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Switched from dry stack to full mortar bed on a 12 foot garden wall in Tulsa, and the level never moved again
I built a 12 foot garden wall last month in Tulsa with dry stacking like I always did, and by the third rain it was leaning almost 2 inches off plumb. Tore it down, laid every course on a full mortar bed the whole way up, and that thing has not budged a hair through two more storms. Why do some of us still treat mortar like it is cheating when it is the whole reason a wall stands?
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parkerbrown1mo ago
Had the same thing happen with a retaining wall behind my shed, dry stacked it thinking I was saving time and it bowed out after one good soaking. Redid it with mortar on every course and it has been dead straight for four years now. The thing people miss is that dry stack only works if the stones are flat and you get the batter right, and most of us are just stacking whatever rock we hauled home. Rain gets in the joints and there is nothing holding it once the soil pushes back. Mortar is not cheating, it is just doing the job right the first time.
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