Unearthed Stone Foundations

Stone foundations have been used for centuries to keep buidldings stable, and they are still used instead of concrete in many buildings today!

If you are building a wall, a building or even a shed, stone foundations are a strong, stable and reliable foundation solution, and even better they are cheap, if not free!

Building a stone foundation does take time and effort, remember that it will take some heavy manual labour. Of course once you have decided that you want to do this you need to know how to build stone foundations.  This how to guide on building stone foundations should guide you through it step by step!

1) Dig a trench for the foundations, this should be at least a foot and a half wide and deep enough to avoid the frost  line. This needs to be deep enough and strong enough to support the construction on top.  When you are digging the trench you may find that a pick axe helps to get through stony layers of earth.

2) You need to start with the largest stones first, continue to lay the largest stones at the bottom, keep building this up using progressively smaller stones as you reach the top.  If you don’t have large stones try using bags of concrete which have hardened.

3) Fill it up, pack smaller stones around the large rocks.  You really need to keep this tight so pack small stones in tightly, beat them with a hammer if necessary to keep it strong!

4) Cover the base foundations with gravel and tamp it down.  You may want to repeat this a few times to avoid any chance of subsidence.  While doing this you may want to lay down any piping for Electrics and plumbing, if you are planning to do this remember to decide beforehand  where the pipes will be laid for greatest convenience

5) Once this is done you can build up on top of it with whatever construction you want!

Once you have followed this easy how to lay a stone foundation guide you should have your own stone foundation up in no time! Whether you are building a greenhouse, a building or a small wall!