jim_wilson
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2004
- Messages
- 1,781
- Location
- Northeast MA
- Tractor
- Kubota B3200 w/ BH77 & 12", 18" & 24" buckets, Kubota B50 SSQA w/ 54" & 60" buckets, LandPride FDR1660, Artillian Fork frame, Extreme 3pt rake, Concrete Mixer, MyTractorTools grapple adapter
I'm wondering if anybody here might have some suggestions on how to do this properly.
First off - I live in MA, so the reason why I'm asking this question is because I want to make sure I do the install properly to avoid freezing damage.
Second: I understand the basic rules for installing stuff around here to avoid frost heaving : the base must go down below the frost line
but - I guess I'm sort of confused because I see some things around here built with no real base that goes below the frost line - but they do last for decades without being destroyed by the winters. Stone walls and granite curbing along the streets being two of the most common ones.
The project: I acquired a stock of what was supposed to be granite curbing (odds and ends) - from a local quarry that was going out of business. What I want to use them for is to build a short retaining wall (no higher than about 2ft high exposed at it's highest part) - along the back part of my property line so I can then raise the grade of my back yard and make it more level.
This wall will start at about 2ft high - run for about 75ft or so and end flush with grade. The blocks are about 3ft long x 12 to 18 inches high. Along the highest part of the wall I will stack them two high - and I've gotten a number of recommendations from stoneworkers and masons about how to bond the stacked blocks together, with the most common recommendation being to use some of the new epoxies that are out there.
Behind this I would then backfill the yard up to level of the top of the new wall.
To prevent the pressure from the backfill eventually toppling the wall - I was planning on building up some concrete on a taper (thinner at the top wider at the base) behind the granite blocks to keep the pressure from the ground being able to eventually topple the blocks. I was thinking some sort of waterproof barrier along the face of this concrete would help prevent water intrusion and the freeze/thaw cycle destroying the thing eventually.
My biggest question is: what should I be doing for a base under all of this? I ask about granite curbing installs - because every one I've seen around here basically just lays the curbing down in a concrete base maybe 6 inches thick - the curbing itself extends maybe 12" below grade if you're lucky - so there's no way the base under the curbing extends below the frost line. I see the same thing with stone walls built around here. They typically only go below ground a foot or maybe two if they guy doing the wall wants to spend a lot of money.
Do I just have to get down deep enough to get below the organic layers of soil and that should be good enough? I know there's a nice hard layer of packed hard sandy gravel/clay (no organics at all) - about a foot and half down on this property. The topsoil and the layer directly underneath (that has some organics in it) - is probably a foot to two feet deep.
Dig up the organics - put down a base of 3" trap rock or something like that - and just put the wall on top of that?
First off - I live in MA, so the reason why I'm asking this question is because I want to make sure I do the install properly to avoid freezing damage.
Second: I understand the basic rules for installing stuff around here to avoid frost heaving : the base must go down below the frost line
but - I guess I'm sort of confused because I see some things around here built with no real base that goes below the frost line - but they do last for decades without being destroyed by the winters. Stone walls and granite curbing along the streets being two of the most common ones.
The project: I acquired a stock of what was supposed to be granite curbing (odds and ends) - from a local quarry that was going out of business. What I want to use them for is to build a short retaining wall (no higher than about 2ft high exposed at it's highest part) - along the back part of my property line so I can then raise the grade of my back yard and make it more level.
This wall will start at about 2ft high - run for about 75ft or so and end flush with grade. The blocks are about 3ft long x 12 to 18 inches high. Along the highest part of the wall I will stack them two high - and I've gotten a number of recommendations from stoneworkers and masons about how to bond the stacked blocks together, with the most common recommendation being to use some of the new epoxies that are out there.
Behind this I would then backfill the yard up to level of the top of the new wall.
To prevent the pressure from the backfill eventually toppling the wall - I was planning on building up some concrete on a taper (thinner at the top wider at the base) behind the granite blocks to keep the pressure from the ground being able to eventually topple the blocks. I was thinking some sort of waterproof barrier along the face of this concrete would help prevent water intrusion and the freeze/thaw cycle destroying the thing eventually.
My biggest question is: what should I be doing for a base under all of this? I ask about granite curbing installs - because every one I've seen around here basically just lays the curbing down in a concrete base maybe 6 inches thick - the curbing itself extends maybe 12" below grade if you're lucky - so there's no way the base under the curbing extends below the frost line. I see the same thing with stone walls built around here. They typically only go below ground a foot or maybe two if they guy doing the wall wants to spend a lot of money.
Do I just have to get down deep enough to get below the organic layers of soil and that should be good enough? I know there's a nice hard layer of packed hard sandy gravel/clay (no organics at all) - about a foot and half down on this property. The topsoil and the layer directly underneath (that has some organics in it) - is probably a foot to two feet deep.
Dig up the organics - put down a base of 3" trap rock or something like that - and just put the wall on top of that?