Retaining Wall

That was said to me first thing this morning

 

Not a great one, but here it is in relation to the back porch.

I'm only going to retain the lower section. There is another 2-3 ft section above, but is about 6 feet from the edge of the lower section. That top part is mostly rock and hasn't moved in 3 years.

 

Holy heck, that's a task right there!! Engineered wall most definitely. I'm just a novice though.

 

Yes! That's exactly what I need. A friend that's willing to work!

 

Cant compare hd or lowes style blocks or cmu with versa lok bricks. These are 83lb blocks and they are held together differently. If you have never installed them or worked with them, you wouldn’t know.

All I can say is search youtube for some versa lok projects or call a local distributor.

https://youtu.be/qh__voqS0o8

 

It is a great choice if you factor in additional time and money for fill and support going with other types of rock, stone or cmu.

 

If my house & family was that close to that cliff...
the only option for me would be Poured Wall & Drainage, Drainage, Drainage

..Slayer

 

This gentleman has good advise. I built a retaining wall such as your required dimensions. I would recommend as others have stated, check your county or public works. There are many requirements such as legal and building logistics which will prevent additional rework due to a weak structural foundation or $$$ wasted.

Couple of items I would like to share when I did my build.
I personally had all the verticals rebars go through each of the 8X8X16 concrete block. At approximately every 9-10 foot, I used 8X12X16 concrete block to which at every two rows I added stirrup to tie the four vertical rebars within the block.

Many will say I went above and beyond the minimum required building my retaining wall but I rather caution on the safe side.

You can likely get away using #3 rebar as your horizontal.

Just as important is the base (compacting 3/4 base course gravel solid) and ensuring the matting in the footing (#5 rebar) have an overlap of 24”. As for my footing, the concrete dimension was 28” height X 36” width.

On side of the wall and earth, I did install a drain system using a 4” piping with holes on the top, 3” drain rocks over it then added dirt over it. I did have the drain system slope from one end and running out towards the road storm drain.

There are many variables to building a retaining wall.
Here are some pictures of the retaining wall I built. Best bet is pay a contractor to save the headache of the labor, logistics of equipment and materials, blueprints etc. Good luck in your retaining wall endeavor.


Matting for the footing. Ensure the footing rebar is free of debris so that the concrete adheres to the rebar properly.

3/4” Base course

Compacted 3/4” Base Course. Here is where we started overlapping the matting 24”

Pouring of concrete for the footing

You can see the #5 rebar in each of the blocks. Additionally I placed the 1st row of blocks while the footing concrete was still wet.


Halfway and yes I did have to attach additional #5 rebar to account for the rest of the wall height.

Completed minus the plastering to smooth the wall and the pillar caps but you get the idea