Drystone walls: an enduring legacy of craft

Custom Stone Walls in Buncombe County, NC

Hammerhead Stoneworks builds drystone retaining walls that are strong and beautiful, meant to last for generations. Drystone walls are a wonderful solution for many issues we face here in the mountains. Some of our walls hold things up: supporting patios, gardens, and play areas. Sometimes our walls hold things back, keeping soil and mulch from accumulating on patios, paths, and driveways.

RAIN, DRAINAGE & DRYSTONE WALLS

A mortared retaining wall is created to be a monolithic structure- a large single unit made of thousands of smaller elements cemented together. As a single unit, it acts like a dam, blocking drainage and storing water in the soil behind it. This buildup of water is called hydrostatic pressure and it is a powerful force that can push a mortared wall right over. There are hundreds of these types of walls around Asheville, that lean out, well past plumb, in danger of tumbling down.

A drystone wall doesn’t aspire to be a single unit; it is strongest as a connected web, a network of carefully placed individual pieces. A drystone wall allows the free movement of water; hydrostatic pressure never has a chance to gather. Such walls are flexible, able to move in tiny increments, to expand and contract with the heating and cooling of everyday life. That flexibility is key to a wall’s long life.

Drystone wall made of Tennessee fieldstone

BEAUTIFUL STONE WALLS

A well built drystone wall gets more beautiful with age. As time passes, it looks more and more natural and suited to the environment. A patina of algae and lichen may appear, making it clear the wall was always supposed to be there.

If you are curious what makes a drystone wall so. strong, read more about the Principles of Drystone Construction.

STONE WALL SEATING

Drystone walls offer numerous opportunities for seating. Some low walls are the perfect height to be seating in and of themselves. Larger retaining walls can have benches built right in. It is even possible to have a bench that projects forward, with the wall itself acting as a seat back.

And while most of the walls we build are retaining structures, we have built many freestanding seating walls, with formal flat caps, that offer seating and visual interest in private and public spaces.

Niche in drystone wall with glass insulator

CREATIVE EXPRESSION

There are many ways in which a dry stone wall can be creatively customized. We have put notches and niches in walls for clients, showcasing matchbox cars, fossils, and even antique glass wire insulators illuminated with LED lights inside.

Stiles are stones that project forward from the face of the wall. Originally designed to allow easy passage between pastures in the UK, we build stiles into walls to allow easier access for yard maintenance or to serve as outdoor shelves for potted plants or other items.