The Art of Slipforming

(Page 9 of 9)

December/January 1996
By Thomas J. Elpel 
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It may seem odd to use such a wide trowel when so many of the mortar joints are less than an inch wide, but there are also wider joints, and this one tool works for them all. We fill the joints with cement, then press the trowels back in at an angle along the edges of the rocks; this highlights the individual stones while bulging out the center of the mortar joints. Of course there are many styles of grouting, and you should practice on an out-of-the-way part of the wall until you find a technique you like.

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Grouting can be excruciatingly slow, but it is a process I have learned to enjoy. Too often we rush, rush, rush from one project to another, but grouting cannot be rushed. You may spend an entire day grouting an 8-by-10-foot section of wall, but it is meditative work. You will have time to reflect on your dreams and how to continue achieving them in the most effortless ways. You may ultimately save more time on all your other projects than you actually spent staring at the wall doing the grouting! Then, at the end of the day, you may step back and blink, realizing that your castle walls are finished, and it really did not take all that long after all!

Thomas and Renee Elpel own and operate Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School in Pony, Montana. The school conducts seminars on stone masonry and other alternative construction techniques as well as classes on primitive living skills. For more information about the school, write them care of HOPS, Box 691, Pony, MT 59747-0691.

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