During the winter months, stone walls become most noticeable in landscape design. They add interest to an otherwise dormant area. Today, they are widely used to control drainage, provide a border or division, create privacy, and provide a decorative element to the landscape.

The types of stone walls are as numerous as their uses. If you are thinking of adding one to your landscape, here are some of the most common types.

Dumped Walls

These are simply rows of piled stones. The stones are often unceremoniously tossed in piles, such as when farmers are clearing land. But they are not small clustered areas. Expert Robert M. Thorson defines a stone wall as, “any continuous row of large stones or stack of smaller ones that is more than four times as long as it is wide.”

Tossed Walls

When stones are stacked loosely, they reflect the attention that went into building them. Most old New England walls are tossed and represent a time when farmers began taking more interest in the appearance of the land instead of just trying to survive. Dry bolder or Riverrocks stacked loosely in a garden are examples of tossed walls.

Laid Walls

Requiring the most effort because of their orderliness, laid walls fit stones into a defined pattern. A fieldstone wall is a good example for today’s landscapes. Fieldstone is harvested locally and sorted into flats, rounds, weathered stone, sizes, and a mixed pile. The more sorting, the more orderly the wall. Fieldstone is well suited for any usage from a low, freestanding wall to a large, retaining wall. Stacked drystones are another example of a traditionally laid wall that is very popular for decorative use because of the flat, even structure that is formed.

Mosaic Walls

These feature different sizes and colors of stone arranged in a geometric pattern. Mosaic walls focus on the decorative design that is achieved. This causes the construction to be less sturdy and therefore requires the wall to be mortared. A split-face wall is an example where freshly broken fieldstone or quarried stone is split with the very flat side being used to face the wall.

Veneer Walls

A thin stone veneer wall is a mortared stone wall where thin stone is applied to a surface. Thin stone veneer is lightweight and versatile, allowing different uses of walls to be constructed economically. And with a wide choice of stone, colors and patterns, a thin stone veneer wall gives both function and decorative appeal. Some of their popular uses include walls for exterior or interior building entrances, patios, and gardens.

With so many different types of stone walls, you can design one that is perfect for your landscaping project. Bring your design idea to Fieldstone and we will help you select the right products. Call us for more information at (770) 385-7708.

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People have been building with stone for ages. It’s one of the oldest building materials used by mankind. Early Americans saw the versatility in its use. A natural choice for its hardness and durability, there are many examples of stonework used throughout American history. It was used on a vast scale for building everything from houses and dwellings in towns, bridges, retaining walls, mills, furnaces, etc.

Examples of American Stone Building

The Durability of Puebloan Communities

Some of the oldest stone structures in America history are seen in the native Indian dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloans. Their villages are well preserved throughout the southwestern United States. Many buildings were constructed directly into the cliffs while others were freestanding. The Puebloans were well known for their adobe houses and their use of drystone and rock rubble walls. Today the buildings are a testament to the durability of stone in building construction.

Practical Stone Walls and Bridges

During the Revolutionary period between 1775 and 1825, stone was readily available, especially in the Northeast where farmers would come across it in the fields while farming and clearing the land. Stone that is found in its natural form and used in building is called fieldstone. Upon finding it, it became a common practice to pile fieldstone to form walls for property boundaries. It was also extensively used in chimneys, retaining walls, bridges, and other practical uses.

Beautiful Pennsylvania Fieldstone Houses

The image of stone farmhouses on a hill is an icon of northeastern, and especially Pennsylvanian, history. 18th and 19th century farmhouses and mills were commonly made with irregular fieldstone. Each farmhouse and mill had its one-of-a-kind look that exhibited the beauty and quaintness of stone workmanship.

Versatile Construction Projects

The availability of stone and use in construction projects changed significantly with innovations in heavy equipment, mining, transportation, and other technology. Stone became more versatile in architecture with more lightweight products and economical methods for obtaining it. Newer technology produced better ways to cut and size stone more consistently and evenly. By the late 1800s, thin stone veneer made its debut and helped revolutionize how stone was used on the exterior and interior of a home or business. It became commonly used for facades, storefronts, and building interiors. And with improved transportation since the 1950s and 1960s, it has become more efficient to ship so more people can afford it.

Today, with an ever-increasing demand for greener building products with lower production and transportation costs, stone building materials are increasingly popular. Fieldstone Center offers a wide selection of stone including thin stone veneer for your next construction project. To find out more about our selections, contact us at (770) 385-7708.

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