Does anybody have experience building a stone retaining wall. We have an old wooden wall right now that is partially rotten and I want to replace it with a stone wall. Our neighbour has a dry-laid stone wall, however, every spring I notice him putting parts of it back together again. I was thinking of creating a stone wall with cement and stone but was told that it would not hold as well as a dry-laid stone wall.
Anybody know the best route?
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| IMG_4449.jpg | 93.87 KB |
Comment Guidelines
We welcome your feedback on Houseandhome.com. H&H reserves the right to remove any unsuitable personal remarks made about the bloggers, hosts, homeowners and/or guests we feature. Please keep your comments focused on decorating, design, cooking and other lifestyle topics. Adopt a tone you would be willing to use in person and do not make slanderous remarks or use denigrating language. If you see a comment that you believe violates any of the guidelines outlined above, please click “Alert a Moderator.” Thank you.
~Seanna :)
I have seen that in some of the walls that I have looked at, one point that was common amongst all the different tutorials was that you use small rock to fill in amongst the larger rocks.
I will post pics once completed.
We have a dry-stacked stone wall behind us, and our neighbour's yard is a good 3 to 4 feet higher than ours! He built the wall nearly 20 years ago, but I'm certain that he filled spots with dirt that has seemed to "cement" the wall into place. It's very sturdy, and only a few of the rocks from the top have ever come down, but that's because their dog used to dig at the top of the wall before we put a chainlink fence up on top of the wall.
~Seanna :)
[url]http://www.ncptt.nps.gov/index.php/building-dry-stone-retaining-walls-2002-06/[/url]
Just thought I would share this in case anybody decides to build their own. This video is fantastic and I am going to be following these instructions for building our dry laid stone retaining wall.
That is a great blog! I am really looking forward to starting. I think this will take a bit of time but I have a feeling that it will be well worth it when it is finished.
I will post pics.
Northern Miner....you are right about our neighbour..I do think he is on to something. We live on a very high hill and everywhere I look everyone has used dry laid stone walls. So, after much touring around our neighbourhood I have made the decision to follow the crowd.
Today, I worked so hard at ripping out the wall that I am exhausted. We have decided to do this project on our own since the landscaping costs are absolutely crazy and out of our budget.
DBD, I have read soooooo many instructions now from different web sites but none mentioned the gravel. It does makes sense though. Thanks. I think that will definitely help with any run off as well. I have been studying a lot of different walls around here and what I keep seeing over and over again is this triangular design. The base row, which is partially buried, is quite wide and as the wall gets higher the depth of rocks decreases so it almost looks like a triangular effect....if you know what I mean.
Mrs. Peacock, that is simply stunning what you have done in your yard. Absolutely beautiful. Out of my budget for our wall but I love it. I had a quote on having large boulders put in place in the back and it was 100 per boulder and the guy operating the machinery charged 200 per hour. :eek: This was supposed to be a minor job but as I have told my husband, landscaping is never minor.
Well, I am back at it again this week. I figure this is my new weight loss program!:D
We had a landscaper build our retaining wall (DH complained when I asked him to move all the rocks in place :) . Best guy ever - will recommend if in the Cambridge/Kitchener ON area. Anyway, he put landscape fabric in behind the first (ground level) layer of rocks and put gravel in behind and then put the next layer of rock ontop of the first layer, but back set. Continued the landscape fabric, more gravel and then filled in with dirt where needed. Did this right up to the top row. Plus he put in weeping tile around it (down near the bottom or second row from the bottom) and tied it into the weeping tile that runs from our patio out towards the street. That was 2 years ago, gone through 2 winters now and had no movement in the wall what so ever. The key factor is you need the gravel for drainage and weeping tile to direct it away from the foundation of the house. Hope this helps.
You may want to look up instructions on the web but it seems to me the walls that stay up are the ones that are not bang up against the dirt. In other words they dig out an area behind the wall that is filled with gravel as the wall is built.
So you start your wall, but a few feet out from the where the dirt is (or in your case that wood) and you need to partially bury the first row which is also over gravel so it is stable. If you use those allan blocks or similar you are supposed to lay a row, fill the spaces in the blocks with gravel and then you fill in behind. I think you can also stick rebar in through rows to help stability. You keep doing that until the wall is done and the gravel is as high as the wall. Then you can put soil on top if you want.
Most of what I have seen on the process seems to indicate that when those retaining walls are shifting it's because the ground is next to them and it's always moving. The gravel seems to absorb that movement rather than the wall. You also have to watch drainage because if it's an area where you water is going, it needs a place to escape (again the gravel helps there) so pressure behind the wall is minimal.
I suppose you could bury the existing wall, but it might add to being unstable over time and cause further problems.
Have you ever noticed rocks on slopes along the highway - often under the overpasses? If you did you might have noticed that they use fencing to hold it in place. Wire mesh, like the stuff they use to re-inforce concrete slabs, or slightly thinner guage.
If you think your land is stable you could try the concrete approach and set the rocks in them. However since your neighbour has dry laid his he might be onto something. Tough call.
Another approach would be to actually put in a solid deep footing and a concrete wall that you could lay cut stones into - like veneer. They can also be glued on and reglued if they pop off.
Does anybody know a good gardening and landscaping forum?
Can I bury our rotting wood wall and cover with top soil and then build my stone wall. Will I have problems with ants etc.? I have figured out the wall design but removing the wood wall is a real nightmare.
Does anybody know if this will cause problems further down the road?