Mortared stone wall on boggy ground

[Dylan T]

Hi all -

I recently knocked down a large stone outbuilding at the bottom of my garden, and fancied using all the stones to build a short but long (roughly 60cm x 12m) retaining wall running along the side of my garden to border a garden bed.

Issue is, that part of the garden gets quite boggy, although I am about to add in a couple soak away crates and top the surface with gravel (it's a bit lower than the rest of the lawn so I can buildit up a bit and top with weed fabric before top soiling.

I don't want to drywall it as I don't have the skills and know it will look scrappy, and want to use concrete, but I'm just concerned it will crack. I've considered various reinforcement and using different types of plasticiser but I'm still concerned. My father, an ex builder, thinks the only way is to build it in short sections with expansion gaps lined with the foam lining you see in footpaths, but I'm not sure if that's the right solution and if it'll naff.

Anyone have any ideas? If it's likely to crack I'll just use sleepers, but its a shame as I have the stone there (it'll only cost £££ to get rid of) and it would really suit the garden!

 

[cjard]

This forum isn't for questions, it's for blogging about larger projects such as extensions and full builds. Please report your own post and ask for it to be moved to general building

 

[endecotp]

Don't rule out dry stone walling quite yet.
I know a few people who learnt to do it in their local conservation volunteers groups. It's not rocket science.
Are you in an area that has lots of dry stone walls? Are your stones vaguely the right shape? (You need plenty of relatively flat ones.)

 

[bernardgreen]

and want to use concrete,

Use lime mortar as that will allow some movement as the ground settles without the mortar cracking

 

[nuzuki]

When I did our 30metre long stone wall I built a building block spine hidden under the stones. I went 2 courses up with blocks and cladded the blocks with stone. The 2 courses of blocks were laid on some building blocks going the other direction laid on a bed of concrete as to make the footprint of the wall wider underground and less prone to movement. It involves a bit of digging down but well worth it. We are on a boggy clay soil in Oxfordshire.

 

[nuzuki]

Also I was told to when doing a stone wall to make the mortar mixture as strong as the stone you are using. From a density point of view I mean. I dont think you can go to far wrong with a 3 or 4 to 1 mix.

Are you capping the wall on top? I did a semi circular cap, knowing as coping. I used sharp sand and cement mixture and a sheet of aluminium bent into shape as a mould then dragged over the top to get the shape.

Hope that helps and good luck with your project