Building Stone Walls (Paperback)

by John Vivian (Author) "If you stop and think about it it seems that, written word aside, the most enduring monuments to man's creativity and hard work are built..." (more)
Key Phrases: stone bird bath, tie stones, check dam, South Dorset, New England

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Well, here it is: Basic tools, basic techniques, illustrations and photographs, and all the planning and safety instructions you will need to build a variety of stone walls. This is a book that can help you beautify your back yard with the grace and texture of natural stone, or launch you on a career of reconstructing the Inca Empire or building a second Great Wall of China if you get carried away. Up to you...

Product Description
Includes equipment requirements, instructions for creating wall foundations, coping with drainage problems, and hints for incorporating gates, fences, and stiles.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (January 3, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882660748
• ISBN-13: 978-0882660745
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,909 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #13 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Civil > Construction > Masonry
  #28 in	Books > Home & Garden > How-to & Home Improvements > Masonry

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and fun to read; lots of good sense, October 10, 1999

By	Thomas Moertel (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Building Stone Walls, as a book, works very well. The writing, typography, design, and illustration all support one another like well-chosen stones, and the result is pleasing: a simple, wonderful book. Even if you have no plans to build a stone wall, the book is worth reading because you can't help but share the author's enthusiasm as he describes the permanence of stone walls, talks about different kinds of stone, discusses tools and techniques, explains footings and drainage, provides advice for working with not-so-good stone, and shares myriad other pearls of wisdom. And, if you are planning on building a stone wall, or just have a fondness for stone, then by all means add this book to your library.

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview; good first book on building with stone, September 5, 2002

By	Matthew Spady "800rsd" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Compact and concise, John Vivian's "Building Stone Walls" is a book that you can take with you while collecting (or buying) stone for your project, preparing the location, and building your wall. It offers a good overview of stacking stone, as well as a couple of less common ways of using stone (re-channeling moving water, for example). Best of all, it has some very practical, timesaving tips, particularly advice about when it is necessary to start with a trench and gravel base and when it is not.

With our particular project - building a retaining wall with field stone recycled from decaying fences around our house in the Catskills - we found that Vivian's book did not include quite enough detail. He only supplies a few paragraphs on the construction of a retaining wall, though to be fair, what information he gives is practical. By itself, however, this would not have been enough to guide us through the project.

For more detailed information on retaining walls, we turned to "The Granite Kiss", "Stone in the Garden" and "The Art and Craft of Stonescaping." Keep in mind, however, that the latter two books are more lavishly illustrated, a cross between a how-to book and a coffee-table book, so you probably would not take them out in the field.

That said, if you have never worked with stone, and want to get an idea of what is involved in planning and preparation, finding and moving stone, and building a wall, Vivian's book is a practical and inexpensive book to buy first. Five stars for useful, concise information in a very usable format.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very brief, minimal detail., September 23, 2001

By	brian phillips (Springfield, Pa United States) - See all my reviews

This book concentrates on dry stone walls, even though the title does specifically say this. Although the book does mention mortar stone walls, minimal detail and description is provided. One could not possibly build a mortar stone wall from reading this book.