Retaining walls

Larry · April 02, 2008, 05:59:25 PM

I'm thinking about building a retaining wall or maybe two retaining walls with a terrace in between. Height would be in the range of 4 to 6 feet. The wall needs to be attractive and functional. Does anybody have recommendations as to the best brand, type, or system? The only thing I know about them is the blocks are DanG heavy.

Tom · April 02, 2008, 10:18:38 PM

The retaining walls (bulkheads) around here are mostly timber. They are either driven posts or horizontal timbers bolted to driven posts. Both styles have "deadmen" buried behind them to keep the pressure from pushing them out.

I wouldn't know where to start with a rock wall.

Don_Papenburg · April 02, 2008, 10:30:05 PM

Tom . Rock walls , The best place to start is just below the bottom. A good footing below frost line. I like mortared stone walls as opposed to drystack for my area.

Handy Andy · April 02, 2008, 10:41:07 PM

If you're talking those manufactured blocks for retaining walls, they usually have half day schools where you learn all the techniques. I attended one and built a wall about 4' tall for a daylight basement once. Basically you dig in a footing, pour it full of rock, compact the rock and then stack the blocks up, backfilling with loose rock as you go. WHat keeps the retaining wall from being forced over when you get a lot of rain is the fact that the water can drain away by flowing through the rock backfill and footer. You don't use any concrete and the walls are pretty permanent, although kind of expensive. Shop for the best deal, as a few cents counts up when you buy a thousand or so blocks. Jim

mad dog · April 03, 2008, 06:58:18 AM

I built a rock wall about 15 years ago its tayperd back .Start by removing the top soil ,use big rocks for the base,the flatter the better,have good drainage in the back,speaking of back its gonna hurt.

OneWithWood · April 03, 2008, 10:51:35 AM

Larry,
I built a rather large retaining wall some years back. It is 4' high with a total length of about 60'. I started by pouring a footer below the frost line, I bought the stone when it was on sale at the local box store. The stone is really formed conrete with a coloring agent. Get the ones that have a ledge on the back bottom so when you stack them the ledge helps you maintain a good slant (for the wall face not the individual stones) and provides some grip to prevent push out. Definately back fill as you go with crushed stone. You know to alternate your stones so I don't need to say that ;) I bulit the entire wall in two afternoons. Back only hurt for a week or two and then only when I breathed. :D The wall is still standing just fine.

Larry · April 03, 2008, 05:10:31 PM

I'm thinking along the lines of what Jim and OWW mentioned. Searched the internet and came up with a company by the name of Allan Block. They had a lot of info and how to on there website. Strange but the blocks are made in a huge plant about 10 miles from me...the plant is called Basic Block. They gave me a price of $5.00/sf (one block). Lot cheaper than the box stores but don't know how it compares with anybody else. They gave me a DVD to watch, so were gonna watch movies tonight.

mike_van · April 03, 2008, 05:55:58 PM

Larry, here's one I did behind our house, it took me about 6 years. Every summer I'd do 15 to 20 ft. or so, The corner in the first pic. is about 8' tall, so I made it in 2 steps, 4' & 4'. It goes out of sight behind the house. Not recomended if you need one right away! It's faced with broken bluestone, just the edge. the bases are 18" wide, taper to 12" at the top. Solid brick [cemented] back, cement & fill in the middle. It's holding back a sandbank that used to keep caving in towards the house. I really enjoyed doing it -

We use the fireplace to cook on, sit around, etc.

I wish I got a dollar an hour to build it - :D

The little black boxes are lights.

beenthere · April 03, 2008, 06:01:49 PM

That really looks good....is the slate from a local quarry?

Looks like it would be a great place for kids to play...

Can see the enjoyment of the fireplace too. 8)

Larry · April 03, 2008, 07:16:13 PM

Mike, I really like your work...wanta side job? We are building a house on a hillside with bedrock about 3' down. One day I want to put a retaining wall on the uphill side of the house and the next day put it on the downhill side and fill. Trying to balance cost, aesthetics, and how much this old back can lift.

mike_van · April 03, 2008, 07:19:18 PM

Not slate, bluestone - The patio stone on the ground in the first picture, comes from NY state, out around Hancock. What we call slate here comes from Vermont. They sell pallets of the broken stuff, edges broke off, etc. A lot of it today is sawn instead of snapped, I didn't want the sawn smooth edge to show, so I learned how to snap edges. Kind of like cutting glass, but bigger tools. A lot of the pieces showing are only 2" wide, The thinner the stone, the easier it snaps. The cement behind hold them all n. Larry, this wasn't to bad on my back, as the pieces weren't heavy.