Building a small retaining wall

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
I am about to begin building a small retinign wall/ landscaping wall in my back yard. Only about 3' tall, and nothing fancy just want to keep some of my yard from washing and try to "church it up" a little.

So any pointers and tips? This will be my first attempt so any tips and tricks would be greatly appreciated.
 
Make sure you have weep holes installed or the wall will come tumbling down eventually.
Water will get uphill of the all and you have to plan for it to come out, otherwise it will make is own way.
 
Are you using the blocks from somewhere like Lowes that overlap to the back and don't need mortar? If so, the main thing you need to do is make sure you start with a level, packed surface. They're pretty easy to work with. Go about 3 rows high and back fill. if you go too many rows high without backfilling, the wall will fall over backwards.
 
Make sure you back fill with gravel and not dirt or like Ron said the water will bring it all down.
 
Gravel backfill with a 4" perforated drain tile (hopefully draining to daylight).

More than that... kinda depends on what you're building the wall out of. I'd try to avoid going more than 3ft high, though. That's about the limit for a non-engineered wall.
 
there are some good retaining wall gurus on here. I've built enough to say I know a little but am no expert.

I've backfilled mine with a little gravel, no weep holes, 15 years later its still OK.

However, we did put some significant tie-backs in there to keep it up. I've seen poorly constructed walls fail in less than a year, and they were just 3 rail road ties high... I've seen 20' tall walls hold up for years. Proper construction is key. Google "retaining wall design" and "retaining wall construction" and you will find some good info...
 
Thanks guys.

I am planning on using the kind from Lowes that overlaps on the back. I am thinking of wrapping a corugated pipe with holes in it with a sediment cloth; laying that at the bottom, then back filling with gravel over the pipe. Would that take care of the water?
 
BigClay said:
Thanks guys.
I am planning on using the kind from Lowes that overlaps on the back. I am thinking of wrapping a corugated pipe with holes in it with a sediment cloth; laying that at the bottom, then back filling with gravel over the pipe. Would that take care of the water?
Click to expand...

yep, better yet, surround the pipe with rocks then the fabric. I've done drains in a 12" wide trench, laid the fabric along bottom and side, corrugated pipe on bottom center, then fill with about 12" deep rocks, cover with fabric, then dirt.

As said before, keep it level, keep checking the level as you go, and keep it level. Start you base slightly below grade. If you're building on a slope, some of your base course may end up 100%, or like 90% out of sight, hard to swallow at a few bucks a block, but it will look much better. Not sure if that makes sense, I'm at a loss to explain what I really mean here.
 
I'm about to embark on this myself, Clay. Let me know if you need a hand. I'd be glad to screw up your wall and take notes of what not to do on my own!

Seriously, though... I'd love to learn with you so let me know.
 
Honestly 3' you could probably backfill w/ just soil and be fine... (that is if your house's foundation isn't right up against the wall)..

3' is so simple... but i'd put a small column or stone behind the wall to get water out faster... a daylighted pipe is nice but I dont think it's a necessity w/ a 3' garden wall...

I believe over 4' requires it to be "engineered"....
 
I built a 100ft x2ft' max retaining wall not too long ago and it was a bear. With a 3ft retaining wall to prevent "wash out" you better bet the retaining wall is going to have a good bit of hydrostatic pressure on the back of it. If I were to build that wall I would level the ground with the low point of the wall plus 2-3" then fill that back up with compactable fill dirt to raise it back up the 2-3 inches. After that I would lay the foundation block and 1 level of wall block on top of that leaving the center or low point open. With the compactable fill dirt grade behind it ( I would have this 6-10" wide depending on the lenght of the wall) 3" over 10ft (I think that is the grade you need, might want to look that up.) Lay down filter fabric only covering about half of the fill dirt, add 1" of #57 or better yet #5 crushed stone (#5 is a bit larger but has less small sediment in it) then lay 4" corrigated pipe with the holes in it (forgot the name). After you have the pipe laid put a Tee in it and join the pipes from both sides at the low point. Again depending on how long the wall is and where is facing you have a few option: For a short wall facing forward I would dig a 1.5 ft deep trench 8" wide 6' long, lay filter fabric back fill with #5 crushed rock and cover. For a long wall I would do the same thing but make it longer and attach the same pipe to it to help draining. (both of these the length depends on soil type [drainablity {not so sure that is a word}]). For a wall facing away from the house/street just leave it open with landscaping to prevent errosion. After that building up goes just like everyone else said.

On another note, Depending on how long the wall is and if you use a riding lawn mower (or plan on putting something else heavy on it) I would use tie backs.
 
I install these for a living but alot taller and honestly the pave stone handout you get at lowes\homedepot will tell you everything you need to know about installing a 3ft or smaller wall. good luck and pm me if you have any questions.
 
Clay,
Rockcity, Renegade, and TJCrawler have the best advice here so far.
Use a level for each block, tilt them back into the hill just a smidgen, and keep the red dirt/mud off of them so they don't get stained.
 
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