Retaining wall ideas

[Varmintmist]

I need a few ideas. I have a bank that needs to be landscaped. Its to steep to use right now. I could probably get some weeds and mulch the thing but I am tending towards a wall with steps breaking up and towards the house a little more than 1/2 way to the left.

I like the look of the locking block, but I am not sure if it would look right here.

I also like rail road ties. Real ones, not PT 8x8's. I like the look and you can buy them by the truckload.

The other option that is burning in my fertile parsimonious brain is locust. I could use locust that I already own. Set them butt down and make like a palisade kind of wall. Similar to the walls you can see at the beach. Black locust will outlast me, and the price is right.

Ok, pic one. I want to start the wall about 4-5 feet up on the foundation. Sloping it down until it hits about where the end of the pic is.
pic one

Pic two, just to give you some scale the garage door is a 7 foot hole. I will still be grading the top 4 feet to the top of the wall and it will still be steep.
pic two

And lastly, a pic from dead on the end. The wall is to come out to about where the Labious Photohogus is (amazing how they can get in front of a camera 90% of the time) directly in line with the house. Maybe tending a little uphill. Just houseward of the dog is where I would like to put in steps. Bring them in at a right angle from the drive and then break them right 45 degrees to the top of the grade and blend into a walk to the front door and the landing/porch/deck that will be there from another honeydo project.

pic three

Suggestions?? ideas? comments? laughter?

 

[willywildes]

My back hurts just looking at the pics. I just installed 165'x 3' of versa-lock block. So i have a bad ad etude, cant give any positive moral support but i feel your pain.

 

[aondre]

There are two obvious choices, retaining wall or some type of groundcover. Based on where your driveway is I would recommend some drain tile to capture and remove water before it get to your garage and driveway. No matter what material you use for a retaining wall it would be a large and expensive project. For a full height wall you would require 2 layers of geogrid to keep from pushing out, this means moving lots of dirt. I would consider doing a 3' or smaller wall alond the driveway to give a clean line, then leave the rest as a slope and use groundcover plants and shrubs to finish it off.

As a professional landscaper I have removed many RR tie retaining walls only to replace them with brick.

 

[BB_TX]

With that much height, you might consider a tiered approach. Go up half way for the first wall. Then a flat tier of 5' or 6'. Then a second wall to the top. The flat could be planted in shrubs against the back wall and flowers along the top of the front wall. Maybe a grassy strip the length of it with some steps up to it and a bench or two. Then a second set of steps up the back wall. How about a double waterfall cascading down from the top to the bottom. Stop me. My minds going wild here. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[jwnge]

I will have to pay attention here, I have the same problem. the top of mine is about 15 feet. I dug it out last fall for more parking room and it is frozen now, but come spring I will be looking for ideas also. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif JohnJ

 

[johan3400]

I like the idea of man made block retaining walls. I have experience doing some around ponds on Golf Courses. It is hard work but can be done easily. I am partial to one type of blocks and I am not aware of a source in your area. I will give you the site URL and maybe I can find a source for you as the evening goes on.

Try this site: http://www.basicblock.com/retproducts.html

 

[Paddy]

Your sitation is exact as a friend had. He used utility poles as you mentioned with the locust. I never thought it would hold. 13 years later, still holding.

He had a 4' trench dug with a BH. Just stuck them in a random heights. Every 6' he placed a "dead man". That is every 4' he placed a post in the hill side in concrete with SS wire back to the wall.(below grade).

 

[bugstruck]

That's a fair grade to deal with. I'd bite it off in one or two height installments. The tiered approach would be my choice. If you go with one tall wall, I'd bring that up near 7' at the house and then taper it down as approptiate. Looks like the grade actually rises as you come out from the house, so that's just a slope modification at the top side. I'm not big on slopes taking off right at the top of a wall either. Whole variety of reasons including wall load and water runoff. It could be dangerous for the wrong people. You can use geogrid, they go allot higher than that, but even a geogrid wall is going to have more loads imposed if the slope takes off from the top of the wall. The very top of the wall is the most vulnerable then, more in freeze conditions. You can do ties to that height and geogrid would be recommended for either precast block or ties.

I don't like the railroad ties. I've seen them in service at some locations for quite awhile but the pressure treated are holding up better for me. They have to be ground contact rated but don't seem to be the look you want.

I have a rental property amazingly similiar to yours with a drive in basement garage. Both sides of my garage entry are identical for grade. I'm holding 5' of soil at the house walls. First walls in 1980 RR ties. Second walls in 1991 with pressure treated with better wood tieback. One side looks perfect and the other has a 6" bow in it. I'm done with wood. Next time, in say 4 or 5 years, it's precast w/ geogrid or concrete with a retaining wall footing. I've learned my lessons. I know the geogrid would stabilize a wood wall much better than mine but I'm limited for lateral working area with the in-town property. I also wouldn't waste the $$ for geogrid to have to replace the wall in 15+ years anyhow (wood). My experience is that 15 to 20 is about the outside before the insects and weather have a serious impact. Ants are into my 1991 pressure treated wall now.

Again the tiered suggestions might work better for you. Gives you the option of doing one now and one sometime later too.

What we need is a landscaper or engineer with serious retaining wall experience to sound in on the latest materials and applications.

Also, unless your a young dumb man with like I once was, it's backhoe time for the key in of the wall to the lower grade. Goes without saying, if you go ties you need to lay the wall back into the slope. Pure vertical is a prescription for early failure on any wall. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Also, if you goe ties run them about one tie width past the foundation corner and infill as needed for the angle of the wall face which will be falling upslope (away) from the foundation. Makes that end of the wall much more secure.

