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Started By
Message
Using retaining wall block for flower beds - proper prep?
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:04 am
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:04 am
I'm 90% done with my pool install and I've been dreaming and planning the additional landscaping. Due to the natural slope of my yard, I have a bit of a drop on the rear side down to the yard (4-6" in most places)
I want to ring the pool with additional rocks that are wider in some areas for plantings. My goal is something very similar to this to help bridge the height gap and tidy things up.
It's not a huge height, but I'd like to use pavestone style retaining wall block to form the wall. I'll then fill it with bed builder mix from the nursery and top with black slate chips (as pictured)
The issue I have is 90% of the retaining wall beds I've seen look like utter crap. A very few look straight and level, even 10 years later. I can only assume it is all prep and installation technique. My initial thought is I'd be best off digging out and making a few inch thick Quikrete "footing" with some thin mesh, then building on top of that. I'm likely only going two levels high. Possibly one level if I use the big block and hopefully a capstone layer to keep it looking tidy.
Is a cement footer overkill, or worth the effort to keep it from going all higgly-piggly in our gumbo soils?
I want to ring the pool with additional rocks that are wider in some areas for plantings. My goal is something very similar to this to help bridge the height gap and tidy things up.
It's not a huge height, but I'd like to use pavestone style retaining wall block to form the wall. I'll then fill it with bed builder mix from the nursery and top with black slate chips (as pictured)
The issue I have is 90% of the retaining wall beds I've seen look like utter crap. A very few look straight and level, even 10 years later. I can only assume it is all prep and installation technique. My initial thought is I'd be best off digging out and making a few inch thick Quikrete "footing" with some thin mesh, then building on top of that. I'm likely only going two levels high. Possibly one level if I use the big block and hopefully a capstone layer to keep it looking tidy.
Is a cement footer overkill, or worth the effort to keep it from going all higgly-piggly in our gumbo soils?
5
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:13 am to RaginCajunz
I just did this using pavers two high. I dug out a trench then put sand and used a level to make sure the whole side was even. About 45 feet of pavers. Came out great and looks nice and level.
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:21 am to RaginCajunz
You could do a trench with level sand bottom, then a synthetic geogrid with 2” concrete on top. Or a few inches of graded limestone to lock it into the geogrid. That would keep it nice and level and locked together.
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:23 am to LSUlove
quote:
I just did this using pavers two high. I dug out a trench then put sand and used a level to make sure the whole side was even. About 45 feet of pavers. Came out great and looks nice and level.
That's kind of my plan, a nice tamped base of sand and/or crushed base. I'm just curious if the cement layer would provide a longer life of it staying straight and plumb. The difference between the good looking stuff and the bad looking stuff seems to be mostly due to soil settling. (that and when they are used to ring trees and the roots jack them up)
Another photo for reference of what I'm trying to accomplish. (just around a pool not against a house)
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:27 am to RaginCajunz
What I don't want.
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:29 am to RaginCajunz
That may be an inevitability if you don’t do a proper base. The wire mesh / geogrid in concrete or rocks helps keep it locked in one level.
Posted on 6/29/21 at 10:40 am to RaginCajunz
Not sure where you are located but I'd figure that with just a sand/crushed gravel bottom, you could pull up and relevel as necessary where as if you pour concrete and it cracks it would be more difficult to fix. I'm in NOLA so settling is inevitable.
Posted on 6/29/21 at 11:16 am to RaginCajunz
I did something similar, but I used the stones in the pic that you said you didn't want. I dug a trench, and then used dry bagged cement instead of sand. Used that to level and as a base. Ran my first row of stones and then wet it all down and let it sit 24 hrs. When adding the stones on top, i used gorilla glue that comes in a caulk tube. In some spots, I'm 4 stones high. It's level, and has been up for a year and a half. Still looks good.
Posted on 6/29/21 at 11:22 am to JDat
quote:
I did something similar, but I used the stones in the pic that you said you didn't want. I dug a trench, and then used dry bagged cement instead of sand. Used that to level and as a base. Ran my first row of stones and then wet it all down and let it sit 24 hrs. When adding the stones on top, i used gorilla glue that comes in a caulk tube. In some spots, I'm 4 stones high. It's level, and has been up for a year and a half. Still looks good.
The don't want pic, was just a reference to the wobbly unfinished look, not necessarily the stones themselves.
This is what I was thinking might work. I saw a "no dig" version where they used dry bagged cement and used a chickenwire strip in it as reinforcement. I think the dig would be necessary in my case, especially since the ground is uneven. I'd need to dig to establish a level surface.
The glue was also something I found some people using. I gather there is a few products made for adhering the stones together. Likely no different than gorilla glue branded stuff.
my thoughts at the moment...
Where would a geogrid layer go? Between the rock or sand base and the concrete?
This post was edited on 6/29/21 at 11:42 am
Posted on 6/29/21 at 4:16 pm to RaginCajunz
I didn't put a limestone base or wire mat. Now, it was all close to my house and there was A4 fill dirt, so it was pretty compact. I think you may be going a little overkill with the limestone and the wire. Not sure how compact your ground is, but maybe just the wire if you're nervous. I also put pea gravel against the stones to help let the water out. but if you're only going 2 stones high, I don't think that's really necessary.
Two things I learned along the way.
1. It's easier to dig a shovel wide trench, and then fill the bag cement as a leveling base. The trench walls help keep it in place. The first run I did, I scraped with a tractor, but it was taking a lot of cement as it would push out from the sides as I tapped them level.
2. If you use the same stones I did, I found that the depth of them varied slightly. So I ended up moving my string to run on the backside of the stone and that worked much better.
And get a torpedo level, a rubber mallet, and a pop up tent. LOL.
Two things I learned along the way.
1. It's easier to dig a shovel wide trench, and then fill the bag cement as a leveling base. The trench walls help keep it in place. The first run I did, I scraped with a tractor, but it was taking a lot of cement as it would push out from the sides as I tapped them level.
2. If you use the same stones I did, I found that the depth of them varied slightly. So I ended up moving my string to run on the backside of the stone and that worked much better.
And get a torpedo level, a rubber mallet, and a pop up tent. LOL.
Posted on 6/29/21 at 7:41 pm to JDat
This is mine. Obviously not blocks but stacked stone. The base is concrete and the stone has mortar on the bedside of the stones that goes up about half the height of the wall.
The footing was dug about 6-8” deep and a foot or so wide. It was filled with concrete.
Also there is a concrete retaining wall that is 20-24 inches tall inside of this stacked stone wall.
Posted on 6/30/21 at 12:23 am to RaginCajunz
Check out Anchor Wall for installation guides.
Compacted subgrade and compacted setting base will take care of the waves and unevenness. A cap stone will make it look clean. Use the loctite adhesive for retaining block (pl500?).
A level compacted aggregate base will be easier to work with than a mini footer. You would have to do the same prep work for the subgrade.
A half buried 1st course and a cap will give you 6".
Compacted subgrade and compacted setting base will take care of the waves and unevenness. A cap stone will make it look clean. Use the loctite adhesive for retaining block (pl500?).
A level compacted aggregate base will be easier to work with than a mini footer. You would have to do the same prep work for the subgrade.
A half buried 1st course and a cap will give you 6".
Posted on 6/30/21 at 9:10 am to FLOtiger
Thanks for the tip. Anchor Wall's website has the best set of PDF instructions I've seen anywhere.
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