Mythreesonsnc - re: retaining walls

13 years ago

Mythreesonsnc,

I've been meaning to respond to your question about retaining walls. So glad you found the previous photos helpful. I've uploaded a few more pictures so I can show you what I think we are going to do.

This big curved wall in the back yard...

We will do somewhat like this:

Except that we will do brick columns and not change the size when we go up. Also we will do a brick cap on the wall and do the area in between the columns with mortar wash, very much like Allison did on hers (thanks, Allison!). Oh, and we will only do columns at each end of the wall and at each end of the curve (four columns in all). The fencing will just have the metal posts in between the columns. We will plant some fig vine on the wall and hope that it will be completely green someday.

This wall we will face with the same brick as the foundation of the house and terminate the wall with a brick column.

On the opposide side of the driveway, we will face the inside face of the wall with brick and then mortar wash this outside section with a brick cap. We will need some serious plantings to make this wall "disappear."

Happily in in Atlanta, it doesn't take long for a wall to look like this:

Hope that helps!

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Comments (18)

allison0704
13 years ago
That looks great, buckheadbilly!

Here are my photos in case mythreesonsnc has not seen.

My pretty wall, before landscaping grew tall. Mortar washed, smooth finish (sanded) with stone columns and capped with thick flagstone.

{{gwi:1481370}}

BIG retaining wall no one can see, unless they are in lake fishing. We left it rough. Also capped with flagstone.

Same wall from the driveway:
buckheadhillbilly
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for adding those, Allison. I didn't feel free to post your pictures. Looks like we're not the only ones with a "Taj mawall". Looks great!
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allison0704
13 years ago
Thanks for not posting them. ;) "Taj mawall" Good one! I can only see our large wall when we're walking around the house with the dogs. We had no idea it was going to be that tall! Our power, phone and gas line ALL go toward the storage/laundry room on that end/bottom of the house, so no planting too close to the wall. DH has planted some long needle pines out from it a bit.

He keeps saying he'll put the horse fence away from the HVAC units (along wall, at wheelbarrow) and generator (sits it the "niche") to block it some, but after 5 years still no fence. It's on the list though.
mythreesonsnc
13 years ago
This is awesome! Thanks so much for posting ---- I am usually on this forum non-stop but this weekend I had rare company and didn't get to the forum. I'm SO glad to see these!

I love how you are finishing everything Buckhead --- it will be so nice. Allison, I have never seen those angles or pictures, so thank you. I keep fearing retaining walls because of how to finish them nicely, and this makes me feel so much better because these are beautiful!

Right now we are absolutely panicking because they started to put some stone on the house and it looks AWFUL! I can't tell if it is because right now it is not mortared between the joints, or if it really is just going to look bad! If it is, I don't want them to put it up! I am desperate to see the mortar, but yesterday and today it is ridiculously cold and they can't do it.... Allison, you posted pictures a while ago of your stone on the side of the garage --- wet and dry both, and they look very different. I am hoping that adding the mortar (which we are having mixed in a lighter color) will lighten up the look of the place. But for now I am very scared!

I'm going to post pictures if I can get my computer to stop freezing (must be the weather :-).....
allison0704
13 years ago
How are they adding stone if not setting it with mortar, including the joints? Would love to see pictures. Are you using real or faux stone? If faux, I thought it was installed the same way as real stone.
buckheadhillbilly
Original Author
13 years ago
I just got back from a short trip to Memphis and couldn't resist sharing one more wall idea with you:

There are just *so* many ways to finish a wall!
mythreesonsnc
13 years ago
Sorry I never got any pictures of the stone --- they are tearing it down! I am still worried about how it will turn out on try 2, but feel much better that they agree they need to start over... I think the stone is a risk on this house, and if it comes out well, it will be great, but it seems like so much of the stone I see around is like pavers stuck on a house.

We are trying to make our house mimic the following 2 homes by Archer Buchanan Architects in PA --- Canary Cottage and Starry Night Farm. Here are pics of them.....
Starry Night Farm (you can see the stone well in the 2nd pic of the gable end of the house).
http://www.archerbuchanan.com/portfolio.asp?isection=1#

Canary Cottage
http://www.archerbuchanan.com/portfolio.asp?iSection=1&iPortfolio=61

Here is another house / building with a bit more "primitive" look -- Bell House - Bethlehem, but a similar concept....

Anyway, the mortar joints on these homes are fairly large and it appears to be a lighter mortar as well. Our stone mason brought in 3 different kinds of stones from that area and determined we needed a mix to achieve this look (he is from the Bucks County region, so I feel like he knows what he is talking about). So, several months ago, they put up a small sample board of this stone (it is a 3" stone --- real, but not the awesome thick kind, I guess it is called a 3" veneer). They built me a little sample board to see how the stone would look.

When I compare it to the Canary Cottage picture, it is dead on....
There is "coursing" meaning it is in horizontal rows. The color is on, and the joints are "sponged" and similar. I worried about the width of the joint though, because here in NC you would never see this style of house... but this house is out in horse country, and it is very similar in shape to those homes. Here is a pic of it so far -- framed....

