Dismantling, also known as ridding out, or stripping out, is an important process. Sorting the stone as you dismantle the wall enables better wall building, as it is easier to find the stone you need, and to choose the right size stone at the right height. It is also easier to check that you have enough coping and throughstones. This avoids the irritation of, for example, uncovering a large stone buried beneath a pile of smaller ones when it is too late to use it.
With experience you will discover the best method of sorting and setting out the stone to suit your preferences. Many professional wallers sort out piles of specific shapes and sizes of stones which they know will be useful. For example, longer small faced stones resembling ‘fingers’ or ‘bones’ are useful for filling awkward gaps. Odd shaped stones need to be identified so they can be used to their best advantage. With proper sorting the right stone should come to hand at the right time.
- Remove all the stone which is lying on the ground alongside the wall, taking care to set aside any topstones. Where the wall has suffered a major collapse, work into the pile from the edges wherever possible, and where it has collapsed to one side, pass some of the stone to the other side of the wall. Take care not to cause any more of the wall to collapse, removing unstable stones from the wall once you have access to them. Where the collapse is quite large, you might need to move the stone twice, initially separating and spreading the stone, before sorting it as outlined below.
- Once the debris has been cleared, remove the remaining topstones from the section to be repaired. Take care to remove the stones safely, bracing yourself against the wall for larger stones, getting a firm grip on the stones, and maintaining correct posture and correct carrying. Take care not to dislodge stones immediately below the coping by dragging them off the wall. Place the topstones in a line at a distance from the wall equivalent to around one and a half to twice the height of the wall, which is normally about 7-9′ (2.1-2.75m). Place them in a rough imitation of the style of cope on the wall, so that you can see if there will be enough. In any case, it’s best to add a couple of stones, selected during the dismantling of the wall, for every metre of wall to be rebuilt.
- Start removing stones from along the length of the wall. Remove layers rather than concentrating on a short section, as this lessens the chance of further collapse. Keep the stone to its original side of the wall, to ensure an even distribution of stones on both sides.
- When working on a slope, however slight, take care not to destabilise the wall uphill of the section being dismantled. Always leave any standing wall well stepped at its exposed end.
- To avoid accidents, place stones on the ground rather than throwing them. Gently tossing smaller stones is acceptable, but you need to always be aware of other workers and passers-by.
- Grade the stone as you dismantle the wall, placing smaller building stone nearer the top stones, with larger stones nearer the wall. Ensure you maintain a clear working space of 2-3′ (600-900mm) alongside the wall. This avoids tripping over stones, enables you to maintain a better posture when working, and facilitates a hasty exit in the event of any collapse of the old wall during the dismantling process.
- The filling or hearting should be placed in piles at 3-6′ (1-2m) centres, close to, but not in your working space. Hearting is used throughout the building process, and is needed close to hand. Leave ample room, as there is usually more of it than you expect, and you do not want it spilling over into your working space or onto the building stones. Ensure you have an even amount of hearting on both sides of the wall.
- Take care when removing throughstones and get help if necessary. The throughs are normally placed beyond the coping stones to ensure they are easily accessible and do not get mixed with the topstones or larger building stone. Some wallers prefer to put the throughs to the near side of the topstones, in which case you will need to start with the topstones set out further from the wall.
- It’s a good idea to place large and irregular stones with their ‘faces’ (the part of the stone which will be seen in the finished wall) towards the working space, to make it easier to assess their shape.
- Finally remove the foundation stones, getting help where necessary. These should be placed on top of the building stones immediately alongside the working space. With very large stones, it’s advisable to roll them into the working space and leave them there, rather than risk injury from lifting or rolling them on top of the building stone. Sometimes some of the foundation stones can be left in situ. This is dealt with under gapping.
