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THE PERFECT SANDSTONE RETAINING WALL

 

Sandstone Retaining Walls, often called “Solid Block Walling”, are common in civil and residential landscaping projects. However, many do not realise that dimension-cut, large sandstone blocks can also be used for the foundations of contemporary sandstone houses and buildings.

Retaining walls, therefore, are a cross between residential, commercial and civil in their application and purpose in architectural projects.  Of course, sandstone restoration projects also feature traditional bullnose, sparrow-pecked, and rockfaced sandstone retaining walls that often adorn the entrances to terrace homes and heritage buildings.

Imaginative architectural designs can create bespoke, unique foundation stones and sandstone retaining walls of various types as Gosford Quarries Sandstone is 100% customisable in size, dimension, colour, texture, and finish.

Gosford Quarries offers a variety of retaining wall solutions for any project. A ‘wall block system’ is famous for landscaping projects due to its easier installation.

There is often a misconception about the affordability of solid walling options, particularly in sandstone. However, Gosford Quarries offers a range of economical walling products that fit a project’s budget and stand the test of time.  

In this article, we will cover six (6) unique options for sandstone retaining walls and solid block walling, including:

  1. Sandstone Logs (Landscaping Logs or Landscaping Blocks as they are also known),

  2. Sandstone Billets (also see our Landscaping Logs page),

  3. Sandstone Solid Walling Blocks

  4. Solid Sandstone Ballast

  5. Large Sandstone “Random Rock” Boulders, and,

  6. Custom Dimension Cut Sandstone Blocks.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT RETAINING WALL MATERIAL

WHY USE NATURAL SANDSTONE FOR YOUR NEXT RETAINING WALL PROJECT?

With a range of sizes, finishes and colours, there is a sandstone walling block for every project budget supplied by Gosford Quarries Sandstone.

Here is an overview of each below.

SANDSTONE LOGS, SANDSTONE BILLETS AND SANDSTONE BALLAST FOR SOLID BLOCK WALLING

Sandstone logs, billets, and ballasts are often used as sandstone retaining walls in residential, civil, and commercial applications on larger landscaping projects by architects.

A VISUAL EXPLAINER TO IDENTIFY STOCK ITEM STANDARD SANDSTONE RETAINING WALL BLOCKS

In the image above at our stockyard in Terrey Hills, for example, we can visually identify:

Back left – Gosford Quarries Sandstone Logs

  • 1000mm x 500mm x 500mm and 2000mm x 500mm x 500mm large Quarry sawn and split.
  • Budget-friendly solid retailing walling blocks directly from the quarry with no colour selection and a +/- Tolerance of 100mm in dimension.

Back right – Gosford Quarries Sandstone Quarry

  • Billets (1000mm x 300mm x 300mm Quarry Sawn and split
  • Note: This is a smaller version of the landscaping logs, popular in residential applications, with a +/- tolerance of 50mm in dimension. All direct quarry materials are non-selective in colour, meaning a beautiful natural variation makes each project unique.

Front on Pallets – “Gosford Quarries’ Solid Walling Blocks”

  • Hydrasplit front and back diamond sawn top, bottom, and edges.
  • Note the beautiful and practical smooth (sawn) finish highlighting the sandstone’s banding.
  • This material is sturdy, easy to stack and install and visually appealing for any project!)

USING LANDSCAPING SANDSTONE LOGS FOR SANDSTONE RETAINING WALLS

Solid Sandstone Landscaping Logs, also known as “combining blocks,” are referred to in the industry as solid walling blocks.

Australian sandstone logs supplied by Gosford Quarries can be used in various architectural applications in landscaping design projects, primarily among retaining walls.

They are also perfect for garden edging, landscaping borders as estate walls, and civil projects such as marine sea sandstone retaining walls. You can also use them as sandstone steps, fashion them into seating features, or use them as landscaping garden edging.  

Landscaping logs are supplied across residential, commercial, civil, and public/government contracts. Generally, sandstone logs are non-selective in size and colour and are direct quarry sandstone rocks. They are not perfect, as opposed to solid walling blocks, which are custom cut and feature calibrated heights, being dimension cut at the architect’s specifications.

Sandstone Landscaping Logs from Gosford Quarries feature 1m x 500cm x 500cm and 2m x 500cm x 500cm sandstone logs.

