Comments | gardening: Stone (or Concrete Block) Retaining Walls

razorcat in gardening

Stone (or Concrete Block) Retaining Walls - Any tips would be great.

May 05, 2012 21:24

I am in the process of moving a huge amount of dirt in place around the foundation of my house. I have had a spontaneous desire to put in a stone retaining wall in the front facing the street. About 12-18 inches high I think. It will meander slightly ( Read more... )

landscaping, location: canada, recommendations, garden planning, garden method: raised beds, zone: canadian 5, zones: canadian, garden style: rock

Comments 25

razorcat May 7 2012, 01:29:47 UTC

Here's a picture of my neighbors wall:

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rainarana May 7 2012, 02:07:27 UTC

What are your plans with the gutter and what is that pipe next to the steps? I would probably cut the gutter off flush with the wall to disguise it somewhat. Have you asked your neighbors how they did theirs? I asked my boyfriend to look at what you wanted to do and his opinion was to build a wood form and pour just enough concrete on top of the gravel and sand to make it level which would make it much easier to lay the bricks. But . . . he's a carpenter so he can do that kind of thing in his sleep, whereas most people, not so much. There are ways of making sure that gravel and sand are level if you google around. Also, my thought is to get crushed gravel which will still allow for drainage but because it's crushed will be easier to smooth out. It may be hard to see, but that's what we used on the walkways, on top of regular gravel, and you can smooth it right out.

Cute house BTW. I love brightly painted houses. Ours is deep blue with deep red trim.

the_seraphine May 10 2012, 19:02:41 UTC

Hubby and I are in a similar boat. We are replacing the old (wooden, telephone-cross-beam) retaining wall in the backyard of our new home, with a Belgard Celtik interlocking concrete block retaining wall system. This is our first large project on our new home (first-time home buyers), and this is our first time building a retaining wall. The system comes with installation instructions and we are doing all of the install ourselves.

Below are some photos of the old wooden wall:

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razorcat May 13 2012, 02:24:47 UTC

Thank you everyone who responded to this! I learned from/ and was encouraged by you all and started building the wall on Wednesday. Weather permitting, it will be done tomorrow. I love it and will post a show & tell entry soon. :)

Thank you again!

the_seraphine May 15 2012, 22:03:51 UTC

Very much looking forward to seeing your wall! =)

Have a great day.