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Dry Stone Waller Stroud: Building Walls That Last Generations
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The thing about old stone walls around here - they've been standing for 200 years, then one winter does them in. But when we rebuild them proper, they'll stand another 200.
I've been working with stone in the Stroud valleys for near on 15 years now. The cotswold stone here is diferent to anywhere else - you need to know how it sits, how it splits, how each piece wants to fit with the next one. You cant rush it.
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Why Stone Walls Fall Down Round Here
The clay soil in Stroud shifts something terrible when it gets wet. Then you get frost, and the whole lot moves again. I see walls that someone built quick without proper foundations. Water gets behind them, pressure builds up, and down they come. Usually takes about 5 years.
Your looking at cracks that run vertical? That's the wall moving. Bulging out in the middle? The through stones have failed - that's the long ones that tie the whole thing together. Stones falling off the top? Could just be age, or could be the whole structure is about to go.
Up around Minchinhampton and the commons, you see walls that date back to when they enclosed the fields. Some of them are still perfect because they were built right - good base, proper drainage, through stones every meter or so. That's what I do.
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Dry Stone Walling
This is proper traditional work. No cement, no mortar - just stone on stone the way it's been done for centuries around the Cotswolds. Each stone is placed so the weight goes down through the wall, not sideways. The gaps let water drain through instead of building up pressure.
A good dry stone wall starts below ground. I dig down till I hit solid base, then lay big foundation stones. The bottom course is your heaviest stones, then each layer keys into the one below. Through stones go right accross the width every so often to tie both faces together. Top it with coping stones that shed water, and your done.
I work all round Stroud - done walls in Nailsworth, Brimscombe, Chalford, all through the valleys. Each site is different. Some need rebuilding from scratch, others just need sections redone. I can usually tell you if it's saveable when I come look at it.
The beauty of dry stone work is it moves with the ground. Gets a bit of flex in it. Modern cement walls crack and fail when the soil shifts, but a dry stone wall just settles. Might need a stone or two putting back, but the main structure stays sound.
Price depends on height and length, what state the stone is in, access for getting materials in. I give free quotes and I'll tell you straight if somethings not worth doing. Sometimes a wall is too far gone and your better off starting fresh.
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Gabion Baskets
Now these are brilliant for certain jobs. Wire mesh cages filled with stone - not as pretty as traditional walling but very strong and much quicker to install. I use them a lot for retaining walls on steep banks where you need the strength but don't have the budget for full stonework.
Did a big job last year in Rodborough where the garden was sliding down the hill. Client wanted to terrace it but didnt have the money for meters and meters of stone wall. Gabion baskets sorted it - stacked them up, filled them with local stone, and the gardens been solid ever since. Plants grown through them now and they look half decent.
Their good for modern builds too where you want that industrial look. Some of the new places going up round Stroud use them as features. Drainage is excelent because water just flows straight through the stone.
I can do gabion walls up to about 3 meters high, depending on the job. Need proper base preparation same as any retaining structure. The wire is galvanised so it lasts, and if you get local stone to fill them they dont look out of place.
Wooden Sleeper Retaining Wall
Old railway sleepers make solid retaining walls for gardens. I use new oak sleepers mostly - the old railway ones are treated with nasty stuff you dont want near plants. Stack them horizontal, bolt them together, set them on a concrete base or driven posts depending on the height.
Their quick to put in compared to stone, and they give you that cottage garden look that fits well round here. I've done loads in Stroud gardens where people want to level things out or make raised beds. A meter high sleeper wall is a weekend job if the grounds not too difficult.
The oak weathers down to grey after a few years which looks proper nice. You can stain them if you want but I reckon the natural look is better. They'll last 20 years easy, longer if your lucky.
For anything over a meter high I use steel posts driven in behind, then bolt the sleepers to those. Makes it much stronger. Under a meter you can just stack them with rebar through the centers to pin them together. All depends on what's pushing against it - is it just flower bed soil or is their a bank trying to move?
I've done sleeper walls all over - Paganhill, Uplands, right through the Stroud area. Their dead popular because their cheaper than stone but still look good and natural. Not as permanent as a proper stone wall but for most garden jobs their perfect.
Getting Walls Through Winter
Every autumn I get calls from people who ignored the little crack that appeared last spring. Then the rains come and suddenly it's a big crack. Then it's a bulge. Then I'm rebuilding 10 meters of wall instead of fixing one section.
Check your walls before winter. Look for loose stones, cracks wider than your finger, any leaning or bulging. Water is the enemy - if it can't drain away it'll destroy the wall. I've seen walls that were fine for 100 years fail in one bad winter because someone built a patio that sent all the runoff straight at it.
If you got a wall that looks dodgy, don't wait. Get someone out to look at it. Half the time it's a simple fix if you catch it early. Leave it and you'll be paying for a full rebuild.
Stone Walls and Garden Drainage
The amount of times I turn up to rebuild a wall and find theres no drainage behind it - happens all the time. Someone thinks piling up stones is enough. Then water builds up, freezes, pushes, and down comes the wall.
When I build a retaining wall, there's a drainage layer behind it. Gravel or broken stone so water can get away. Sometimes I put in drainage pipes at the base if the grounds really wet. You want water going down and away, not sitting behind your wall pushing at it.
See those wet patches on your wall after rain? That's water not draining properly. If the grounds staying wet behind the wall, you got a problem waiting to happen. I can usually add drainage to an existing wall if we catch it before things fail.
What A Proper Job Looks Like
When I finish a wall, it looks like its been there forever. The stones sit right, the line is true, the batter (that's the lean back into the bank) is correct. Top stones are set so rain runs off.
I clear up proper too. All the rubble goes, the site gets raked. Your not left with a mess.
And if something's not right, I come back and sort it. Had one wall settle a bit after six months - went back and reset the top courses at no charge. That's just doing the job proper.
Serving The Stroud Valleys
I'm based local and I work all round the area. Stroud itself, all the valley villages, up to the commons. I know the stone, the ground, the weather patterns. That matters when your building something that needs to last.
Most of my work comes from people who've seen walls I've done or had me recommended. I'm not the cheapest but I do it right. A wall that fails after 5 years is no saving - better to pay a bit more and have it still standing when your grandkids are grown.
Ring me for a free quote. I'll come out, look at what you need, talk you through the options. No pressure, no nonsense - just straight advice from someone who knows stone.
Common Questions People Ask
How long does a dry stone wall take to build? About a meter a day for a good waller on an average wall. Depends on height, stone quality, how awkward the site is. A 10 meter wall might be two weeks work once I'm set up.
Will it last? Done properly, longer than you will. I see walls round here that are 200 years old and still solid. Modern cement walls crack after 20.
Can you match existing stone? Usually yes. The cotswold stone varies a bit but I can normally find something that blends in. Sometimes I reuse stone from the collapsed section.
Do you need planning permission? Depends where you are and how high. Anything in a conservation area needs checking. I can advise when I see the site.
What about boundaries and neighbors? You need to know where your boundary is before we start. I've seen too many arguments over walls built in the wrong place. Get it sorted first.
The work I do is traditional but it's not stuck in the past. I use modern tools where they help, but the actual craft is the same as it's always been. Stone on stone, built to last, sitting right in the landscape.
If your wall has come down, if it's leaning, if your worried about it - give me a ring. I'll tell you straight what needs doing. Sometimes it's a quick fix, sometimes it's a rebuild, sometimes it's fine and just needs watching.
Been doing this 10 years and I'll be doing it another 10. The stone will still be here long after we're all gone - just needs someone who knows how to work with it.
