That was a very interesting description of SRW step construction to minimize block cutting. Most of the good looking steps that I have seen in my area with the block available here has required a lot of cutting. No big thing for a contractor with the right equipment, but it gets the DIY folks in trouble. When I get asked by a local friend about a DIY wall with SRW block, the mention of steps is when I suggest they look at a different wall type. Every wall type has it's advantages. SRW construction has elements that favor a contractor and are often overlooked by a DIY'er. The lack of need for a footer and the simplicity of stacking blocks has sucked more than a few homeowners into a nightmare. In my opinion, a wall up to 50ft long, straight, with uniform height, with a flat top and not steped, not over 3ft high, is doable by a homeowner as a SRW. Here are some things I think a homeowner should consider before he starts. SRW requires an adequate base of compacted select fill. Be careful you know the quantity that will be needed. In my area, select fill can be had at the producer for 9 to $10.50 a cubic yard. Cheap for the contractor with a tax number and a truck. The homeowner buys from a retailer for triple the cost plus a delivery fee. Where will this material be dumped? Figure 5 yards to be about 12,000 lb. The contractor will move it to the wall location with a small piece of heavy equipment, and you have what? A wheelbarrow? You do know that you have to dig deep enough for the base and the first course of block, right? And don't skimp on the base width either! Sometimes there will be a spot where the ground has a soft spot, maybe due to a low area filled with topsoil when the lot was graded. The contractor will notice this and overdig the area to firm soil and backfill with base material. To get the base graded to perfection you need the right equipment and the knowledge to use it. The contractor will have an expensive laser or auto level to control the grade. And the base must be compacted. In this regard I know of no substitute for a plate compactor. You will need this equipment at all phases of the project and rental is expensive. You might better plan on buying one and selling after the project is completed. The precision needed in the base grading and the laying of the first course of block cannot be overstated. Homeowners should use a guide board along the front of the base that is secure and adjustable to one sixteenth of an inch. Good SRW doesn't use that lightweight block that will do a raised flower bed. Common block weights are 60 to 80 lb. Delivered on pallets where? I hope you like your wheelbarrow. And back surgery doesn't come cheap. There is real skill in screeding the thin layer of sand over the base to set the block on. As a beginner count on placing every block about five times to get it right. A good sweat and an aching back convince most homeowners it's "good enough". And the finished wall will scream homebuilt. The cap blocks give the wall a neat finished look. A contractor will have the equipment to both break and cut the block to achieve this. The homeowner has more expensive rental cost. Adding the detailed planning and custom work to incorporate steps is the straw that breaks the camel's back. And don't think you can call in a contractor to finish the job. He likely won't accept your work and you will pay him to remove what you did, including the base, to start from scratch.

Difficult to make the stones uniform thickness. That won't matter while they are placed here, but karma being what it is, you may want to install them some other place some day. Then they will be a B**** to install at that point, you can take it from me, whose parents made a paver slab patio poured in place with stones of very uneven thickness and un-flat bottoms. Because my parents did pebble designs in the slabs I was attached to them, took them to our new house for re-use. Am now coming to terms with taking them to concrete recycling :-) Moral of story: make bottoms flat, try to keep thickness uniform. Also, if you think these may ever be moved, even just to discard them, consider the weight as you increase the thickness. In your climate, you will also have to consider frost heave, especially if drainage is poor. Consult locally! KarinL

While technically I don't disagree with GG that adding ROCK to it will work and allow water to continue. It will slow the water and it won't prevent things from eventually sifting down toward the bottom of the trough and silting up the rocks. Cleaning it out then will be a royal pain. Given that when drainage apparati clog or stop working for unknown reasons, it can cause a lot of havoc. I would discourage doing anything that would diminish the water carrying capacity of the trough ... though I think it is not a well thought out solution. One thing we don't seem to know: Is this trough the SOURCE of water that runs through the pipe? Is it the COLLECTION POINT? If it is you could convert it to a normal yard drain which would be smaller and more easily maintained. It would require grading the watershed area that feeds it (which could be extremely small) to the drain. Again, since we're working with something that is not well thought out, we need to know what it is supposed to be doing before making changes. If it is so badly thought out that it is not really serving a genuine purpose, it could be removed. But we don't know that yet. Where is all the water that's going to enter this thing going to come from and how will it get in there? This must be SHOWN and explained, not just explained. I will add that this structure looks potentially dangerous to anyone who might not expect it.

You have settlement issues...this is usually covered under the 1st year warranty. Not sure about your new house warranty clause, but if this issue not covered under your new house warranty, hire a local landscaping company and have them fill in low spots and make sure you have proper grade pitched away from your house. This type of a settlement is common, and the builder is usually notified at the end of the 1st year... Just make sure you take care of this before the sidewalk starts to settle and that will cause a crack in it,