A Stonemasons guide to ashlar cut stone

Let me start off by saying this knowledge shared below was passed down to me by generations of mostly Philadelphia, PA stonemasons and is nothing I claim to have thought up or developed on my own. Being a member of my Local Union stone masons chapter, Local 1 Philadelphia since 1981 has enabled me to gain the best experience by admiring and following the workmanship left behind on countless buildings across our city and surrounding suburbs. My stone mason journey here.

An Ashlar cut stone is a squarely dressed stone tooled by hammer and chisel, or by means of a masonry saw. Building a wall using ashlar cut stone in a ramdon pattern consists of (3) or preferably (4) different heights of stone laid into a flowing pattern that has a pleasant appearance to the eye. Working your patterns as wide as possible will give you the most choices in creating gradual jumps of stone heights that won't look overcrowded with the surrounding stones. 

This illustration above is one of the most repeated mistakes I see.

This illustration is widely done in Europe and seen on dozens of Instagram posts. It's common to see a mason lay stacks of 5 or 6 stones where i drew the two red crosses in-between the 2 large stone.

Here's another common mistake that is unpleasant to look at and

also increases the chance the wall will crack along the vertical long vertical joints.

This example above is rampant with stone veneer jobs.

On the illustration above you'll see how awful the pattern flows when you stand a stone on its edge.
Also known as laying a tombstone in the wall.

This scenario happens quite often but is usually harder to spot with untrained eyes.

This illustration shows how a wall should be started. 

Here's an example of not staggering the stone above at least 4". The green colored joint showing a (4) head pattern is correct as it's totally fine to have (4) heads adjoining each other in a pattern. 

click here for a printable pdf file of these photos

Following these basic principles will greatly enhance the appearance of your work and also it's strength.  Take a drive by any old university built a generation or two ago and walk around the campus. You'll notice the stonework matches my illustrations of correct patterns. Again, I have nothing to boast about and take no credit in creating these patterns rather I'm a just a stone mason who realizes the difference in craftsmanship between the generations. Hopefully you will too.