Appreciation post for the guy who showed me the 'dry stack' method on a retaining wall

I was working a small retaining wall job in Boulder last month and struggling with keeping my lines straight. A old-timer walked by and told me to try stacking the first three courses without mortar, just dry fitting them to check the pattern. It saved me a ton of time because I could adjust the stones without scraping wet mortar out. Has anyone else tried dry stacking before the final mortar run?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesroberts23d ago

Respectfully, I gotta disagree a bit. Dry stacking the first course or two makes sense for fit, but three full courses dry? That's just asking for trouble with alignment when you actually mortar it. Mortar beds shift things just enough to throw off all that dry work.

rubysingh23d ago

Ha, @jamesroberts is making me think of that time my uncle dry stacked a whole wall for a shed and then spent a weekend trying to level it with a sledgehammer after the mortar set, not pretty.

carter.casey23d ago

Oh man, I actually just watched a video from this old school mason who said the same thing basically. He was all about dry stacking two courses max, any more than that and you're just setting yourself up for a headache when the mortar goes in and shifts everything sideways. Have you ever had that happen where you had to redo a whole section?