What To Do with Rubble Stone (Field Stone)?

Rubble is broken stone of irregular size, shape and texture. They can often be found in the soil and considered to be “useless”.

But in fact, there are numerous rubble stone constructions around the world, particularly exterior rubble masonry (also called rubblework) walls that use undressed and rough stones and lay them in coursed or uncoursed arrangement. Many medieval cathedrals or houses were constructed in rubblework. Though bricks and reinforced concrete come to replace rubblework in modern constructions, rubble stone masonry wall is still preferred by many owners.

An exterior rubble stone masonry wall can be manufactured more easily than reinforced concrete wall. Compared with other customary building methods, exterior walls consisting of rubble stone masonry in cement-sand mortar, lime mortar or in mud can be built at a lower cost. More importantly, it is more friendly to the environment and causes less pollution. 

Apart from the cost-effectiveness, rubble stone masonry walls have other advantages. That is, when exposed to temperature fluctuations, such walls are able to absorb and buffer the heat in some way due to the massiveness and high inertia of nature stones.

It should be noted that the mortar must be well prepared to withstand the risk of moisture and add significantly to the wall’s strength.  

Small fillers or snecks are usually needed to be used in a rubble stone masonry wall to fill spaces between stones of different heights, and then mortar is applied to make the whole wall look nice and coordinated. 

So if properly used, rubble stone can definitely be transformed into a “treasure” that is economical, environmentally-friendly and elegant.