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How to build a stone wall

There are two types of stone walls, cemented or free standing.

Nick Cooper’s mother’s wall at Ōtaki Beach was cemented and she had the help of an engineer when she started building the wall. He advised that for the base, she should place a line of stones as the front of the wall and place a second row behind, and then place cement between the rows with small pebbles included.

The same procedure is applied for the next row of stones and continued until the wall has reached the height you want it.

The wall she built is more than 60 years old now, and is as sound and strong as the day it was built. It was also the better option as it was to retain a sandbank.

Nick’s walls in Levin are free standing which makes the task a lot quicker. He uses large boulders at the base, covers them with soil and then places a second row slightly back from the first row. He then waters them in with a hose.

The wet soil helps to solidify the wall and because the walls are not cemented, you can grow plants between the stones. The plants also help to stabilise the walls.

LEVIN

en-nz

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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