These sandstone logs are incredibly popular for civil landscaping projects by councils. They are often utilised in sandstone retaining walls for large sea walls and river embankment areas. These ‘logs’ are hardy and durable, made of native Australian sandstone, perfect for our climate and environment.

You will often hear these described as ‘large rocks for retaining walls’. These sandstone blocks are commonly used in civil architectural projects in freshwater and marine environments. 

Sandstone Logs are low maintenance and suit budgets constraints.  They are a fantastic looking and practical solution for sloping hill areas deployed as tiered walling.

Sandstone has such attractive colours and textures, so these logs are also good choices for landscaping feature walls, sub-divisional retaining walls, and boundary fences, which execute a striking appeal in exterior areas.

They are also a traditionally cheaper solution than concrete blocks and have a far more natural and beautiful appeal when used as a retaining wall material.

Sandstone logs’ ease of installation makes them a friendly choice for budgetary concerns, reducing labour costs in their more timely execution. Due to their lengths, sandstone logs are great choices to cover large areas of walling in tighter time frames, allowing project streamlining when chosen as a retaining wall material.

Non-selective Sandstone Solid Block Walling, such as Landscaping Logs and Billets, is rustic, features quarry blade marks, and is economical for fast, one-day sandstone retaining wall builds.

In this respect, solid block sandstone walling is the landscaping rock for retaining walls. These have become extremely popular of late with the $25k housing grants and people renovating and improving the exterior of properties with new landscaping projects featuring sandstone.

USING QUARRY SANDSTONE BILLETS FOR SANDSTONE RETAINING WALLS

Sandstone billets (often referred to in layman’s terms as sandstone sleepers) are rough and quarry-sawn cut blocks similar to the landscaping logs and are an excellent choice for creating a rustic wall on a smaller scale.  Sandstone billets feature 1mx300mmx300mm dimensions and are extracted and produced like quarry logs.

Gosford Quarries perform no further processing on these sandstone blocks; their sizes are not adjusted.  They are supplied directly from the quarry and sent to your project site.

An installer on site can also apply a ‘rockfaced’ sandstone finish to execute or ‘replicate’ the visual of convict-style blocks. Limited in their colour selection, these sandstone billets are still beautiful, featuring stunning banding and shades of brown, pink, and white Australian sandstone.

Gosford Quarries also have a rustic ‘billet capping’ (1000 (L) x 350 (W) x 150 (H) ), which can complete the overall look and aesthetics of your retaining walls.

These rustic blocks can be used primarily as retaining walls, again a budget-friendly option due to their ease of installation and set modular sizes. Councils also use these quarry products as layering in rural, bushland areas, and civil projects.

Another imaginative use as an architectural highlight can be landscaping garden dividers and even fire pit seating, blending beautifully into their surroundings.

A perfect native Australian stone, these sandstone blocks feature lovely variations in colour and hue, making them ideal as your landscaping garden stone.

USING “SOLID WALLING BLOCKS” FOR SANDSTONE RETAINING WALLS

Commonly referred to as sandstone walling stone or retaining wall blocks, Gosford Quarries “solid walling blocks” product is yet another budget saver with the winning features of having a diamond sawn top, bottom and edges which distinguish it from its rustic quarry billet counterpart.

These large sandstone landscaping blocks are split-faced front and back and diamond-sawn.

They feature lengths between 900-1200mm x  300mm wide x 300mm high.

Solid walling blocks have calibrated heights, making them an accurate and efficient product for building more precise residential walling. The diamond-sawn top also makes it a great seating option. The hydraulic split face provides a natural texture to the stone, and although this product is typically non-select in colour, it is characterised by beautiful natural brown and pink banding, which makes it an iconically Australian choice.

Like sandstone logs and billets, sandstone retaining wall blocks can be installed in 1-2 days, compared to Besser or Bessa block walls (hollow rectangular concrete blocks), which can take labourers up to 2 weeks or more to install.

Sandstone solid block walling is like a Lego block build: fast to construct yet sturdy and steadfast once complete.

USING SANDSTONE RETAINING WALLS AS LANDSCAPING BORDERS AND EDGING

USING SOLID BALLAST FOR SANDSTONE RETAINING WALLS

Best Estate Retaining Walls

Sandstone ballast is rougher, quarry-cut blocks in random-sized squarish block shapes commonly utilised as borders, edging or the construction of retaining walls.

