Additional Information

Types of Masonry

Dry stone, sometimes called dry stack, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction method, which is characterized by the presence of a load-bearing façade of carefully selected interlocking stones. Dry stone construction is best known in the context of stone walls, traditionally used for the boundaries of fields and churchyards or as retaining walls for terracing, but dry stone sculptures, buildings, bridges, and other structures also exist.

Ashlar is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that was worked until squared or the structure built from it. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid Precisely cut "on all faces adjacent to those of other stones", ashlar is capable of very thin joints between blocks, and the visible face of the stone may be quarry-faced or feature a variety of treatments: tooled, smoothly polished or rendered with another material for decorative effect.

glossary

Ashlar: Stone cut into square or rectangular units.

Dry Stack: Natural or sawn cut, commonly used for retaining walls.

Fieldstone: A naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the earth.

Flagstone: A sedimentary rock that is split into layers along bedding planes, a form of Sandstone.

Ledge Stone: Relatively flat strips of stone for stacking.

Milled: Flagstone cut to an edge on one or more sides.

Mosaic: Patterns made up of random pieces.

Natural Patio: Irregular shapes with a rough face.

Regular Chop: Rectangular in shape, random lengths and heights, hand chopped on all sides with a rough face.

Sawn Chop: Rectangular in shape, random lengths and heights, sawn on top and bottom with a rough face.

Sawn Patio: Sawn top and bottom with a smooth face.

Steppers: Flat stones used as pathway step stones.

Sawn Bed Veneer: Stone cut to a certain depth with natural surface on one side.

Slabs: Large flat pieces of stone with irregular outlines.

Snapped Veneer: Stone snapped to provide flat surfaces on both sides.

Thin Veneer: Flagstone cut to lay on concrete slab.

Treads: Stone machined to suit step treads or risers.

Tumbled: Processed to soften edges.