Which do you prefer?
The traditional method of gathering stone found on the property and laid in a horizontal pattern?
Or, the more modern use of stones gathered from rivers and stream beds and applied in a random pattern?
For me the answer is obvious. The field stone chimney will stand strong for millennia without the aid of cement. But remove the cement from the river rock chimney and you’d have a pile of bowling ball shaped stones spread out across your yard.
Originally posted 2015-08-17 16:33:46.
I personally love the look of river rocks. I like that you can get a variety of colors in the rock, which is impossible with field stone. I don’t know how they stand up over time, but I think it looks great and want to try it out in my own home!
The love of river rock is generally associated with various areas… if it’s common in a particular area and folks are familiar with it, they tend to be drawn to it. For the record field stone can have a tremendous variety of colors to it, if you look through some of the photos that I’ve posted in the stone section you can find some houses that offer amazing contrasts. Round rock masonry is not common in my area, and historically before the refinement of modern cement, it was not used, so it’s not my acquired taste. If I was building in an area of the country where river rock was the standard I’d go with it, and the reverse is true, a river rock chimney in my area looks as out of place as and adobe home would.