After they put some on the house, something changed and I hated it. The coursing was off, the stones were a huge variety of sizes and the color seemed off. I am still really worried about getting the stone to look right, but feel like we at least have another shot at it! Do you think I'm making a mistake trying to do a PA farmhouse look in NC?
athensmomof3
13 years ago
NO you are not crazy! I love that style house. Here is one in Atlanta. It was designed by Norman Askins. You might call either the firm you cited above or Norman Askins and ask about the details of the stone - or shoot them an email. I did read somewhere that Pak Heydt mixes ivory buff mortar with river sand to give a more aged look. It might not work on your house though.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs313.ash1/27836_433569242649_76819782649_5683644_7852811_n.jpg

I have seen this sort of house with very light, almost white, mortar, and also with a more buff mortar. This one in Atlanta is more buff. This is the back of the house - I don't have a picture of the front handy, although I know I took one and will try to track it down. This is from the facebook page of the Howard Design Group that did the landscape design.
athensmomof3
13 years ago
Whoops that didn't work - if you are on facebook, look for Howard Design Group. They have a large group of photos of various houses on their page and this is in one of the albums.
mythreesonsnc
13 years ago
The picture on Howard Design Studio is great --- the stones are all rectangles, so it looks a bit more formal vs. the rounded stones, but the colors are exactly right. I would never think this looks strange in the south, so it gives me hope!

Thanks very much! You have had really good inspiration pics for me.... I still have a great one of beams that you posted some time ago... thanks! I hope your appraisal woes work out soon for you, how is it all going now?
allison0704
13 years ago
I don't think you are crazy either. The house goes in the south as well. The older section of Mountain Brook, AL has numerous stone homes. None are for sale at the moment, so no pictures online.

One thing I was told when we were building, is mortar mix has changed. The older mortar mix contained more lime, and was more chalky in appearance.

Your stonemasons sound like they know what they are talking about. Our home is a mixture of three stones as well.

I don't necessarily think square stone look more formal than round. Ours are more square, but hand chiseled on-site. I have seen cut square stones and they are more formal looking to me.

That said, I had originally torn out a lot of magazine pages of the style of stone you are wanting to do. The thing that stopped me in the end, I think, was fear of it not looking like those pages so I went this route. For me, it was the right choice. If our entire house was stone, I would probably have gotten the stonemasons to give your version a shot. But I felt the way I went blended more with the mortar washed brick portions of our home. I haven't regretted my decision. You're taking the time with yours, so I don't think you will either. Scary, all the same!

Love your home and can't wait to see it finished. We live in a horse community.

athensmomof3, I read about your appraisal woes. The mistakes of lenders has caused a multitude of problems. Hope yours is resolved soon!
athensmomof3
13 years ago
Glad that helped! I love that house and that style of house. There is one here in town too - I'll try to snap a picture in the next few days. It has the white clapboard siding and stone center and reminded me of the one by Versaci when I saw it - it was obviously a take off! Turned out pretty though. I have more pictures of the Askins house - took a ton of the front - but they are drowning in the sea of my unorganized Picasa account. I'll post them if I find them!

Thanks for the positive vibes about the appraisal! We did find a comp he missed which is better than the ones he used. Unfortunately, we live in a small town and none are really comparable. We have friends though who just sold their very comparable house and it closes in January. If they use that one as a comp (and it truly is unlike the others), we should sail through. We are in the process of fixing the flat out errors (lots of missing square footage, missing bathrooms, missing rooms, etc.) which should help also. We are just going with a bank that requires a higher percentage down but a great rate. That jacks up the appraisal required, but we do have other alternatives that require lower appraisals, at slightly less favorable rates (but not terrible).

Just decided to let the professionals worry about this one while I carry on and enjoy the holidays!!!
thingsthatinspire
13 years ago
The Norman Askins home that athensmom refers to is so beautiful - the stone looks amazing. Architect Stan Dixon just completed a stone house in Atlanta that is in Pennsylvania Dutch style. I am friends with someone who is also building with Stan Dixon, and she went through this same process - looked and looked and looked for pictures of stone Georgian style houses, and ultimately decided to do limewashed brick because she couldn't find exactly the look she was going for. When she was going through the process, I sent her a picture of a stone front Georgian that I had run across on the blogs - it is on this website, under new projects (the top left house on that page) - http://www.ericjsmitharchitect.com
allison0704
13 years ago
I ran across this and thought you might enjoy seeing these stone homes in Ulster County, NY.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ulster County Stone Houses
athensmomof3
13 years ago
Just wanted to let you know, I opened my new Veranda magazine last night and there is a beautiful example of a stone Pennsylvania type house in there. The architect was Bill Harrison in Atlanta, Suzanne Kasler was the designer, and it is located in Connecticut. It may be more formal than yours but it sure is pretty, inside and out, and would be worth heading to the bookstore to get it if you don't subscribe!
mythreesonsnc
13 years ago
Thanks for the tip --- I only occasionally get Veranda, but I will definitely go pick one up! Also, loved the Ulster homes and the Ericjsmith links. What amazing pictures! I could look at them for days! So many of the homes that make my heart beat faster seem to have Suzanne Kasler as the designer. Holly, I cannot wait to see yours... it is going to be amazing!

Our guys are out cramming to get work done before the holidays. Hopefully I can go get some pics in the next few days.... it is a muddy mess though!
allison0704
13 years ago
How's it going? Ran across this thread and thought I'd ask.
mythreesonsnc
13 years ago
It is going well, though the cold weather has definitely slowed down the stone work!

I have been keeping a little "diary" of pics, here are a few of the latest....

Here is a link that might be useful: latest pics