Installing joists in stone wallls

[La Guerriere]

This has been a most entertianing thread, with a lot of alternative ideas. I think a lot really depends on the nature of your stonework. Our place is made of of an arbitrary mixture of granite, limestone, and all sorts of metamorphic rubbish in between. Similarly the size seems to vary between about half-brick up to sodding great lumps of granite the size of a washing machine. You don't dig holes or remove these without a small tactical nuclear weapon. This is why I went for edge beams first. If your stonework is soft and/or comes in handleable chunks, chopping holes is definitely an option.... and as mentioned make reasonable working size holes, level and prop with acrows stuff holes with graduated bits of stone before glopping in the mortar. Enjoy.