slate laying and block laying

Description of laying brown stone block and slate

Slate Laying: when laying slate you must first lay out all of the slates before you put any of them in permanently. This is essential because most slates will need to be cut and fitted. When laying out and cutting the slate it is important to take into account to joints.

 

 

Block Laying:

When laying block it is important that it is straight. To assure that it is we use a string line. The way this works is you put one end of the string on each end of that wall this way when you are laying the stone you have something to reference, line the block up with the string.

 

 

 

Cutting stone and scribing block

When cutting stone you must use eye and ear protection, and wear a mask covering your mouth. There are different ways to cut stone. You can use a power tool, when cutting slate you can use a slate cutter, or you can use a hammer and pitch.

The cut of a stone dictates how you use it because you want the flat edges to go against another stone, and you want the uneven edges to face the outside. Most of the brownstones had only 1 uneven side, this side is what you will see when the wall is complete.

 

 

Before cutting a stone you must first evaluate the stone to make sure you are cutting off the side that is most useless. Then use a scribe to mark exactly where you want to cut. A scribe is a pointed edge that will scrape a visible line into a stone. Once the stone is marked and you have your safety equipment on you are ready to cut.