Building Stone Walls

by John Vivian

Rustic and charming or stately and proud, a well-built stone wall can add personality and beauty to your property. John Vivian’s lively approach and step-by-step instructions encourage you to transform a pile of rocks into an enduring landscape feature with gates, retaining walls, or stiles to suit your needs. Whatever unique challenges come with your site — poor drainage, sloping ground, or low-quality rubble material — Vivian offers innovative designs and reproducible methods to help you build a beautiful, long-lasting wall. 

Genres: Construction, Architecture, Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 3, 1976

Reviews

[John Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to read because the whole time I wanted to stop reading so I could go outside and build a stone wall.

[F.C. Shultz]

Really solid book (lol). Practical advice written in a really charming way that makes you want to get out there and put one on two. Now to go find some stones...

[Gage Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

For some strange, yet simple reason, stone walls just fascinate me. Maybe it’s the discipline of construction or perhaps it is how long the monuments can stand.

This book was a great instructional on starting to build a wall through intentional and simple techniques. This is a great, quick read.

[Don LeClair · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have not attempted to build a stone wall, this is not a bad introduction. It is short, the illustrations are clear. The author really does seem to like limestone and slate a little better. Certainly they are easier to work with than the round granite prevalent here in the northeast.

My favorite part of the book was his perspective about taking your time and doing a good job. . . a well built wall can last hundreds of years.

[Matthew Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are techniques and trades that are just about lost to history anymore, and books like this are essential to preserve that knowledge for those who take interest. If you are like me, you walked or drove along one of these walls and wondered how it is people can stack dry stone to withstand centuries of wear by arrangement alone. This book provides the answers in a clear and concise (if a bit dated) manner.

[Boweavil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, simple, clear. A bit out of date in terms of tools, but brilliant in its clarity and solid information. Written by someone who knows what he is about.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Put one on top of two.

[Kevin Brinkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what it says it is about.

[David Tacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this book included using mortar, but alas it is only an excellent book on dry stacked stone walls. There is still a lot of great information in here for any stone wall project, but it’s missing that critical modern element to really make it a classic read. Recommended for sure but have to learn mortaring on YouTube.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple and straightforward guide to wall building. I will reference it many times over the coming years. I'd love to see a modern version of this book that takes into account modern tools and building methods.

[Nguyen The · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book that mostly convinced me stonework was common sense.