Just keep the cold beers a-comin'

The heat must have been getting to him back in August.

All stone was picked by hand from the area. Some was unearthed from the property for one reason or the other, including the soil work for the wall. That is kind of a big deal for me having done this completely from scratch vs having pallets of stone delivered. It would have cost thousands just for the stone to cover this much wall.

I'm trying for an old time look myself.

I've done random mortared stonework and a little dry stack myself, but I'm no expert. One thing the experts agree on is that there is a lot of waste with natural stone walls etc. You will need approximately 1.5x to 4x the amount of raw stone relative to installed stone (depending on the quality of your raw material) to get that look that is 'just right'.

Oh, forgot to mention it is all drystack and now its 5 years old. Has not budged. I was scared as this was my first attempt at any stone work. and I had about 30% waste that I am still finding uses for.

I bet you used "fake" stone, didn't you?

The first time I read through the post that went over my head. Reading to fast. Not politically correct Eatonpcat. Funny though!

Sigh , yes.

But I've also done lots of the real thing.

You must be some kind of a mind reader bro

Fact is, the Asian's did build one heck of a stone wall!

I was just teasing, bud! With a name like Realstone, I never thought you'd use fake stone!

The "fake" stone they make now is absolutely amazing stuff. Cannot believe how realistic it is! I used the real stuff all through our house out of necessity....I couldn't afford the fake stuff!

Lick'm and stick'm rocks!

Doh! (Realstone smacks his forehead) How did I miss that one?

About the fake stone - it's amazing to me too. Out of 6 boxes of random ledgerock, no two are the same. Some are similar, but nowhere near re-coloured duplicates. You're right about the price too. Even with the factory only 2 miles from my home, it's still $7/ft²

Little update on the project. The Pin Oak I transplanted took fine. I had moved 2, but had the feeling only the one would make it, and that is what happened. Topping the fill with 1.5-4 inch riverstone. Color is good, matches the wall well. There will be boxwoods planted in this bed shortly. Will follow up with pics...

looks fantabulous, brother! I was wondering if you were still working on this project. Did you end up putting a French drain in it?

Drain is in there. Did not see any heaving over the winter, so it seems the water is not building up. Just got done raking out the stone. Triceps and back are not happy.

Would love to do that right now, but I have to umpire a playoff baseball game in an hour. I guess the cold one(s) will taste that much better afterwards. Thanks for the compliments....

Have fun. I'll be putting some beverages away for the next 9 days......I'm on my first summer vacation!

Vacation...You should be taking out the adult beverages, not putting them away!! Have fun brother!

Beautiful work!!

Lotta damn rocks

Had 9 tons delivered (small ones for topping). Looks like that will just make the section I finished last fall.