now i am thinking flint for my plinths.

[robgil]

i am still sat here thinking about these plinths for under my clay lump walls, i am now thinking , what about flint rubble type plinths? can i buy flint rubble? would this be more fitting for a suffolk cottage do you think?

 

[essexbearhunter]

Unknapped field flints can certainly be bought.

Last summer EBAY had quite a few tons on offer (perhaps the result of people over-ordering for their projects) - many going for tiny sums to get rid of them.

The longer & more nobbly they are, the more structurally useful they become, rather like a pile of inter-locking dog bones. The ones least suitable are the smooth, round ones which look very decorative but have all the stability of a pile of ball bearings. Building using the latter places great reliance on the mortar/cement.

Having said that, if you like doing a 3D jigsaw...moving un-mortared stones around till one naturally locks to another, then applying a dab of mortar to secure them....is a really satisfying way of building. To find out whether it is suitable for your locality just look around you.

 

[robgil]

i shall keep an eye on e bay. i had a go at dry stone walling many years back when i was a lad , well i helped someone have a go and it was really satisfying , especially when the wall didnt fall down afterwards.

 

[Penners]

The longer & more nobbly they are, the more structurally useful they become, rather like a pile of inter-locking dog bones.

What an excellent simile!

 

[Flyfisher]

Flint is certainly an authentic building material in East Anglia and one of the country's most important historical flint mining areas is preserved at Grimes Graves. It's still widely used for building work, although I'm not sure of the best sources these days.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimes_Graves