Retaining walls and patio

[Muhammad]

Are you using filter fabric over your gravel to keep it clean and free draining. All precast retaining walls sold in Ohio are good for 4 ft of height with no additional engineering

Yeah we'll use the fabric over the gravel before topsoil backfill.

A wall height of 3-4 feet seems to slide under the radar for engineering and residential permitting in most areas, which I assume is because a failure of a 4 foot wall with no building or slope below or immediate surcharge above (aside from earth), isn't likely to cause too much trouble. That's the way I see it anyway.

 

[Muhammad]

Pretty uneventful block stacking at this point. Backfilling everything by hand, at least up to the third course. Might just build up everything and then backfill with a bobcat all at once later in the week. Still have the long straight section to do.

 

[Citydude]

Pretty uneventful block stacking at this point. Backfilling everything by hand, at least up to the third course. Might just build up everything and then backfill with a bobcat all at once later in the week. Still have the long straight section to do. View attachment 682156View attachment 682157View attachment 682158View attachment 682159View attachment 682160

Very nice looking wall! Skip the Bobcat, get some exercise

 

[Muhammad]

We got some more exercise today.

It's not perfect but probably 90% level.

5 more pallets of blocks coming in on Friday.

Although it's tough work, it's a fun project.

 

[BackRoad]

That's a lot of blocks, and more on the pallets...

Love to see the progress photos!

Looking good!

 

[Firemanbuck]

It's not just the 4 feet of cut soil you're retaining, but also the slope above which is adding a surcharge. This needs to be taken into account when calculating the active pressure of the soil acting on the wall. It will be a nice looking wall for several years, but if you don't at least have a batter to the masonry courses and have reduced the geogrid, it will likely rotate outward and topple over time. Also, gravel for structural purposes (angular) is far different from gravel used for drainage (rounded).
/engineering geologist

 

[Muhammad]

It's not just the 4 feet of cut soil you're retaining, but also the slope above which is adding a surcharge. This needs to be taken into account when calculating the active pressure of the soil acting on the wall. It will be a nice looking wall for several years, but if you don't at least have a batter to the masonry courses and have reduced the geogrid, it will likely rotate outward and topple over time. Also, gravel for structural purposes (angular) is far different from gravel used for drainage (rounded).
/engineering geologist

Yeah that's the difference between a DIY stacked wall with $5k worth of materials and a fully engineered wall with a soil test for $35k. Around here, there are probably 50 similar "home depot block" walls within a mile that serve more of an aesthetic purpose than a permanent structural wall. We're fortunate here to have a very mild climate with only a short rainy season, albeit heavy last year. So yes you're right but it just wasn't in the scope for this project.

 

[dougtrr2]

I had to rebuild my wall as it was beginning to lean after many years, even with geogrid. Teardown was a pain, but just as you found, once you start building up it is rewarding, tiring, but rewarding. I did enlist the help of the oldest grandson (15). I was able to use my BX24 for most of the block and material moving. There was some travel time on the material movement and the timing worked out well. The grandson was a great help, but he had a lot more enthusiasm for the tractor work vs the shovel work.

Doug in SW IA

 

[deezler]

Wall is looking good! I used the exact same type of block for ~20' long retaining walls on the east and west sides of my earth-bermed house. Mine are holding strong after 5 years now. I didn't have to go quite as high as you, though.

My only real concern is that you decided to keep the faces flush/straight, instead of using the rear pin locations for some set-back on each course. Mostly an aesthetic consideration, sure, but staggering them back as you go up should increase strength, better resist toppling over, and at least hide the visual impact if it does start to push out a little bit over time.

 

[EddieWalker]

I really like how it looks. I don't have any experience or knowledge about retaining walls and I'm enjoying seeing pictures of yours coming together.