Volunteers get a good foundation for building dry stone walls

By Daniel H. King

Staff Writer for the Dartmouth Chronicle

April 30, 2008

Photos by www.everythingwestport.com

Westport - New England stones are hard, and its stonewalls are even harder, but on April 26, dozens of volunteers came to the Westport Town Farm armed with gloves and open minds to learn about dry stone walling from local stone mason Chris Tracey.

The Saturday event, hosted by The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR), allowed the volunteers to learn a valuable trade first-hand, while simultaneously practicing their hand at rebuilding a property wall at the Town Farm along Drift Road.

TTOR Superintendent of Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Properties Michael Labossiere explained that the Trustees invited Mr. Tracey because of his ability to "honor the way it was built (in the past) and the restoration of it." He also explained that it's the Trustees' goal to rebuild all the roadside sections of wall in upcoming years.

Chris Tracey, of the North Dartmouth nursery Avant Gardens, and his son Phil worked with the volunteers to tear down and rebuild a 25-foot section of wall on the road's west side.

As with anything long-lasting, the foundation was the area most deeply covered. "A lot of these walls are probably still standing because some of the foundations are two or three feet deep," said Mr. Tracey, explaining, "These are deep foundations; they're seldom built that way today."

Mr. Tracey noted that whenever possible, foundations should be built upon a level surface that has little or no organic matter.

"If you're building a wall from scratch, you really want to get rid of all the organic material," he said. The removed soil can be replaced with processed gravel and then compacted for a firm footing.

"The wetter the soil is you're building on, the more important it is the foundation you're building is stable," he urged the audience.

After the topic of foundations was covered, Mr. Tracey explained that no matter what kind of stone the builder is using, or the style of wall being made, the principles of dry stone walls remain relatively the same.

"Dry stone walls all basically follow the same sort of pattern, which is that they're wider at the bottom than the top," he explained.

"Everybody might have a different lot, but it's to the same point— dry stone walls are kept together through resistance and compression — that's what it's all about," he said to the audience.

He also emphasized that the volunteers should keep a few key points in mind when building dry stone walls.

Whenever placing a new stone on the wall, make sure it has three points of contact with the stones below, which will ensure it remains steady when stones are placed on top of it. The second rule is that when filling in the gaps between stones, always try to maximize the size of the stone you use.

"The general rule, whatever you have available to you, use the biggest stone that will fit into that space," he said.

When the actual wall restoration began, Mr. Tracey explained that it's important to leave a working area around the wall by placing the removed stones at least three feet from the wall.

Admitting he had his own particular style, Mr. Tracey explained that when repairing or restoring a wall, one must suppress any urge to adapt their existing character because "we want a uniting concept, so we're going to stay with the style that already exists."

After Mr. Tracey's introduction to dry stone walling 101, the volunteers donned their gloves and began disassembling the small section of the old New England wall. Despite some large problems in the wall's base, the dissection went relatively smoothly thanks to the ample arm-power available.

Once the wall was bare down to its bones, the volunteers began the tedious task of rebuilding by fitting the stones one by one into their new and final resting place. They took to the laborious jigsaw puzzle with excitement and concentration, and were rewarded for their eagerness and effort.

After about two hours, the 25-foot portion of the century-old wall was rebuilt to its original height and distinction.

Throughout the process many of the volunteers learned that much of wall-building is improvisation, and as Mr. Tracey pointed out, "you really have to do it to learn."

He told the now-tired crowd, there is no perfect stone, so don't waste precious energy hunting for it. "You have to be willing to accept the flaws in the stones and the process," he suggested.

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