Building Stone Walls

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A quick rundown of this product’s key features:

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. 

Our Top Reviews

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Delivered in perfect condition.
Review: The book was delivered in perfect condition and the subject matter was very helpful.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Good information
Review: This book has given me the information I was seeking.

Reviewer: Shaun Mirk
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Second most useful stone mason book
Review: Art of the StoneMason is my #1 book to building stone walls and structures, but I will say this book comes in #2 among my collection. Its a great guide to traditional cutting and forming of stone walls and structures.

Reviewer: LoveNature
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Informative and enjoyable
Review: We’ve been thinking about acquiring some stone and building a retaining wall, but weren’t sure what kind of rock to use, where to find it, how to start, and the right way to go about setting the stones.This little handbook answered almost all of our questions. Descriptions and instructions are clear and easy to understand. Appreciated the historical references.Maybe the best attribute of the book is that it is so enjoyable to read. I really liked the author’s “story-telling” style. I think we’ll hold onto this book long after our rock wall is built.

Reviewer: bbobg
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: … on stone masonry and found this to be the better of them
Review: I bought three books on stone masonry and found this to be the better of them. They all had their good points buy I liked this one. The only issue was the statement within the book that the field stone I have on my property makes poor walls. The author is correct, but I have to work with what I have. Given this, he did explain how to use the material I have at hand so the book did provide the info I needed.

Reviewer: ellen sf
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Best intro book I’ve found.
Review: Well worth reading as an intro, even if you are going to pay someone else to build your wall. Realistic about how much work is involved. Lots of very helpful tips. Easy to read. Good illustrations.

Reviewer: Cole Sanchez
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Arrived bent
Review: Great book (5 stars for content), but I received a copy that has a bent cover and a torn page inside, hence the 3 star rating that I’m giving this purchase.

Reviewer: John E. Greifenkamp
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Rock wall disease
Review: This book if packed with good information and I used most of it to help me build 170 tons of dry stack walls. I would recommend reading the book and avoiding stone wall building. In Texas in July and August it is like being in hell. The walls will be there long after I’m gone.

Reviewer: D. HUDSON
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Just started repairing drystone walls and wanted a book to reference as I go. This book is certainly that it is full of easy to read guidance including good and bad examples. The book also discusses the use of varied and mostly rounded stones which is the kind of stone I am building from when rebuilding walls from original stones fallen into fields.Only point to note the author is American therefore the terminology and tool names reflect this.

Reviewer: Johnny
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: It’s great to be able share in the skills of these artisans ! Interesting and quite unique. Worth a read

Reviewer: Dalton Almeida Raphael
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Uso em minhas aulas

Reviewer: kevin
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Go this for a “work experience” lad who was with me for a week.Written in America so some of the terminology is different but the methods and practical application are spot on.Nice book and enjoyable to read if you are experienced or just starting out.

Reviewer: James Kerr
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: very small book limited info.

Price effective as of Jun 18, 2025 03:05:00 UTC

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