
Check out the other levels of courses:
# | Course | Days | Prerequisite | Description |
2.10 | Historic Wall Rebuild | 3 | None | Students will rebuild a long-neglected farm wall. You will learn site preparation, pre-build staging, setup and use of batter frames, and wall construction. The product of the workshop will be a free-standing wall. |
2.13 | Contractors Intro Workshop | 1 | None | This one day course is tailored to the hardscape professional. The student will learn the key walling concepts and will build a free standing wall. Similar to 1.11 but caters to the needs of landscapers and masons. |
2.20 | Retaining Walls | 1 | Any 1.xx, 2.13, or 2.60 | This one-day workshop teaches the fundamentals of retaining walls. The student will sort and stage stone for the build, assist in batter frame setup, and will build a retaining wall. |
2.40 | Cheek Rebuild | 2 | Any 1.xx, 2.13, or 2.60 | Each student in this two-day workshop will rebuild the a wall cheek (free standing vertical wall end). You will learn to grade and sort stone in preparation for a build. You will set up batter frames and string lines. This course is intended as a first hands-on exposure to building a square end to a wall. This fundamental skill will be leveraged in many features you might build in the future. |
2.41 | Women’s Cheek Rebuild | 2 | Any 1.xx, 2.13, or 2.60 | Each student in this two-day workshop will rebuild the a wall cheek (free standing vertical wall end). You will learn to grade and sort stone in preparation for a build. You will set up batter frames and string lines. This course is intended as a first hands-on exposure to building a square end to a wall in an all women environment. This fundamental skill will be leveraged in many features you might build in the future. |
2.50 | Introduction to Stone Shaping | 1 | None | Try your hand and shaping stones with hammers, chisels, and power tools too! Learn techniques and methods for efficiently getting stones to break where you want them too. |
2.60 | Contractors Intensive | 5 | None | This course is intended to provide hardscape professionals with working fundamental skills for dry stone walling. The student will learn proper use of batter frames and stringlines, site and material preparation, and wall construction. They will rebuild a free standing wall, and will then rebuild a cheek. This course includes a Level 1 certification test on the last day. |
2.70 | Walling Day | 1 | Any 1.xx, 2.13, or 2.60 | Low cost opportunity for those with workshop experience to gain walling experience with certified professions on site. |
2.80 | Level 1 Test Preparation | 1 | 1.xx recommended | The student will rebuild a Level 1 test stint against the clock. An instructor will answer questions and provide feedback at multiple points during the day. The purpose of this course is to help the student develop strategies for building within the test time limit while constructing a passing wall. |
2.90 | Level 1 Certification Test | 1 | 1.xx or 2.80 recommended | The successful tester will have walled for at least five days and will be able to recite the five rules. |
Foundations
The art of foundations, through-stones and copes are combined with experiential learning to craft retaining walls, free standing wall ends, and to rebuild historic farm walls in this series of courses.
The Retaining and Cheek Rebuild workshops develop skills needed for the majority of walling projects. In each of these you will learn batter frame techniques that lead to a stronger and more beautiful wall.
The Contractor’s Intensive is a five-day course designed with the intent to transform practicing landscapers into certified wallers. The Contractor’s Intro workshop is also a great way for the hardscape professional to start down the dry stone path.
Level 1 Certification is a great way to benchmark your progress. Testing makes you a better waller!
All workshops are taught by instructors that are certified by the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain (DSWA-GB)
One summer day, while I was walking along the country road on the farm where I was born, a section of the stone wall opposite me, and not more than three or four yards distant, suddenly fell down. Amid the general stillness and immobility about me the effect was quite startling. … It was the sudden summing up of half a century or more of atomic changes in the material of the wall. A grain or two of sand yielded to the pressure of long years, and gravity did the rest.
~John Burroughs
Upcoming Dry Stone Fundamentals Course
(By date, soonest first)
2.40 Cheek Rebuild Workshop – Opus 40 Sale has ended
The Stone Trust @ Opus 40, Saugerties, New York
2.60 5-Day Contractors Intensive Workshop – Minnesota Sale has ended
The Stone Trust MN, Northland Landscape Nursery, Isanti, Minnesota
2.50 Introduction to Stone Shaping – New Hampshire
The Stone Trust NH, Broadview Farm, Mont Vernon, New Hampshire