Stone Step’s side view. Lancaster PA.

On this stone masonry project we have the side view of a set of steps. The wall was constructed with large stone blocks that are double faced. That means that one stone makes up both sides of the wall. Typically the way a stone wall is built these days is first a block wall is layed and then it will be veneered with stone. Either 4, 6 or 8 inch thick veneere whatever the case may be. That is not how things got done on this stone job. These walls are solid stone.

The first step for this project was of course to dig a trench. If you want your walls to stay where you put them you must start them on solid ground beneath the frost line. After the trench was dug it was time to pour a reinforced concrete footer. Then we could start the walls. There was a few feet of stone wall that had to be layed on top of the footed to get up to grade. The below grade section of wall would not be visible so it could be “roughed in”. Your really only concerned with two thing with below grade walls. First is to keep water out and second is to hold your dimension. Once the walls were layed up to grade it was time to start finish stone work.

This wall is built with large pieces of sandstone that were chosen for their color and texture. Since stone are a natural building material they can vary a lot. In order to keep a consistent look you have to be careful about the stone that are chosen to go into the wall. This wall has an opening in it that leads to a small room or storage area. On top of the door opening is a stone arch. It is not visible in this photo the ceiling of the storage area is an arch as well and there are some shelf areas built with stone. The opening is meant to have a door mounted on it.

The top of the wall terraces down from left to right. The upper section of wall extends up past the treds that are located on the opposite side of the wall. To create a saftey wall so people don’t fall off. This stone masonry job is located in northern Lancaster county P.A.