Does anyone have any suggestions of how to use these walls? They are part of the original farmhouse.?

Question

I hired a landscaper to do yard work. He asked me what my plans were for my back yard then told me one day he had a mason coming over to give me an estimate. What I have is the stone foundation of a barn that used to be attached to my house. The stone frame varies from 2’ – 7 high and consistently about 3 ‘ wide. The total length of all the walls comes to 80 ‘.

I love the looks of these stone walls and would like to have a two tier patio made by filling in the lowest levels with crushed stone then make kind of top.

The mason came to my home and said this is a mess. The reason the wall last 200 years was because the barn held it in place, but now that I tore the barn down, and because I live on a sloped property (this area is level though) the wall will inevitably cave. He said the only thing I can do is have the wall taken apart and rebuilt that will cost $15,000.00. Once done, the slope of my property and the roof of my house dripping rain water will cause it to fall eventually. He said “You have about $400.00 in materials here, but getting rid of it will cost more than $400.00.”

I do not have $15,000.00 to make a patio and I do not want to pay for him to take my stones away- I really like the way they look.

There is no slope where the stone all is, the slope is in the front of my proprty (70' before the wall) and 30' after the wall my proprty drops off again.
I have a problem with the info given to me. I see stone walls retaining bank walls and I see stone walls on properties above other properties and the walls seem stable.
I am going to get a few estimates from masons I select.

Answer 1

If you have water dripping from your roof, redirect it away from the stone walls. this way it should not do any damage to the old walls or the house foundation.

One thing you may want to do is cap the tops of the wall. This is done by building a wooden form along the top of the wall so it can hold about 4 inches of concrete. You mix the concrete so it is not too wet but is a little stiff. Over fill the forms slighty and trowel the concrete so it is higher in the center (make it appear to be a low roof running the length of the wall). This will help to prevent water from penetrating the top of the wall and causing it to deteriorate. If you are ina n area where the winter goes below freezing, this is very important. Water that pentrates into the wall will freeze and cause the motar to crumble. This will eventually make the wall unstable and unsafe.

If you do decide to have another contractor look at it, try a masonary contractor that works with stone and does repairs to old stone walls instead of landscape contractors Read below about selecting contractors..

Selecting contractors:

1/ Look up local contractors first. work out form the closest
to your location. If some you trust has had work done
similar to yours, ask them about the contractor they
used. If they were completely satisfied with their
contractor(s), ask for their telephone number.

2/ Select at least 5 your are interested

3/ Do a google/yahoo search on each of the contractors
you are interested in; look for praises (check who is
writing the praises to see if they have any connection to
the contractor work in groups> google/yahoo search the people giving
the praise or references)

4/ When you are satisfied with at least 3 contractors per job,
have the give you written estimates with details of work
to be done, terms, guarantee(s), cost of extras (how
much do they charge if they find something not covered
by the contract), paymant schedules if necessary and
whatever else you can think of to protect yourself.

5/ If the contractor tries to pressure you into signing the
contract immediately with a high deposit (more than
15%) reject that contractor. Be careful, high pressure
can be someone who sounds very convincing, but has
many reasons why you should sign on the dotted line
NOW.

6/ It is always good to have another adult with you when a
contractor inspects the work to be done.

7/ If you do not get at least 3 written estimates signed by the

contractor - not you (do not sign yet) , go back to 1. repeat until you

get written estimates signed by the contractor - not you (do not sign

yet).

Read the estimates over with some who has some knowledge of the work

that has to be done.

This may take longer than you thought; do not rush into it. Research,

resaerch research, helps.

When you are ready choose by being informed.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Think some one is trying to make money. Have other masons tell you what they think. If there is an older farmer in the area ask him what he thinks.You don't really need a mason to "fix" it you could do it yourself. Why did the landscaper take it upon himself to get a mason to look at your wall? Stone walls are great! There are stone wall in my area hundreds of years old. Some were barn foundations and they're still standing. Stone walls aren't suppose to be "perfect". Do not take yours apart and rebuild. I never heard of such a thing. Hang onto your wall.

Answer 3

I agree with 'justme' hang on to that stone. Worst case scenario, is they all fall down and make the "bones" of a beautiful rock garden. But, with a little ingenuity and hard work I bet you could make a dream patio. To help stabilize the slope you could rent a post hole digger on the back of a tractor to drill 8-10" holes at 45 degree angles under the wall and connect them with a 'ditch footing'. Connect it all with re-bar and pour a little concrete and it should stop or slow down any movement. RScott

Answer 4

The mason is trying to get himself a new car, the foundation supports the superstructure, not the other way around.

As someone has already suggested, plant wildflowers in part of it.

Then build a deck for the patio, that way, no strain on the foundation.

Answer 5

Yep, some folks like to make money. I think it's a shame that they tried to make you believe that something you loved was a mess. Possibly just to make a buck, oh, excuse me, 15 thousand bucks.
Watching HGTV has taught me one thing, one designer's nightmare is another designer's dream, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Some folks know how to appreciate your walls, as you have read.
So ignore the mason, and if your gardener insists that your wall is a mess, get another gardener. Just make sure the wall is not a danger to anyone.

Answer 6

Toss lots of wild flower seeds in the area and let them grow. It would be a wild flower rock garden. Stone walls are expensive to rebuild but if you started doing it yourself and just moving them around to make them more level you would save yourself a lot of money. The mason says it would cost lots to remove them but he can turn around and sell them for 3x as much. People who build stone walls love the old rocks that are piled in one place for easy picking. It is easier then going out in the woods and looking for them.