Solid Ballast regularly features in Civil and Residential projects.  Sandstone ballast walling is often called “ruble walling” or “dry-stacked walling”.

This popular rustic choice is manageable by hand. It can be manipulated and worked on-site by a stonemason or experienced installer to create various “dry stack”  and “random square” styles typical of ballast walling.

Solid ballast is available in a range of customisable colours, making it an ideal choice for any project. 

RETAINING WALLS BLOCKS FOR PATIOS AND LANDSCAPING PROJECTS

USING LARGE SANDSTONE BOULDERS FOR RETAINING WALLS

Commonly referred to as “large landscaping rocks”, “large sandstone random rocks”, or “sandstone boulders” in layman’s terms, these natural sandstone rocks can range in size from small to significantly large in dimensions and can be up to a few tonnes per block in weight.

They are another rustic choice for building walls and creating individual feature rock walling highlights.

Sandstone Boulders are used for retaining solid in bushland, creeks and waterbeds, as embankment rocks by councils;  defined as ‘civil sandstone’. Sandstone boulders are laid to prevent runoff into the ocean and to decrease sediment loss in freshwater estuaries.

Architecturally, these boulders are widely used in rural retaining wall projects, Civil project structural formations and feature walls and structures.

Sandstone boulders are excellent for making a bold design statement in your landscaping project. Leading architects can imaginatively use them, taking advantage of their size and grandeur as a striking landscaping feature.

DIMENSION CUT, BESPOKE SANDSTONE SOLID BLOCK WALLING FOR SANDSTONE RETAINING WALLS AND ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS

Dimension-cut solid block walling is also available from Gosford Quarries Sandstone. It is 100% customisable in thickness and height, colour, and finish.

Sandstone colour matching can be performed on-site, and GQ’s dimension-cut sandstone blocks are perfect as landscape retaining wall options, bringing more sophistication, eloquence, and formality to a project.

Custom Sandstone Walling can also be used for the foundations of buildings as it can be cut to any size, colour, and finish as nominated by the architect.

This is particularly sought after in the heritage sectors where matching existing materials and styles is essential.

Formal finishes allow heritage and high-end contemporary finishes to be applied to architectural sandstone projects. However, solid sandstone’s functionality, durability, beneficial properties, and customisability have made it a popular choice for both new and old projects. 

Gosford Quarries supplies quarry-sawn, rustic-looking blocks as well as custom-cut sandstone blocks (known as dimension-cut sandstone) to any shape, height, or width.

Sandstone is a perfect material for any kind of retaining wall: feature walls, sub-divisional retaining walls, boundary fences, or high-visual-impact feature walls.

These customised dimension sandstone blocks are perfect for foundation and feature walls, stair structures, seating areas, garden edging, small and large retaining walls and feature walls for contemporary sandstone houses and are available in a wide variety of colour ranges, finishes and styles.

Custom Sandstone Finishes such as rockface, sparrow pecked, split, and honed finishes can offer a more formal and structured appearance.

Due to its customised nature and the vast choice of colours, sandstone is the first choice of architects, landscapers, and homeowners for retaining walls. 

“We welcome you to come in and view our quality Australian sandstone products and to discuss your architectural imaginings with our expert team of advisors and specialists.”

Each of our sales yards is stocked with quality dimension-cut sandstone capping, blocks, paving, cladding, garden edging, retaining block walls, and so much more!

Our comprehensive range of dimension-cut sandstone is ideal for a wide variety of applications, including wall cladding and repairs, construction projects, and specialty restoration work.

Gosford Quarries has showrooms across three of the major states, New South Wales, Melbourne and Brisbane holding a cast range of stock items readily available for purchase.  We have Australia’s leading sandstone supplies for premier architects and landscaping architects to design and build memorable, unique and bespoke landscaping designs.

SPECIFYING SANDSTONE FOR YOUR NEXT ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT

Our sandstone experts at Gosford Quarries Sandstone can assist and support you in specifying any sandstone product to apply and match the vision of your architectural design.

Working closely with our team will ensure the integration of any unique and high-quality sandstone product you use with innovation and the individualistic ways you have imagined.

“Dealing with Gosford Quarries brings peace of mind, knowing everything in your sandstone project is executed with expert advice; a project that will withstand the test of time and remain a legacy to your creativity for many years to come.”

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