Help deciding on color and type of blocks for small retaining wall
5 months ago
last modified: 5 months ago
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- 5 months ago
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XPOST - Help choosing retaining wall material
Comments (1)My choice would be brick. I just don't care for the other options. Good to see you removed the murdered crape myrtles. Why do people do that?!...See MoreHelp! Moss is eating my cinder block retaining wall.
Comments (6)If I'm seeing it correctly, it looks like the damage runs from about the stanchion to the right of the hose on the chain, to the stanchion two over to the left, the one about even with the house corner. Starting from the concrete stairs to the left, and the planter to the right, it's fine. What's causing the runoff in that middle section? That's the cause of the problem. Is there a flow of water when it rains coming past the hot tub and then down the wall? Does the roof there have gutters? Or does a downspout somewhere up to the right (in the direction of the ladder) empty on the concrete and then run down to the wall? One approach to consider is to divert water flow so that it doesn't run down the wall. Absent being able to do that, I'd have someone cut a slit in the concrete walkway and dig in and install a channel drain parallel to and maybe one or two feet inbound from the wall's edge. I'd empty it using some kind of a spout connection protruding from the wall. It looks like there's a break in the planters just under the stanchion at the left side of the damage, that might be a good place to put it (so that it doesn't flow into the planter area and flood it) ....See MoreHelp building retaining wall on a slope! 1st time builder need advice!
Comments (1)You will need to dig down so that the bottom of the wall (which is the bottom of the footing) is below the frost line. Maybe a regional forum could help you find out what frost depth is. A footing is like a nice thick sidewalk that is created for the wall to sit on. (8" thickness depth would be good. 6" might be OK.) You're building a retaining wall so keep in mind that it needs to be sturdier than a free-standing wall. A footing ought to protrude beyond the footprint of the wall itself, by about 8" all the way around. So that's a total width of 24". If the present excavation only allows for the wall, you would need to excavate farther into the hill, also allowing for the space occupied by the form work. The wall will not look good if the block slopes. Instead, it should be level and to control it's height, step it down with level changes as needed. The footing would step down, too, as needed, in 8" increments (or multiples thereof) to accommodate the block courses. You'll need to use wire mesh in between courses of block. For heft and strength, I would fill the cells of the block solid with concrete as it's built. (Retaining walls that are under built tip over with time. Also, you will need to embed rebar into the footing which turns upward into the wall itself, locking the two together and helping the wall to last. Search Google images for "CMU wall" and you'll be able to see all manner of examples and details. My instructions are general and you must reconcile them with local conditions....See Moreretaining wall help w/ pictures
Comments (6)Since this seems to be a pathway area, ultimately, the solution to erosion control and improved walking conditions would be some kind of paving. Where grass can't, or is not practical to grow, a shade tolerant ground cover is a better choice. I think this structure is low enough that you could more aptly call it a curb. I would not worry about drainage for it or drill any holes. I would accept it as it is, including whatever its life span turns out to be....See MoreRelated Professionals
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