Questions tagged [retaining-wall]
The retaining-wall tag has no usage guidance.
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How to properly allow for drainage for a backyard retaining wall?
I'm building a retaining wall for a circular fire pit area in my backyard, which has some slope to it. I've stacked the stones along the front part of the fire pit to make a kind of retaining wall, ...
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How do I fix a wooden retaining wall?
I need suggestions on how to fix my retaining wall.
Is there a quick and cheap way to fix it? Unfortunately, I don't have the money right now to spend on replacing everything.
You will notice that ...
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How can I raise grade near my fence without making soil contact?
My house is on slightly sloped land, and I am trying to fill soil to level the ground to make it more flat to lay lawn.
There will be 30-40cm height of soil that would go against the fence, but I don’...
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How can I restore a CBU retaining wall with a vertical crack at the corner?
A 30 year old concrete retaining wall is showing signs of age:
What can be done to:
halt the deformation of the blocks & wall?
restore the wall to a state closer to 'new'?
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Should I build a segmental retaining wall on top of a grade beam with piles?
80 foot long retaining wall that ranges from 4 feet tall on one end to 12 feet tall on the other.
I am planning on a segmental wall made of Versa-Lok "Bronco 18" blocks - 1200+ pounds each. ...
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Best way to fill gaps between lumber and masonry or rocks
We have built 4x4 retaining walls around existing rocks and concrete that we were unable to get rid of. The idea was - and is - use something fill the gaps between the lumber and the rocks / cements. ...
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How to choose fabric and gravel for retaining wall
I want to build a 15ft long retaining wall which is located at the bottom of a slope, surrounded with springs, against the fence. In searching for materials I have no idea which fabric I should choose ...
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Small retaining walls [closed]
I recently had contractor build several retaining walls ranging from 12" to 20" high.
They dug a shallow one inch trench then filled it with mortar, upon which they laid and leveled first row of ...
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How can I level and secure retaining wall steps?
We have some retaining wall steps that are in dire need of repair. We would like to re-level some of them and re-adhere all of the cap stones so they no longer rock.
Is it possible to create a ...
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Why don't segmental retaining walls need any piers or anchoring below grade?
I have built two soldier pile retaining walls (where you slot the boards between I-Beams you sink into the ground) with good success - but that success was due to:
sinking the piles at least their ...
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What should I do about this bowing foundation wall?
I'm currently in the process of buying my first home, and I found a property on the market that was priced significantly less than most homes in the area. The seller's justification for this was a ...
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Slope has gobbled up the retaining walls
A few tiered retaining walls were built on a slope on my property about 70 years ago. By now they have been completely consumed by the slope as you can see on the picture below where, in the white ...
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Garden wall pointing / capping advice needed
I’m hoping to get some advice on a project I’m planning.
I bought a house last year that has a 2 foot retaining wall between the decking and the lawn. It’s a red brick wall and looks to be in pretty ...
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Sealing/resurfacing exterior concrete retaining wall
I have a 3 ft concrete retaining wall that runs across our backyard. It collects a lot of black mildew with white spots. Is there a sealant or other surfacing material that I can use to help keep ...
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Soutions for this steep gravel driveway - retaining wall?
We are considering buying this property which will be a "fixer-upper" but is in a valuable seaside location that we could never afford otherwise. Biggest drawback is this driveway, which after ...
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Composite Shims on Short Retaining Wall
Would there be an issue with using composite shims to help level one layer of block on top of another?
Other possible relevant info
I am using 6in x 12in retaining wall block.
Max height is 3 blocks ...
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Setting fence post in gravel/backfill?
I am attempting to build a privacy fence that will sit just behind a retaining wall (as in, on the ground behind the wall and not on the wall itself).
While digging today I realized that while the ...
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Should this retaining wall have drainage
Should the wall in the picture below have better drainage (e.g. perforated pipes)? And, if yes, is it possible to add them at this point? The walkway above has the same slate top you see at the very ...
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Concrete retaining wall with lean and crack, looking for input
We bought our 100 year old house “as-is” a year ago with various small cracks and a firm, but somewhat eroded foundation. This all needs to be addressed eventually, however, a large crack with ...
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Foundation for retaining wall on a hardcore base?
I'm looking to build a retaining wall 800mm (2.5ft) high and 225mm wide at the side of my house.
During the original construction groundworks, the ground around my house had to be raised up about ...
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1m high retaining wall build
I'm hoping to use 215mm concrete breeze blocks to build a 20m long retaining wall at 1m high. Do I need to build the blocks on their flat or can it be a regular single skin wall with piers every so ...
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How best to repair a cavity in the base of a retaining wall
I'm looking for some pointers on how best to go about repairing a hole and cavity in slate wall. The wall is the retaining wall at the rear of a house. Above and behind the wall there is a garden. The ...
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Can I fill cinder blocks with soil/dirt?
I have two short raised beds made of cinder blocks (8 in. and 16 in. tall) that isn't finished yet. I was wondering if it's okay to fill the voids of the blocks with excess soil from my yard? I live ...
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How to seal crevices in dry stack rock wall to prevent gopher activity?
I've recently had a retainer wall built in the landscape using the dry-stack method (see photos). Unfortunately, there has already been two occasions within past month of gopher activity behind the ...
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Leaning timber retaining wall
I have a timber retaining wall about 4 feet tall builting with 6x6 which is leaning probably due to the downspout draining inside. I'm wondering if using an earth auger to relieve some of the ...
