let's look at a longer set of steps. 

Please refer to the previous post as some of the important fundamentals for steps 

that I included there will not be repeated here.

The posts to date in this continuing series for the owner builder are:

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools,

 Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #3: Building The Wall,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Wall #4: Why They Work,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #5: Style,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps.

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps

In this post I want to go into how I build stone steps in the landscape

 as part of the dry stack stone walls that I have already shown.

We will look at how I selected and installed the three steps you see above.

For safety one should never attempt building steps, inside or out,

without a firm basis of the terms, theory, and practice of this craft.

There are many books which provide more detail

 or a search of the internet will yield many results.

The posts to date in this continuing series for the owner builder are:

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools,

 Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #3: Building The Wall,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Wall #4: Why They Work,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #5: Style,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #7: More On Steps.

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #5: Style

In this post I want to take a look at some of the personal style issues

 that may come up in building your own dry stack stone walls. 

The posts to date in this continuing series for the owner builder are:

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools,

 Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #3: Building The Wall,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Wall #4: Why They Work,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #7: More On Steps.

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #4: Why They Work

In the last post I did for this series on tips for building a dry stack stone wall 

I showed how I go about building a dry stack wall.

This time I want to drive home a few of the principles that I think explain 

why these walls work the way they do and are fundamental to the success of a wall.

The posts to date in this continuing series geared for the owner builder are:

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools,

 Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #3: Building The Wall,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #5: Style,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #7: More On Steps.

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #3: Building The Wall

In this post on building a dry stack stone wall we will look photo by photo 

at the steps in building the wall, specifically aimed at the owner builder.

The photo above gives a look at part of the wall we will be working on.

The complete series are:

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools,

and Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Wall #4: Why They Work,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #5: Style,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #7: More On Steps.

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone

In the previous post we took a look at the need for erosion control in our project area

 and the tools that we would use in building our dry stack stone walls.

The posts to date in this continuing series are:

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools,

 Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #3: Building The Wall,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Wall #4: Why They Work,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #5: Style,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps,

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #7: More On Steps.

This series is directed to the owner builder rather than the professional stone mason.

Let's look now at the stone we are using, where it came from, 

and how we determined where to have it dumped,

so that it would be readily accessible but not in our way.

In the photo above we are well into our project

 and we have just gotten the last of our three 14.5 ton loads of stone.

I have created a pathway where I can easily use the hand trucks to carry stone

or roll it down the hill if they are too large for the hand truck.

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools

This is the first in a series of tips on building dry stack stone retaining walls for landscaping,

gained from my personal experience and particularly aimed at the owner builder.

In future posts I will be discussing topics such as how to build durable walls and steps,

how to design the layout for a project, theory on dry stack walls, 

 stone as a material and what stone works best in each part of the project, site management,

and for this post we will look at the site and goal, and tools that will be needed.

The posts to date in this continuing series are:

Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #1: Project, Tools,

 Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #2: Getting Stone,

Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #3: Building The Wall,
Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Wall #4: Why They Work,
Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #5: Style,
Tips On Building A Dry Stack Stone Wall #6: Steps,
Tips On Building Dry Stack Stone Walls #7: More On Steps.

 The photo above shows the finished project which gives you a feel for the scope of this work.

Another Look At Stonework At The Lake Valley Ghost Town

Last fall I ventured by the virtually abandoned ghost town

 of Lake Valley, New Mexico, where I got some photos

of the building above which was the saloon, general store,

 and gas station.

(I first did this post on April 23, 2010 

and I want to highlight some of my older posts that I did in the first year or so of this blog 

that may have been overlooked by current readers.)

Building A Stone And Concrete Bridge

In our frequent trips to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

 over the last few months I got to know William 

who was doing stonework at the Hay-Yo-Kay Hot Springs.

Part of his work included this very nice stone and concrete bridge 

spanning a channel of hot spring runoff water.

Anthony Shadid's House Of Stone In Marjayoun, Lebanon

I recently became aware of a set of videos to accompany the new book House of Stone

by the recently departed Anthony Shadid,

which follows his remodeling of the family home in Marjayoun, Lebanon.

To see the whole set click on House of Stone Video Chapters 1-10.

The separate chapters are:

Chapter 1- 3:56 min.- Returning Home,

Chapter 2- 3:41 min.- Excavation,

Chapter 3- 4:05- Revealing Scars,

Chapter 4- 4:07min.- The Tiles,

Chapter 5- 4:49 min.- Renewal,

Chapter 6- 3:52- The Symphony,

Chapter 7- 4:35 min.- A New Identity,

Chapter 8- 3:15min- The Garden,

Chapter 9- 4:31 min.- Surrender and Reinvent,

Chapter 10- 5:29 min.- The End.

(In the above list I cannot find Chapter 3 as a separate video

 but it does show up in the Chapters 1-10 link.)

Anthony Shadid, an American by birth, 

was a Middle East journalist who died tragically last month,

of of an acute asthma attack while on assignment.

These videos provide a fascinating look at the remodeling process

that he goes through in bringing back the family home

 after years of abandonment.

I have not read the book but it looks good.

Enjoy.

Carved And Shaped Stone At Stone Forest In Santa Fe, N.M.

In the last post we looked at water features at Stone Forest,

now let's take a look at some more of their beautiful stonework,

starting with the front entry gate to the display gardens.

Water Features At Stone Forest In Santa Fe, N.M.

We stopped by Stone Forest back in early September

 and got some photos from their beautiful display gardens 

as well as inside their showroom.

Henrietta Furnace In Shenandoah County, Virginia

Just down the road from Jerome, Virginia 

lies the Henrietta Furnace for making iron.

These furnaces dot the western edge of the Shenandoah Valley

 and have long intrigued me for their imposing stonework.

Stonework At Lake Leatherwood City Park In Eureka Springs, Ark.

Lake Leatherwood City Park is a beautiful spot on the edge of town

and because they offer camping

 we always stay there whenever we are in the area.

The arched bridge above is along the road in to the park

but unfortunately it cannot be easily seen from the road.

For more on arches see the post Stone Arches.

Stone Steps In Eureka Springs, Ark.

Eureka Springs has lots of stone

 and as a result it also has lots of stone steps.

Stone Buildings In Eureka Springs, Ark.

Since my last full post was on the The Carnegie Free Public Library In Eureka Springs, Ark.,

I thought I would follow up with more stone buildings in Eureka Springs.

The Carnegie Free Public Library In Eureka Springs, Ark.

One of the more interesting buildings in Eureka Springs 

is the Carnegie Free Public Library.

Trail Work At Valley View Hot Springs

Allison and I found ourselves at Valley View Hot Springs 

in Colorado in 2009 volunteering to do some trail work

on a steep trail at about 9000' on the west slope

 of the Sangre De Cristo mountains. 

Above are Allison and a wonderful

 fellow, Rob Bob, who wanted to help and as Rob Bob goes by 

both names we affectionately combined them.

 He was a wonderful, fun person to work with 

in this strenuous, hard work and we all had a great time. 

Earthquake Damage To The Washington Cathedral

Here is a link to the article in The Washington Post:

Earthquake-damaged Washington National Cathedral Needs To Raise Millions

and better yet is this photo gallery:

Washington National Cathedral Damaged In Earthquake.

I was amazed when I saw the photos,

who could have known?