While some log or wood-frame buildings tend to crumble into ruin and decay after 50 years or so, well-built stone structures will often stand for centuries. Stone is durable, fireproof, bug- and vermin-proof, and rot-free. Our walls went up in just eight weeks, and we moved in a short five months after beginning construction with 100% of the work having been done by Sharon and me, and our two girls (who were then 9 and 11 years old). (If necessary or preferred you could build much thicker walls using denser and heavier stones.)įinally, a stone house doesn’t take long to build. Īs to the common complaint that stone is unbearably heavy to work with, we can only answer by noting that all the rocks used in our 10-inch-thick walls were about football size and weighed no more than the timbers commonly employed in wood-frame construction. We recommend that you read this volume before so much as picking up your first rock. You’ll find the best of these systems described in the excellent manual, The Owner-Builder’s Guide to Stone Masonry by Ken Kern, Steve Magers, and Lou Penfield ($11.95). By using any of several modern stonework forming methods, you simply don’t need the years of experience that were required before an old-fashioned, freehand stonemason could claim mastery of his or her art. Reason Number TwoĬontrary to common belief, it’s quite easy to build with stone. Our own home’s 8′ X 28′ X 45′ walls went up for only $250 in 1973, and–though cement and rebar prices have increased substantially since then–it’s still possible to put up some really super stone walls for very little money. TIMBER AND STONE HOUSE PLANS PLUSOf course, the best source of building stone could be your own property if you’re lucky (or smart) enough to own a piece of “worthless,” rocky ground.īesides the stone itself, you’ll need only cement, sand, and gravel, plus maybe some steel reinforcement for corners and lintels. Some commercial rock quarries, too, will allow you to hand pick inexpensive stones from their huge rubble piles … or will even haul the material to your site for a reasonable price! However, since “rock foraging” isn’t currently a common practice, regulations governing such activity are usually vague or nonexistent, so be sure to inquire locally before gathering. The rancher who owned the land was delighted to have his field cleared of “all them blankety-blank, machinery-bustin’ rocks.” Similar rancher/farmer/ landowner situations exist all over the country.Ĭollecting stones–for free–from public lands is also a possibility. TIMBER AND STONE HOUSE PLANS FREEWe built our 1,100-square-foot home with 18 pickup loads of free boulders, most of which were gathered from a single field about a mile from our construction site. Good building stone can be found most anywhere, usually free for the gathering. Still, we can’t help concluding that building with stone– aka “plain old rocks”–has more to recommend it for more people in more building situations than does an owner-built home made with any other material. Of course, it would be absurd to suggest that any building material or type of structure is “best” for all people under every circumstance, and certainly each one has its own outstanding advantages. After all, the owner-builder can now select from many intriguing low-cost shelter possibilities including log, cordwood, wood frame, pole, adobe, and earth-sheltered homes … plus yurts, domes, tipis, houseboats, and an endless variety of innovative salvage-material structures. After spending eight years in our $2,000, self-built stone house in southern Idaho, Sharon and I sometimes wonder whether–were we somehow forced to start construction all over again–we would still build our home with natural stone.
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