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Building a rock wall with mortar.
If you re building a retaining wall use a blended mason mix which includes the heavy duty mortar type s masonry cement and graded sand.
Dig a trench about 6 inches wider than your wall.
Dig a trench that s below the frost line and 2 feet wider than the wall.
Some good tips about making rock walls that will help build your confidence.
This is also ideal for stone columns.
This is high strength contractor grade and pre blended mortar.
Prepare the footing photo by russell kaye.
Tamp the gravel in the bottom of the trench and pour at least 8 inches of concrete.
Select flat rocks that are flat on one side to be top stones.
Place the top stones as the last layer of rock taking care to make the top of the wall as flat as possible.
The key to building a wall using mortar is when you apply the mortar it needs to go evenly onto the run of stones that are set.
How to build a rock wall 1.
It must be deeper than the frost line or at least 12 inches deep for a 3 foot high wall.
Fill in with mortar any gaps between the rocks on the inside of the wall so that there is no air inside the rock wall whatsoever.
The easiest way to build a stone retaining wall is to use the dry stack method that requires no mortar between stones and does not need a concrete footing like mortared walls do.
After spreading the mortar but before laying the next stone use the trowel edge to cut the mortar even with wall face.
Wipe any excess mortar from the rocks.
Apply mortar to seal in the top stones.
Anything taller should be handled by professionals.
For projects that don t require a lot of mortar use smaller bags of mortar mix or concrete.
Building a retaining wall is suitable for diyers as long as the wall is a maximum of 3 feet tall in most areas.
Ask a stone yard to help determine how much material you ll need and have it delivered as close to the site as possible.
Once built you ll have a rock solid retaining wall without all the heavy mortar lines.