Quarried Stone in Skyrim is a resource that not many players have come across – at least, players who haven't tried out the Hearthfire DLC. As opposed to other minerals and ores players can get in Skyrim, Quarried Stone has only a limited number of uses. It's important in those uses, though, and players should plan to hoard it instead of selling it as vendor trash.
Getting Quarried Stone in Skyrim is not well explained in-game. Some Quarried Stone is included in chests near the game's three available homesteads, but it's also available to mine out in the open world at specific locations.
Updated July 7, 2023 by Erik Petrovich: In Skyrim Quarried Stone is a unique material only used for one of the game's many features: homebuilding. Quarried Stone is part of the Hearthfire DLC, which introduced the ability to construct homes on a few select patches of land across the continent. It's relatively easy to get, but it can be tedious to go around the world from mining node to mining node in hopes of getting enough for a project. For those who don't want to wait, this guide has been updated with a method that involves the developer console – but Skyrim purists who want to preserve the game's intended RPG mechanics should opt to pick up a pickaxe and use some elbow grease (and a map) instead.
What Is Skyrim Quarried Stone Used For?
Quarried Stone is a material used in constructing and upgrading homes in Skyrim, specifically build-it-yourself homes included with Hearthfire. These three homes are Heljarchen Hall in The Pale, Lakeview Manor in Falkreath, and Windstad Manor in Hjaalmarch. To earn the right to buy these homes in the first place players must complete a task for the Jarl of the Hold.
On each homestead property there is a small crafting area with a chest, a Drafting Table, and a Carpenter's Workbench. Quarried Stone is used at the Carpenter's Workbench when completing certain blueprints chosen at the Drafting Table. Not all upgrades in a homestead require Quarried Stone, but it's an important resource to keep on-hand as it's used in more than just the foundation.
Where To Find Quarried Stone In Skyrim
Quarried Stone is found in two distinct places in Skyrim: the chests near each homestead's Drafting Table and Carpenter's Workshop, and in Stone Quarries spread out throughout the province. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to buy Quarried Stone in Skyrim, it must be harvested or gathered from these chests.
The Stone Quarries found in the mountains and hills of Skyrim come back after a little while, but the supplies included with each Homestead are one-time-use only.
Method One: Drafting Table and Carpenter's Workshops
Each homestead has a chest with enough basic materials to complete the initial stages of house development near its Drafting Table and Carpenter's Workshop. These materials can be used in creating new features and rooms for the homestead while in this chest, so it's pretty convenient for inventory management.
The amount of Quarried Stone included in these chests is the same at each Homestead, so it doesn't matter which one you decide to settle at. If you manage to get all three, you can use the resources from the two you aren't planning to develop to get things done on your primary residence faster.
Method Two: Mining Stone Quarries
There are dozens of nodes throughout Skyrim, but the easiest ones to find are located close to each homestead. Heljarchen Hall's Stone Quarry is right next to the Carpenter's table. The Quarry at Lakeview Manor is next to the Smelter. At Windstad Manor, the mining node is right next to the Anvil just northeast of the property.
Out in the world, Stone Quarries can be found in mountains and near mines. The easiest spots to reach early on are the Battle-Born Farm or Embershard Mine, both of which have Stone Quarries that refresh after a few days.
To mine a Stone Quarry, make sure to have a Pickaxe in your inventory. If you want to skip the lengthy mining animation, equip the Pickaxe and just start swinging at the Quarry to get materials much faster. Pickaxes can be found all over Skyrim, but particularly around areas specifically called Mines or Caves. Take a closer look around mining nodes around Skyrim too, because pickaxes are normally found just nearby. Notch's Pickaxe, the Minecraft reference item found atop the Throat of the World, works just as well.
Method Three: The Developer Console
Players who really, really don't want to wait to get more Quarried Stone can use a different method. Only available to PC players, the Skyrim Command Console is a useful tool for players stuck on a glitch or who want to make the game much easier. Using this feature, players can change a lot of elements of the game's code – and can spawn items at will.
To open the Developer Console in Skyrim, press the tilde key (~) located on the top left of most keyboards. This will pause the game, and open a text box ready to accept a command. Type the following command in to get Quarried Stone for free.
- Player.AddItem XX00306C #
Replace the # above with the number of Quarried Stone you want to spawn. Depending on which version of Skyrim is installed, Quarried Stone requires a different set of numbers in place of the XX at the start of the ID code. The easiest way to see what the full code for Quarried Stone is in your game is to open the Skyrim Developer Console while a Quarried Stone is on-screen.
While the world is paused, click on the Quarried Stone with your cursor, which should highlight its specific ID code. Check the last six numbers of the code to confirm you have the right thing selected, and replace the XX with the first two numbers of this highlighted ID.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is available for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S