Repairing a free standing outdoor rock wall?

Question

We have a free standing rock wall/fence surrounding our yard. It is about 31/2 feet tall and around 30 - 40 years old. Whatever 'concrete' mixture that was originally used seems to be crumbling and some of the rocks are loose and have fallen off the wall. There are also some pretty wide cracks developing in some spots. We live in the high desert so we have extreme weather conditions, -30 in the winter is not unheard of and 105 in the summer is not unheard of. Any help on what kind of mixture to apply, how to do it and how to fix the cracks would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

If the stones are not loose enough to be a danger of fallng, you can buy water resistant (advertised as waterproof) Portland cement for repairs. You will need to remove at least 1/2 inch of old mortar between the stones and replace it with new portland cement. Don't "plaster" the joints, that looks bad. You will need a few specialized tuckpointing tools, but they don't cost much. Do a bit of reading about tuckpointing firsthand.

Answer 2

This is really simple, but does take some time and effort...

All you need to do, is pull out the loose stone, chisel away the crumbling mortar, apply new mortar, and reset the stone.

If you were doing this to brick... it would be known as 'tuckpointing'.  I'd suggest that you go to your local hardware store, and ask for some mortar for 'tuckpointing'.  (Some areas recommend cement rather than mortar, or perhaps an additive... your local hardware store will know what is typical for your area).

I'd recommend working on a small section at a time, so you don't end up with a lot of loose stone, and wondering how it all goes back together, hehehe.  Taking photos will help keep it organized too.  Even drawing on the stone with a piece of chalk will help... marking which side goes up, and directional position in the wall for example.

Tools required for this would be gloves, safety glasses, a 'rock' hammer (also known as a bricklayers hammer), a cold chisel, trowel, and a bucket (5 gallon would work fine) to mix the mortar up in.  If you have an air compressor, you could get an impact hammer and chisel, or you might choose to rent an electric model.  If you use a powered impact chisel then I'd suggest some ear plugs for hearing protection.

If you want to hire the work out, then look for a 'stone mason', or brick laying contractor (they often work with stone too).  Its more time consuming than anything else, and can require some muscle handling the stone, but if you like to do projects yourself, this is a good one.

Couple of tips... don't mix up too much mortar (or cement) at one time; tackle the loose stones first, cracks later, and try to match the mortar style with what is already there.  Some big box stores will have a short class on laying stone or brick veneers, and that would be a good one to attend.

Have Fun

Answer 3

With those types of temperature changes you might better call a professional for advise. You may just want to turn it into a solid concrete fence by building a form around it and filling it. If it was mine I would plant flowers in the cracks and turn it into a center piece for your yard and simply let it crumble, the natural look. Concrete will shrink and swell with heat we can't control that. You may want to think about pave stones and start a new wall in front of the old one. They have some stone looking pave out there now in days. You could patch it but that is an on going project to repair. A lot depends on how long do you plan to live there? That will help you choose what to do.

Luck to you,

Cheri'