Much of the stone on older Westchester properties never came from a quarry. It came out of the fields, was stacked into walls along the old farm lines, and was laid up as the foundations of the houses that followed. Repairing it means working with stone that was never cut to fit anything.
Westchester sits in old stone wall country. The University of Connecticut’s Stone Wall Initiative counts the land east of the Hudson River as part of New England’s stone wall region, and dates most of those walls to the century between 1750 and 1850, when fields were cleared and the stones piled along fence lines. Older Westchester houses often stand on foundations laid from the same kind of stone.
As a stone repair contractor in Westchester, we repoint both, mortared fieldstone walls and old stone foundations. Good stone foundation repair starts with whatever is letting water in, since new mortar in a wet foundation goes the way of the old. And stone wall repair does not always mean mortar. A Westchester wall that was built dry is meant to move with the ground, and mortar pushed into it only cracks.
Four points from published guidance on old stone foundations and field walls.
This Old House’s guide to fieldstone foundations says it is just as important to find and eliminate the cause of the water as it is to repoint. On a Westchester house that usually means grading the soil away from the foundation and keeping gutters clear and connected before any joint is opened.
Old mortar that has turned to powder has to come out, and so does the dust it leaves. As the mason quoted in the same guide puts it, new mortar won’t stick to dust. On a Westchester foundation, joints are cleared back to firm material before anything new goes in.
Fieldstone foundations shed small stones as their mortar fails. The same guide advises putting those stones back, using them to fill the larger gaps, rather than packing every void with mortar alone. On an older Westchester house, the stone that fell out is usually the best match for the gap it left.
Many of the county’s field walls were stacked without mortar. Fine Homebuilding notes that properly laid dry stone walls flex as the ground moves, whereas a mortared wall will crack, and that mortar holds moisture in. Stone wall repair on a dry Westchester wall means resetting the stones, never pointing between them.
We check where water is reaching the Westchester foundation or wall, and whether the wall was built with mortar or stacked dry. Those two answers decide the job, and if the water needs dealing with first, you hear it before any work is quoted.
Mortared fieldstone walls and old stone foundations are repointed joint by joint, with the work fitted to stone that was never cut to a pattern. On a Westchester foundation, that means working around every uneven face rather than forcing it to a line.
A stone too broken to go back in is replaced with fieldstone that suits the rest of the wall. Everything that can return to its place on the Westchester wall does.
A fieldstone wall in Westchester was often standing long before anyone built the house beside it, and the foundation under that house was laid from the same ground. Both were built by people who used what the fields gave them. Repairs that respect that, dealing with the water, putting the stone back where it came from, and leaving dry walls dry, keep them standing for the next owner too.
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Walls that hold back soil are covered under retaining walls Westchester, and the rest of our brick and stone work in the county is on brickwork contractor Westchester.
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Usually, yes. Often the mortar has failed while the stone is sound, and the joints can be repointed once the water causing the damage is dealt with. This Old House’s guide to fieldstone foundations puts eliminating the source of water on a par with repointing, which on a Westchester house usually means grading and gutters.
No. A wall stacked without mortar is meant to move with the ground. Fine Homebuilding notes that properly laid dry stone walls flex as the ground moves, whereas a mortared wall will crack, and that mortar holds moisture in. On a Westchester property, a dry wall is repaired by resetting its stones.
Many date from the century between 1750 and 1850. The University of Connecticut’s Stone Wall Initiative counts the land east of the Hudson River as part of New England’s stone wall region, where most walls accumulated along fence lines as fields were cleared. Plenty of Westchester walls are older than the houses near them.
Yes, and they usually should be. This Old House’s guide advises using stones that came loose to fill the larger gaps, rather than packing every void with mortar. On an older Westchester foundation, the stone that fell out of a joint is generally the closest match for the space it left behind.
Yes. Yonkers is part of Westchester County, and its older fieldstone walls and stone foundations are handled the same way as anywhere else in the county, water first, loose stone back in place, and dry walls left dry. Stone repair in Yonkers is covered by this Westchester page.
Not on its own. Repointing closes failed joints, but stone foundation repair only holds if the water reaching the wall is dealt with too. This Old House’s guide puts grading soil away from the house and keeping gutters connected first. On a Westchester house, keeping water out of a basement is separate work.
