How To Build A Retaining Wall Out Of Concrete Blocks
Drive long wooden stakes into the ground at each end.
How to build a retaining wall out of concrete blocks. To create a solid foundation dig a trench for the first course of your interlocking retaining wall blocks to sit in and make sure the ground remains even throughout. Whether you re building a retaining wall or just need some extra privacy a cinder block wall is an affordable way to get the job done. There are materials as well but they don t last long. Materials tools and site.
Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding. Heavy retaining wall blocks the blocks we used in our demonstration weigh 14 pounds each keep the soil at bay with their weight. The interlocking retaining wall block can be used to build walls up to 24 to 36 inches high depending on the size of the block. But it takes skill and planning to construct an attractive wall that can also handle immense pressure shrug off the forces of gravity stand for decades and laugh in the face of mother nature.
Using a tape measure decide the length and the width of your retaining wall then mark off the area with the garden stakes and string. Retaining walls can be build of many different materials including wood timbers bricks or natural boulders. Once you ve got your base set up it just takes some finesse in building the wall up and turning corners. The wall we built was a weekend long project and an exhausting one at that.
A retaining wall must provide a way to release the water that builds up in the slope behind it. Without a pressure relief system the weight of the water in the soil would crack or even buckle the wall. How to build a concrete wall prep work. It took a day to rip out the old collapsing retaining wall to dig farther into the hill to provide room for the backfill gravel and to help unload materials.
The success of your retaining wall depends on a level base. Follow the block manufacturer s instructions for wall height limits. But for diyers retaining wall blocks made of concrete are the best solution. The retaining wall can be made from concrete blocks poured concrete treated time boulders and rocks.
Block retaining walls are generally the same as freestanding block walls but with a few important differences. Using a shovel mark the ground where the retaining wall will be built.