Building A Rock Retaining Wall At Home

To build a natural dry stone retaining wall prepare the site.

Building a rock retaining wall at home.

This ditch will act as the wall s footing and prevent the rocks from sliding forward due to pressure from the earth behind. Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding. Building a retaining wall is suitable for diyers as long as the wall is a maximum of 3 feet tall in most areas. A wall that leans into the soil it retains is less likely to be pushed outward by soil pressure than a plain old vertical wall.

Self stacking concrete blocks make building a sturdy retaining wall a much simpler diy project. Anything taller should be handled by professionals. Design and build your retaining wall to slope at a minimum rate of. The interlocking retaining wall block can be used to build walls up to 24 to 36 inches high depending on the size of the block.

To create a solid foundation dig a trench for the first course of your interlocking retaining wall blocks to sit in and make sure the ground remains even throughout. In other words for a four foot wall two feet wide. The wide base needs to go back into the slope at least half as wide as the wall is tall. How to build a rock wall 1.

This footing is similar to a concrete retaining wall just not as engineered. How to build a short retaining wall this 2 retaining wall is a great architectural element that also serves a purpose to keep dirt from a sloping yard from going into the driveway. Dig a trench that s below the frost line and 2 feet wider than. Dig a ditch the length of the wall that is about a foot wide and 8 to 12 inches 20 5 cm 30 5 cm below the ground level.

This makes your rock wall into a 50 year wall. Without this simple footing the rocks have a tendency to move. The success of your retaining wall depends on a level base. Once built you ll have a rock solid retaining wall without all the heavy mortar lines.

Lay high quality stones and use a geotextile backing to ensure the wall lasts a long time. Using a tape measure decide the length and the width of your retaining wall then mark off the area with the garden stakes and string. The easiest way to build a stone retaining wall is to use the dry stack method that requires no mortar between stones and does not need a concrete footing like mortared walls do. Follow the block manufacturer s instructions for wall height limits.

Prepare the footing photo by russell kaye.