concrete retaining wall ?

[scesnick]

I recently built a pole garage and now I need a 4 ft. retaining wall on one side of it. I was going to go with simple railroad ties but I can't gather up enough good used ones. I have a ton of 12" and 10" cinder blocks left over from when I built my house so I decided to use them up.
I know with the RR ties That a deadman is a rather simple thing to do. But, how do you tie in a deadman with concrete blocks? actually a better question is what do you use to do it?

 

[Egon]

Is this retaining wall to help support the barn or to keep material away from the barn?

 

[patrick_g]

...or keep material from washing away from or out from under the barn?

Butress

You can build an intersecting section of wall tied to the main wall using plenty of rebar. This intersecting wall can taper down in height as it gains distance from the main wall.

Also provide drainage so that no water is trapped on the uphill side of the wall as the hydrostatic pressure distributed over the large surface area generates large forces which can damage or topple the wall.

patrick_g

 

[scesnick]

I had to dig out the side of a small hill to level off a place for my garage. Now I just have a dirt hill beside my garage ( where I dug out the side of the hill)
It look terrible and I just need a simple retaining wall to hold the dirt back.
I will also be parking my truck above this wall also. so I'm pretty sure I will need somekind of "deadman" to strengthen it.

 

[dfkrug]

How high is the wall? You have lots of choices. You could
buy the interlocking retaining wall blocks. Each subsequent
course locks behind the previous one. You could do a soldier
pile wall with columns set into holes about the same depth as
your wall is high. These columns can be PT wood, I-beams, or
concrete-filled sonotubes. Set PT wood behind the columns.
You can also use concrete blocks and tie back each course using
plastic mesh secured inside the blocks with rebar and grout. You
can use that orange plastic stuff used for temporary fencing.

Note that bldg codes require that the wall needs to be engineered
and inspected if the total height is over 4 feet, including foundation,
is you have one.

 

[scesnick]

dfkrug,

I measured the hill today and it only goes about 3 feet at the tallest. I have ALOT of left over 10"and 12" cinderblocks left over from building my house that I want to use since they are just sitting there doing nothing. I am just wondering if a simple cinder block wall would be strong enough or is there some way to incorporate a "deadman" into it when I use cinder block.

 

[dfkrug]

You can grout the blocks and use the mesh I mentioned. This would
be a continuous tieback or deadman. 3-ft is not high, so grouting the
blocks and putting the mesh betw top 2 courses would be plenty. Extend
the mesh back 6 ft or so into your backfill area.

 

[Farwell]

I have a 3 foot plus cinder block retaining wall next to one of my barns that has been there for a couple of years. So far it has been great. I do not have any dedman or tiebacks. I have 4 inch perforated drain pipe covered with felt and 12 inch wide by 24 inches high crushed rock, with a foot of dirt above that. I coated the dirt side with foundation coating (the black tar like stuff) and put plastic sheeting against the block after the coating dried.
It looks good and have not had any problems with cracking or movement.
Farwell

 

[EddieWalker]

Scesnick,

Three feet aint much, and since you have lots of block, you might as well use them.

If it was me, I'd first drill, or dig some holes into the ground under the place you want the wall. I'd go down two feet minimum and three would be better, but that's just my guess and what I'd do. Then I'd put one stick of half inch rebar in there so it's at the height of your wall.

Depending on how long you want the wall, I'd space out the holes with rebar every 4 to six feet.

Then when you lay you block with mortor, just fill the hole that has the rebar in it with concrete. Readi mix would be fine.

I've seen plenty of block retaining walls that crack and bow out because only mortor was used. The concrete and rebar will give it some strength.

Eddie

 

[CurlyDave]

Eddie's suggestion has a lot of merit.

The absolutely best way is to pour a foundation, with rebar and L-shaped pieces of rebar you put into the holes in the block. Fill with concrete and you are in business.

Another way to do this, if you have lots of block, is to build a zig-zag wall. Tie it together with rebar, both horizontal and vertical, and again fill with concrete and it will do quite nicely. I would think about zigs & zags about 4' long.

Drain rock behind the wall is very important.

 

[scesnick]

hey, thanks for all the great info. I was thinking about the rebar that Eddie suggested and I think that is the way I will be doing it. I'm guessing besides concrete in the holes with the rebar I will most certainly need a concrete footer also.

 

[Farwell]

My retaining wall was built like Eddie described. When I wrote about mine earlier I left out the footing and rebar part.
Farwell

 

[EddieWalker]

Scesnick,

Yes, you will need to pour a concret footing. Sorry, I was sort of vague on all the details on how I'd do it. I was just trying to get across the main point of digging the hole and filling it with concrete with rebar going throght the middle of the block.

Step one will be to drill your holes. The trick here is to make sure they line up with your block. You can bend and fudge the rebar a little, but idealy, you want it in the middle of the block. One piece of half inch rebar is plenty for such a short wall.

Next, you will need to build your forms to give you a level footing for the block to sit on. 2x4 are plenty thick enough for this.

Run a stick of rebar down the middle of the form and tie it to each piece of rebar that you have in the holes that are sticking up.

Two ways to make this stronger is you want, but at three feet, it's not all that big of a wall, so it's your call.

First is to decrease the distance between your holes and vertical rebar spacings. The closer together they are, the stronger it will be.

Second is to lay a stick of 3/8 rebar along the top of your second row of block the length of the wall and tie it to the vertical pieces of half inch rebar.

Run a string along the top edge of your block as you're laying them to keep it straight and level. If you go slow and only mix small quantities of morter, you can do a great job. It's when you try to do too much, or go too fast that you end up with a crooked or sloping wall. Brick and block are miserable things to work with to get a nice finish, but the results can be amazing if you just go slow and make sure each one is perfect before moving on to the next.

Hope this helps,
Eddie

 

[scesnick]

Eddie,
Thanks for the advice. That sounds like the ticket. I will let you know how it went. thanks again.