Questions on building a sandstone wall?

[sonofdet]

I am wanting to lay up a wall in the basement of an old house with the old sandstone that has collapsed. The sandstone are smaller ones that average about 8 inches by 8 inches up to 24 inches long. Any idea what would be the best to use as the mortar mix for the wall?

Just regular mortar mix, use cement and sand, use cement, sand and lime, etc.

I have heard that a lot of sandstone foundations only have a rubble, gravel base with good drainage (no poured footer). Does one need to put in a concrete footer or could a good solid wall be built on a 6 to 8 inch gravel base with good drainage designed into it?

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Gary

[haypoint]

Just use the pre-mixed morter mix. You can add Portland cement to harden the mix, but you won't need that with the soft porous sandstone. What soil type are you in? Doesn't matter what other sandstone walls have for foundations. You need to consider your soil type, water table and existing foundation. Personally, I'd want a good strong foundation with plenty of re-bar, but most of my experience is in clay or poorly drained areas and all where the frost can reach 4 feet deep.

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

You do not use a regular mortar mix. You need to use a mix for below grade.

RF

[Darren]

The stone foundation for our cellar house was not laid up with mortar. Apparently the builder dugout the cellar and then interlocked the rock as they went up. The stone wall is wider the deeper you go on the outside. I didn't know that until I cut an opening through the wall about three feet below grade for a water line. That's About five feet below the inside ceiling. I broke out one section of rock and then found another, and then another. It was almost like tunneling.

The inside rock is covered with some sort of cementious covering.