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How do I build a fence with zero experience?
I've never built a fence or have never done any outdoor construction. I'm pretty handy and do most of my interior maintenance. I have a total of 780 feet where I need to put up a fence. I'm still ...
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Fence post behind retaining wall, drainage concern
I need to replace an old 2ft retaining wall(railroad ties) along my property line. There is not currently a fence there so I was going to take this project to add one. I am located in the PNW so there ...
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How do I protect the front side of a wood retaining wall?
I have a wood retaining wall made of 3x12 pressure-treated boards similar to the one pictured here.
The backside has MiraDrain and 3/4" drainage rock. I have an excess of earth to manage and one ...
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Retaining Wall Supported by Fence
I am working on building a 1.5ft retaining wall in between my yard and my neighbors yard. There was a previously a wood retaining wall but was poorly designed and blown out and I am replacing it.
My ...
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Retaining Wall Leaking Dirt
In the home my wife and I recently purchased, I noticed more and more dirt pouring out of one side of our retaining wall surrounding our driveway. It occurs right at the seam where the retaining wall ...
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Timber Retaining Wall - Beam Replacement
I need to replace a rotted beam in a wood retaining wall (bottom beam in picture). Is it possible to simply slide a replacement beam in place? Also, what about inserting a plastic lining (to the ...
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What Kind of Wooden Beam is this
My wife and I recently purchased our first home. We'd like to make a flattened area in our backyard (which is somewhat sloped) for a firepit.
My thinking was to dig out a shallow area and fill it with ...
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Gabion cage retaining walls: drainage and deadman needs?
I'm having some difficulty finding information about gabion retaining wall construction.
We're building a 2' high gabion cage wall to hold back 2' of flat topsoil backfill.
There are two aspects I ...
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Fencing backyard on the lower side of a retaining wall
Trying to fence my backyard, so that the dog has some room to play and burn some energy, as well as joining us outside during gatherings.
My backyard sits on the low side of a retaining wall, which ...
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How do I repair this retaining wall?
I have a two-tiered retaining wall at the front of my property. I've been here for about 3 years now, and I've noticed there have been cracks forming in the mortar. I don't want to let it go too long ...
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Barrier around shed base to hold dirt for retaining wall?
Building a shed on a slope, and looking to add a retaining wall around it to block the space underneath, but offset the wall 2ft or so to add dirt and plants.
If possible, I want to be able to put ...
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Retaining wall repair and conversion to tiers
I've got a retaining wall made from 6"x6" timber that is falling in. It would appear that when it was built there was no backfill and now the wood is rotting. Unfortunately, it's supporting part of ...
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Do I need rebar and footing for a 1'4" tall 4" thick concrete wall?
I'm building a small concrete wall for an inground sandbox. The wall will be about 1'4" tall 4" thick and the longest 2 sides run just over 80" long, it is an L shape and the other sides are fairly ...
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Foundation depth for mortared stone wall
I am building a mortared stone retaining wall and I am wondering on what depth to dig down for the foundation with which the stones will sit on. From what I gather from resarching, they say to dig ...
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How curved is a horizontal string line? [closed]
I plan to build a raised planter from 2 courses of concrete blocks. The long dimension is about 9 meters. I staked the corners, and then stretched a string the entire length as taut as I could without ...
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Options to keep soil in split-grade backyard [closed]
All of the houses in our neighbourhood have a "naturally" sloping backyard, which slopes downwards from the house. The spread is about 6-8" over 15-20 feet depending on the yard.
Neighbours on both ...
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Why is the water vessel overflowing on my air conditioner?
The ac keeps on leaking and now there is a bubble formed underneath it. Is there any way to fix this right now?
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Building a free-standing wall on top of a retaining wall
My house is well below street level. The slope from the sidewalk down towards the house is visibly eroding, to the point where I can see the entire side of many of the sidewalk slabs. The yard looks ...
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Can solid offset blocks be used to build a retaining wall in excess of 5'?
We need to build a retaining wall near our pool area. We have not made final decisions on it, but it will be a minimum of 4' tall, and possibly 5' or more.
Many online tutorials recommend solid ...
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What should be done about this concrete retaining wall?
At the back of my property there's a concrete retaining wall that separates my back yard from my neighbor's. The wall has several enormous cracks and is leaning, especially toward one side. I'd guess ...
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What alternatives are there to a retaining wall? [closed]
The retaining wall surrounding my foundation on the street side of my residence has fallen and has been partially removed. The rest of it will need to come down, and I'm trying to find another option ...
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Does this CMU block wall on pool need rebar?
So I'm in the process of remodeling my backyard. One of the things I wanted to do was build a wall similar to the first picture I included (with the stacked stone). The red arrows point at the wall.
...
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Gabion walls as retaining walls?
There's a lot of information about DIY gabion walls, but none of the applications that I've seen on YouTube and elsewhere talk about gabion walls as retaining walls. I would imagine that a gabion wall ...
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What mesh to buy (and where to buy it) for gabion walls? [closed]
I'd like to build a DIY gabion wall. I've watched many tutorials, but I'm at a loss on where to buy the mesh the build the baskets from. I saw the mesh at the local Home Depot store and it was rusted, ...
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Can I pour concrete walls between these structural posts?
Background, long story short: I have an old shed that is basically barn construction. It's about 12' x 16'. The thing used to sit on concrete walls and those walls deteriorated. So I jacked it up, ...
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