About 2005 I had to use retaining wall block to level out an area for our barn. We had a deal with HD at the time where they gave us 10% off whatever we bought for the house so that is where we bought the block. I forget the name of the block but it came from a large company based in NC.
We looked at the HD block and products from other sources. I read their installation instructions which were very helpful. As has been said, I was limited to a wall 3-4 feet tall unless an engineer got involved. The instructions covered drainage, height, slope, fabric use if needed, etc.
The installation is pretty easy. The hardest and most time consuming part is the first layers of blocks. Getting the first layer level is hard. But once the first layer is finished the rest go in as quick has you can move the heavy blocks.
Per the instructions, I used the backhoe and made a trench which I filled with ABC gravel. ABC is road base in NC. It compacts well but I would have been better off using a more uniform gravel to help level the first row of blocks. I have at least one or two rows of blocks below grade. The wall might be close to 2-3 feet tall on the highest side including the buried block. The wall has not move in six years.
I used ABC to back fill and level out the ground behind the retaining wall. I pre dug post footers along the center line of the space in case we ever build a proper barn and nee posts. When I did this I hit some water.
The wall has not moved even with freezing temperatures.
The blocks are heavy so beware. I blew out my back a second time building the wall. I really was not healed from the first back injury but the wall needed to be built so we could get some storage. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do some times.
I had our block delivered along with a bunch of other heavy, bulky material. I think it was $50-75. They had my load on a semi flat bed. We had 6 or so pallets of retaining wall block and edgers plus other stuff. The blocks were at least 4,000 pounds per pallet. My F350 could not handle the load. The driver would have placed the pallets near the work site but I had him put them in a spot easier for him and out of the way for me.
Later,
Dan
