Retaining Wall Post Question

[aeblank]

Man i wish I could remember the spec's of my retaining wall.
I wanna say it was 88,000 lbs of blocks. Cost $5500.
Gotta be at least a couple hundred linear feat. 5 layers tall, so 2.5 feet.

The site where I used to have pics of the project is gone. But the moral of the story is that retaining wall blocks are your most permanent solution.
The type I used has a lip on the back that hooks on the row below. So the lip either has to break off or the block has to lift up to move. I mention because some only rely on adhesive. Kinda/sorta like this one (shown upside down, as far as I can tell): http://tinyurl.com/l2xsz54

 

[GLyford]

Once you get your base set, stacking the blocks goes very fast, and I think makes a better looking wall than timber. The lip on the back makes it easy. I had the pallets dropped off, then moved into the work area in stacks with a hand truck, so I wasn't running back and forth carrying stones.

So many of the timber walls I see are partially rotted, leaning, etc. Heck, even the one the wife built around the mailbox flowerbed has issues.

As an option, you can stack a layer of 8x16 pavers on the top row, held down with masonry adhesive. I trimmed the ends on an angle with an angle grinder and masonry cutoff wheels to follow the curve...if your runs are mostly straight or have gentler curves you might not even need to do that.



The stakes and lines were used with a line level to figure out my base depths. Fortunately, my soil is sandy gravel and well drained, so I just set on undisturbed soil. If I was on loam or clay, I would have done a proper gravel footing.

 

[MacLawn]

GL, ye work looks real nice! A good point about the soil, here where old OP is, southeast, it's mostly clay north of the Fall Line in GA and SC. It's solid, but needs the base I think.

 

[dstig1]

Did I already say retaining wall blocks? Why yes I did. Now looking at the additional details supplied, I think this is for sure the way to go... Keystone, Anchor, or myriad of local suppliers.

 

[CurlyDave]

I have done pretty much what you are talking about.

I had a 33" high landscape wall of 2" x 6" PT boards. I built it about 30 years ago and when I sold the house 3 years ago it was still in place and working well.

This was in the SF Bay Area, in hard adobe clay. I drove T-posts on about 36" centers and used no deadmen at all. The real key is that I had what engineers call "batter", which means that I sloped the wall back toward the uphill side by about 2" per 12" of rise.

Just before I sold the house, I replaced the T-posts with PT 4" x 6" posts in concrete, which made it much better looking.

The only real difference between what I had and your proposed wall is that the earth at the base of your wall is going to be wet, which will make it less firm. You may need to move the T-posts closer together, say 24" on centers. I would start there and if the wall is not stable over time, increase the batter. This will require new T-Posts, but will not require more boards.

 

[dieselscout80]

I have done pretty much what you are talking about.

I had a 33" high landscape wall of 2" x 6" PT boards. I built it about 30 years ago and when I sold the house 3 years ago it was still in place and working well.

This was in the SF Bay Area, in hard adobe clay. I drove T-posts on about 36" centers and used no deadmen at all. The real key is that I had what engineers call "batter", which means that I sloped the wall back toward the uphill side by about 2" per 12" of rise.

Just before I sold the house, I replaced the T-posts with PT 4" x 6" posts in concrete, which made it much better looking.

The only real difference between what I had and your proposed wall is that the earth at the base of your wall is going to be wet, which will make it less firm. You may need to move the T-posts closer together, say 24" on centers. I would start there and if the wall is not stable over time, increase the batter. This will require new T-Posts, but will not require more boards.

Thank Curry.

Going 30" high will provide sixty some inches of level ground behind the wall.

 

[JMER817]

Do it right the first time. T posts will not hold. I debated between blocks and treated lumber with my 24' retaining wall at my walkout. I liked the look of the wood better and was 30% the cost of the block that I was looking at. The treated lumber that I used is for wood basements. They have a supposed 75 yr warranty.