Dismantle and rebuild of a Wiarton limestone wall in the Moore park area. The wall was originally constructed in the early 90’s. Trouble began when the city requested the homeowner to redirect their downspout from the sewer system. This resulted in an overload of hydro-static pressure on the wall causing it to bulge out and lean towards the sidewalk. With the masonry now posing a potential hazard to the public, we were tasked with rebuilding it.
We took pictures of the wall before dismantling began and printed them out. We dismantled in a systematic way, numbering and documenting each stone to ensure a successful rebuild. There was 147 stones in total weighing an estimated 13,000 pounds, some of them being on the verge of manually lifting.
In rebuilding, we followed the original design of the wall by using mortar to level off bed joints where necessary and leaving perpendicular joints tight and mortar free where possible to allow moisture to seep through. We installed a weeping tile drainage system of which the original wall never had. When rebuilding anything it is of the utmost importance to document before dismantling. Phones are great for this. We’ve rushed in the past and had a very hard time figuring out how things go back together. It’s always best to take your time and enjoy a stress free rebuild. Even with the documentation it was still a challenging task as you are rebuilding something that was never perfect to begin with. This was finished just before the cold weather set in.
