Stone calculator
Stone Masonry Calculator
For solid stone walls rather than veneer. Enter the wall dimensions to get tonnage, mortar and a cost range.
Your project
Freestanding stone walls need at least half their height in thickness for stability.
Stone needed
7.92
US tons
- Wall volume
- 160 cu ft (5.93 cu yd)
- Wall face area
- 120 sq ft
- Mortar (80 lb bags)
- 67
- Masonry sand
- 2.01 tons
- Stone cost
- $1,742
- Installed cost range
- $5,400 – $13,200
Stone masonry is labour-dominated. Material is typically a third of the installed price; a skilled mason lays 25-40 square feet of wall face a day.
The shareable link reopens this calculator with your exact inputs.
Solid stone walls versus veneer
A true masonry wall is stone all the way through, laid in courses with through-stones tying the faces together. It needs a footing below frost depth and, for anything over 4 feet, engineering.
Veneer is a 1-2 inch skin over a structural wall. It looks the same from the street at a fraction of the material and the labour, and it is what almost every modern residential build uses.
Thickness and stability
The traditional rule for a freestanding dry or mortared stone wall is a base thickness of at least half the height, and a slight batter (inward lean) of about 1 inch per foot of rise on each face.
Rubble stone stacks with roughly 20-25% void space, so a cubic foot of wall does not need a cubic foot of solid rock. This calculator accounts for that; ordering solid-rock volume would leave you a third over.
Stone wall build reference
| Wall height | Minimum thickness | Footing depth |
|---|---|---|
| 2 ft | 12" | Below frost or 12" compacted stone |
| 3 ft | 16" | Below frost line |
| 4 ft | 24" | Below frost line, reinforced |
| Over 4 ft | Engineered | Engineered footing |
Frequently asked questions
+How many tons of stone for a wall?
About 1 ton per 15-18 cubic feet of finished wall for rubble stone, allowing for mortar and void space. A 30 ft × 4 ft × 16 inch wall needs roughly 10 tons.
+How much does a stone wall cost per square foot?
$45-$110 per square foot of wall face installed, driven mostly by mason labour. Dry-stacked walls in local field stone sit at the low end; dressed ashlar at the high end.
+How much mortar does a stone wall need?
Mortar makes up 15-25% of the wall volume depending on how irregular the stone is. That is roughly one 80 lb bag per 0.6 cubic feet of joint volume.
+Does a stone wall need a footing?
Any mortared wall does — a concrete footing below the frost line, twice the wall width. Dry-stacked walls can sit on a compacted stone pad because they flex without cracking.