Good Luck. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RobertN]

I would look at something like the Keystone Country Manor. It would fit in well with the background view you have. It is more like a stone wall than the more typical and industrial "Legacy" type 3-face block. Other manufactures make similar products too.

Your hillside is steep. It would most likely need two steps. Remember, you will want to have a 2:1 step. For instance, if you have a 6' high area, your first step would be 3', and the second 3' step would be set back 6' from the first. You can get around this with geo-grid fabrics, but that is a lot of dirt moving.

the Keystone page has lots of info on that if you poke around thier site.

If you look at my business page you can see a raised patio I made from the Country Manor block. Look at the raised patio project.

 

[Varmintmist]

Ok,

What I am planning is a wall no more than 5 foot above ground level. Basicly leave 1/2 the slope there and use groundcover and mulch. Figure 5 foot at the house, run out for 50 feet dropping to zero. I am not looking for level, there is no level place on my ground now, why break with tradition. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I dont need to build a 12 foot wall, the water problems I had I graded around in the first 50 hours I owned my FEL /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif This is more cosmetic than anything. The slope isnt slipping. There is some erosion runoff encroaching into the gravel of the drive. That slowed a LOT when I regraded the front and rolled the water left and right.

The problem is that it is just passable on foot, much less trying to gut grass or prune weeds (groundcover /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif)
I figure if I can cut the slope in half, then use groundcover and mulch to dress up the slope with steps, it will look like something.

 

[TimberXX]

hey guys looks like a good project. i just graduated as a civil engineer and took a course in retaining wall design. geogrid is a great material and i suggest it, just be sure it would work for your soil. the ties will move, and they will also stain no matter if they are pressure treated or not. I would take a sample of the soil to the to the dealer of the brick. This would tell you how far into the slope you have to dig. the type of soil also would tell you what kind of footer you would need under the wall (whether you tier it or not) and the most important thing is drainage! run perforated PVC behind the wall. The saturated soil weighs much more than dry soil which could cause failure.

 

[Varmintmist]

The country manor stone (CMS) is interesting. One of the dealers is about 9 miles away in Worthington. I might have to take a ride over.

I like the patio, very nice.

I wonder how the CMS would look next to flagstone, PA bluestone? I have already gotten a load and will be getting another as soon as the BIL starts doing his odd jobs in the spring. He is removing a old overgrown garden that has flagged walks and sitting areas. Guess who is going to pull the flags and get rid of them for free for him /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Just because I'm a nice guy. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Only real problem is, no machine time to pull and load. All grunt labor.

The walk at and under the back deck will be flags. If I have enough I would like to flag the front walk and the steps up the bank.

BTW, this is not a weekend thing, I figure that I will have a year into this on and off. With the wall, walks and just getting some grass growing. Not to mention the garden, food plots, war on invasive plants, culling trees, firewood, work, boy scouts, girl scouts, soccer, t-ball, honeydos...................... I think I am going to go take a nap, I'm tired just looking at this /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[JimR]

How about large rocks with a mix of low type flowering vegetation of different colors? There would be no maintanance required once it is all done. You might have to water it once in a blue moon if the weather was really dry. I plan on doing this to a slope in my backyard this year if I can find the time.

 

[caylor]

Ambitious project! I like those kind. I think you are getting the idea that railroad ties are not the way to go. I know they are cheap, but I agree they will rot out well before pressure treated lumber, not to mention that the ties are treated with all kinds of nasty chemicals that leach into the soil much easier than the chemicals used in the pressure treated timber.

Another idea is what about good ol' fashioned concrete? I know you can get various rock patterns actually formed into the wall, and stain the concrete to look like whatever type of rock appeals to you.

 

[tomnky]

A poured wall with faux stone veneer would look good.

 

[TimberXX]

while a poured wall would work, the foundation would have to be designed by a person with a soil mechanics background. I dont know how strict the building coded are out there. I know that if it hurts or worse kills anyone whenever you could be responsible. You would save with the geotech fabric (mesh) also be sure you use the right fabric for your soil! there are many different types that each excel it different soil.

 

[RobertN]

Ah, Boy Scouts... I am just transitioning from Webelos den leader to asst Scoutmaster. My son bridged over last month.

That patio has Arizona pink flagstone in it. It is really pretty. Also, what is not seen is at the back of the pation is a second retaining wall. The front lower wall and upper back wall are connected on both sides by wall that transitions from and exterior wal to an interior wall.

Most wall blocks are made to reach 3' with minor layouts. Most states require the wall be engineered if it exceeds 4' in height. All of the block walls require a footing, usually 6-12" deep of compacted AB or 3/4" crush. Behind the wall at the bottom a drain line is needed. 1' back from the wall should be filled with compacted 3/4 crush rock. Typically in a 2-3' high wall, the first block is at least 1/2 buried and sometimes completely buried as part of the foundation.

The biggest thing with these wall, is getting the foundation and inital course level level level(or at least very straight on grade if you do want it to slope). If the foundation is level, the rest goes easy. If not, the whole wall will be a pain. This is the case no matter which brand or style of block might be used.

The patio in the picture is 15x15. We spent over a day with a transit doing prep work and making sure where everything was going to be. That prep work made all the difference in the world...

 

[rdln]

Interlocking steel seawall for that nautical look.

 

[Mark4510]

"The biggest thing with these wall, is getting the foundation and inital course level level level(or at least very straight on grade if you do want it to slope). If the foundation is level, the rest goes easy. If not, the whole wall will be a pain. This is the case no matter which brand or style of block might be used."

I set up a 5' high by 100' wall and if there was one lesson I learned it would be just what Robert says. Get the base course done correctly and the rest is just effort.

Robert, Nice job. Is that patio job in the development just off of 50 in Cameron park near the soccer field and skate park?

Mark

 

[RobertN]

It is over there off Crazy Horse... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif