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Block Retaining Wall for Landscaping

February 26, 2011 By pohowtol

Article by Trevor I Smith

We often need to layer our yards with block retaining walls to make use of flat areas for lawns and garden beds. One of the easiest methods is by using block retaining walls.

These blocks can be used to create retaining walls for holding back earth as well as forming the edges of garden beds. A new form of block is called the link block and generally comes in two sizes. Around 200mm in width and 300mm in width. Both are normally around 100mm in height and around 150mm to 200mm in depth. Weighing from 2kg to 12kg they can form a solid barrier for retaining earth. They also have small slots for allowing water to pass between the blocks which is very important for drainage.

These blocks can cost between .00 and .00 per block, and often come either loosely purchased from a landscaping supplier or on pallets delivered directly from the manufacturer.

The home handyman can build a retainer wall and garden edges easily with these types of blocks. It is important to make sure you have a solid base of cement or even crusher dust material compacted to form a non-organic basis for the blocks. Using a string line tied between two points guides the laying of the blocks to form a perfect straight line. Walking back from the wall a distance can also allow you to compare levels with lines of house bricks or house guttering when ensuring the blocks are layed in a level position.

A feature I like to use is the house brick / house roof tile color scheme. This method uses the two different colors from the house for the two different color choices for the link blocks. For example, if my house bricks are a cream color, and my roof tiles are blue/charcoal in color, then I buy 1 layers worth of link blocks in the blue/charcoal color to match the roof tiles (as this will form the top layer of blocks), and all of the other required layers of bricks in the cream color. This works really well in matching the house colors.

Note that I use gloves when handling the link blocks as they will always slide and rub your skin away when you have been handling hundreds, if not, thousands of blocks! Other tools you may like to use include a small level and mallet to place the link blocks accurately in place.

About the Author

Trevor has been writing articles for websites for several years now. Not only does this author specialize in home handyman tips, information technology and certifications, you can also check out his latest website over at http://www.tektronixreview.info which helps people find the best tektronix oscilloscopes for those interested in high quality oscilloscope products.

The Nuts n Bolts of building a retaining wall.
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All You Need To Know About A Retaining Wall

February 26, 2011 By pohowtol

Article by Jayden Solle

A retaining wall is a structure designed and built to resist horizontal pressure of soil when there is a change in ground elevation. There are mainly four different types of retaining walls: a gravity wall, sheet piling wall, cantilevered wall and an anchored wall. Gravity walls rely on their weight to withstand pressure from behind and so are usually made out of cement, stone or other heavy material. It is important to use a very strong material as it will have to resist a high amount of force from the soil. A gravity wall will often have a small setback to enhance stability. Sheet pile retaining walls are usually used in soft soil and tight spaces. They’re usually made out of steel, wooden planks or vinyl and are pushed into the soil. Cantilevered walls use much less material compared to gravity walls: they’re built in the form of an upside down T and are usually made from an internal stem of steel-reinforced, cast-in-place cement or mortared masonry. They are used to cantilever loads to a large, structural footing, transforming horizontal pressures from behind the wall to vertical pressures on the surface below. An anchored wall is similar to all three the above mentioned walls and can be built in any way similar to the abovementioned walls. However, an anchored wall needs additional strength in order to resist the necessary forces. The additional strength will be achieved by adding cables that will stay anchored in the rock or soil behind the wall. This wall is very useful where high loads are expected, or where the wall itself has to be slender and would otherwise be too weak.

So you just bought your dream home: everything is exactly the way you wanted it. The location is perfect for raising children, the house is large enough and the monthly payments aren’t too bad either. There’s just one small problem: your garden is a complete mess. There are no trees or plants in sight; you cannot even see if there have ever been plant beds and some areas have a natural sloping, making it a much bigger challenge to create your ideal garden. How will you fix this mess? Well, other than employing a lawn specialist, you can install a retaining wall in the areas where the level of the land changes. This can create useful flat areas for you to use, as well as prevent erosion.

Building a retaining wall can be quite a challenge. You have to choose the right height, width and material to ensure that it will be able to withstand the forces caused by soil elevation. Building a retaining wall as a DIY project is probably not wise. You need to consider frost heave, pressure from wet soil and the impact of heavy objects close to the wall. When wet soil freezes in cold weather, the soil can push the wall upward and cause it to split. The soil above your wall can become waterlogged after heavy rain, which will cause it to sink or slip away. This can be prevented by the installation of waterflow and drainage pipes in the wall. Placing heavy objects near the wall could cause it to break down, due to the added pressure on the soil.

All these factors need to be considered before even thinking of building a wall yourself. If I may offer you advice, rather get a specialist to build it, or at least ask them to direct you in the right direction.

About the Author

For more information on retaining wall, go to http://www.bosun.co.za

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Building a Retaining Wall

February 26, 2011 By pohowtol

Article by Manzoor

Retaining walls are usually used for preserving landscaped areas. Retaining walls serve as purposes for practical construction, from giving vertical edges for sloped areas to supporting level areas. If there is a sloping backyard that risk of getting collapse soon, then a retaining wall is the best option for increasing strength. It will help in preserving the area and utilizing it for functional purposes.

Variety of materials can be used to build retaining walls, the most common are wood, concrete and tiles. Even though basically used as functional elements in a landscape, these walls can also be made of more eye catching elements like colored bricks, stone and timber.

Materials Needed
- Concrete
- Wooden stakes
- Gravel
- Scaping fabric
- Interlocked landscaping stones
- Land
Tools Needed
- Brick chisel
- Framing square
- Pickaxe
- Masonry twine
- Wheelbarrow
- Shovel
- Mattock
- Torpedo level

Procedure
1. Excavation and Layout – The task should be started by excavating the area where the proposed retaining wall needs to be located. It has to be ensured that the soil is graded on the downhill section. The wooden stakes have to be drilled into the downhill side and the masonry twine should be stretched across the stakes.

2. The Footing Trench – A trench has to be dug out on the upper side of the wall. It should be filled with variety of colored stones and then it is to be leveled with the help of a rake. The stones should be compacted together with a tamper.

3. The First Course – The first base of concrete should be laid out on the stones. A torpedo level can be used for this purpose for ensuring that the concrete is in level on all sides. All the remaining concrete units have to be laid out while leveling the stones at the same time. This step can be fairly dangerous, so the protective work gloves should be worn at all times.

4. Cutting the First Block – For ensuring improved grip and placeholders for the vertical joints, the first block of every even numbered row has to be cut into halves with a brick chisel and sledgehammer.
5. The Second Course – When the first block of all the even numbered rows have been cut, the next step is to lay out the second row of concrete units. Each block has to be stepped back by a few inches for ensuring a minor slope backwards.

6. Backfilling – As the height of the wall will increase, it has to be made sure to fill down the soil behind it. While the back portion of the wall has been filled with soil, it is also necessary to support its strength with an additional material such as cement. This additional support is always needed for walls that reach certain heights.

7. Final Grading – The trench has to be filled with crushed stones on the uphill part of the constructed wall. It should be topped with soil until it reaches a few inches above the final level of the wall. Preferably, the gradient of the soil and the crushed stones should be gently sloping downwards.

Caution and Tips
- If you are planning to build the wall by yourself, then ready-made interlocking blocks should be selected.
- The minimum depth of the trench should be ½’ and it should be wider than the size of an interlocking block.
- The trench should be refilled immediately after the foundation layer is completed.

About the Author

You might also want to learn how to build a retaining wall and how to build a chaise lounge.

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