How To Build A Retaining Wall

The building and construction of retaining wall may look complicated, but given the right tools and help from your neighbourhood you could actually shape and build up your own retaining wall. Among the common retaining wall materials are stone (natural and precast), bricks, concrete, hard wood, steel, or railroad ties. The material to use depends on the purpose of your retaining wall. That is to say you need bigger stone blocks or concrete masonry if you're leveling a steep sloping yard, and you need smaller stone blocks if you're only building a garden retaining wall.


Here's how to build a retaining wall for a raised flower bed.

1. Outline the shape of your garden retaining wall: circular, rectangular, rectangular with curved edges or what have you.

2. Mark your outline with a spray paint or stake and ropes and measure the dimension.

3. Take the measurement to your favorite construction store and order your customized pre-cast concrete stone block with lip lock system that conforms to the shape of your retaining wall when assembled.

4. Dig about 12 inches deep trench ensuring that it’s as level as possible. Lay leveling sand or patio paver base in the trench compacting it with hand packer to ensure a level solid base. Use your ground leveling tool to check if the solid base is perfectly leveled.

5. Lay each base row blocks ensuring that it's flat using a carpenter's level. Repeat the process until all base row blocks are laid before checking the level again with a ground level to check if it's aligned and perfectly flat. Perfectly leveling the base row saves you time later when you're laying the top rows.

Tip: Knock the flange off using a chisel and a mallet for the base blocks for easy leveling.

6. Lay the top rows with the joints staggered with the lower row. You may need to cut a block in half using a masonry wet saw to make this happen. Ensure that the lip at the back of the block interlocks with the top of the lower row. Lay all the top rows to achieve the desired height of your flower bed and - voila - you just built your garden retaining wall.

Tip: Install a perforated pipe for a higher retaining wall to ensure proper drainage of your flower bed.

Building a retaining wall is made easier with pre-cast stone blocks you can buy from landscaping or home improvement stores. Now, there's no excuse why you can't add a focal point in your garden with a retaining-wall-raised flower bed.

How to Build and Install a Retaining Wall


 

Retaining Wall News:

 

Builder lacked permit for failing retaining wall (AP via Yahoo! News)
The developer of a San Antonio neighborhood where a landslide threatens about a dozen homes concedes it lacked a permit for a nearly 1,000-foot long retaining wall that began crumbling Sunday...


Friends, family pay homage to fallen Mormon missionaries
McKay Burrows spent four Saturdays constructing a 10-foot-tall retaining wall for a church campsite in the American Fork Canyon area...


Why Would Anyone Buy a Pulte Home in Texas?
In San Antonio over 25 homeowners have felt the devastation from buying a new home in Texas, this time from Pulte Homes...


Usher in Week Two for Hills of Rivermist Evacuees
Homeowners displaced by that landslide face more time living out of a suitcase. It's week two of living in a hotel for evacuated residents of Hills of Rivermist...


Homes evacuated in San Antonio as hill crumbles - Washington Post

Boston Globe

Homes evacuated in San Antonio as hill crumbles
Washington Post
Gaping crevices, some 15 feet deep, cut across several yards as dirt cascaded into a towering stone retaining wall that nearly split in half. .
Engineers Watch Texas Homes for More Moving SoilABC News
Evacuations Ordered As The Ground Shifts In Texas NeighborhoodKWTX
Builder lacked permit for failing retaining wallSan Francisco Chronicle
Houston Chronicle -BusinessWeek -Dallas Morning News
all 817 news articles »
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Retaining wall not built to engineering specifications
The retaining wall that collapsed last week and jeopardized a neighborhood built by Centex Homes was built with less mortar than what engineering plans called for, according to city officials who inspected the wall Friday. ...



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