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Posted by Mr. Potato Head on September 19, 2006, 7:18 pm
Hello,
This weekend warrior needs to build a 40 foot by 3 feet high retaining
wall. After that, I'm going to build terraces toward the back of my
patio to hold back a dirt hill.
http://www.keystonewalls.com/pages/Homeowner_pages/H.products.html
I chose Keystone's Legacy stone because I can get it at Home Depot,
it's cheap and they'll deliver many palettes of this stuff for $65. RCP
block wanted $800 to deliver four palettes--the choice was easy. Also,
the stones lock in place and don't have to use anything else other than
to stack them on top of each other. I've never worked with concrete so
I don't even want to get into that *yet*.
My questions are:
1. How deep does the foundation of the wall have to be? I'd hate the
thought of making a four inch trench with a sand base, and then
burrying attractive (expensive) rock to support the wall. Can't I use
dirt filled cinder blocks, would that support the wall? Please folks,
keep in mind that I've never done this before so I appologize if that's
a stupid question.
2. The large stones are heavy (50lbs). I can stack them but I'd be
doing it myself. My wife wants to help--is looking forward to it--but
they're too heavy for her. What do contractors use ( that you don't
have to rent) to lift these monsters around?
3. What's the rule of thumb for using small stones versus large stones.
I'm considering using the small stones simply because they're lighter.
Why would I want to use larger stones?
Thanks
- Alex.
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Posted by RicodJour on September 19, 2006, 10:02 pm
Mr. Potato Head wrote:
> This weekend warrior needs to build a 40 foot by 3 feet high retaining
> wall. After that, I'm going to build terraces toward the back of my
> patio to hold back a dirt hill.
> http://www.keystonewalls.com/pages/Homeowner_pages/H.products.html
> I chose Keystone's Legacy stone because I can get it at Home Depot,
> it's cheap and they'll deliver many palettes of this stuff for $65. RCP
> block wanted $800 to deliver four palettes--the choice was easy. Also,
> the stones lock in place and don't have to use anything else other than
> to stack them on top of each other. I've never worked with concrete so
> I don't even want to get into that *yet*.
> My questions are:
> 1. How deep does the foundation of the wall have to be? I'd hate the
> thought of making a four inch trench with a sand base, and then
> burrying attractive (expensive) rock to support the wall. Can't I use
> dirt filled cinder blocks, would that support the wall? Please folks,
> keep in mind that I've never done this before so I appologize if that's
> a stupid question.
Generally for a low wall like yours the first course is buried. You
will complicate your life if you try to save money with concrete block.
> 2. The large stones are heavy (50lbs). I can stack them but I'd be
> doing it myself. My wife wants to help--is looking forward to it--but
> they're too heavy for her. What do contractors use ( that you don't
> have to rent) to lift these monsters around?
Hands. The wife can be in charge of backfilling and filter fabric.
> 3. What's the rule of thumb for using small stones versus large stones.
> I'm considering using the small stones simply because they're lighter.
> Why would I want to use larger stones?
Heavy stone provides more mass which provides more strength - you can
go higher with the wall with larger, heavier stones.
The manufacturer's installation guides available on their web site will
spell all of this stuff out for you.
R
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Posted by jeffc on September 19, 2006, 10:13 pm
> 1. How deep does the foundation of the wall have to be? I'd hate the
> thought of making a four inch trench with a sand base, and then
> burrying attractive (expensive) rock to support the wall. Can't I use
> dirt filled cinder blocks, would that support the wall?
How are you going to attach the Keystone stone to the cinder block? The
point of that stuff is you don't have to do any mortaring or anything.
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Posted by Nightrider.36 on September 20, 2006, 5:56 pm
> How are you going to attach the Keystone stone to the cinder block? The
> point of that stuff is you don't have to do any mortaring or anything.
Ok, good point--as I said, I've never done this before so there's a
bunch of things I haven't solved yet. Scratch the cinder block idea.
It just seems wasteful to bury that nice, $4 rock. There has to be an
inexpensive solution that does not involve mixing concrete.
Also, the guy at Home Depot who teaches a class there said that I would
probably not need drainage because of where I live and because it's
only going to be a 3 foot wall. The soil around my place is pretty
shoaly--gravelly? ( I don't know if that's a word ). He said that I can
put gravel, and drainage in but I'd be doing something that mother
nature's already done.
I'll gladly spend the money on something that I know is going to
benefit this project in the long run. I just want to also take
advantage of money saving measures if I can without hurting the overall
outcome. There's a fine balance and I need to find it.
Thanks all.
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Posted by jeffc on September 22, 2006, 11:55 pm
> It just seems wasteful to bury that nice, $4 rock. There has to be an
> inexpensive solution that does not involve mixing concrete.
It's easy and cheap considering alternatives.
> Also, the guy at Home Depot who teaches a class there said that I would
> probably not need drainage because of where I live and because it's
> only going to be a 3 foot wall. The soil around my place is pretty
> shoaly--gravelly? ( I don't know if that's a word ). He said that I can
> put gravel, and drainage in but I'd be doing something that mother
> nature's already done.
The drainage for these things is built in if you don't mortar. Water just
seeps through the joints between your stones.
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> wall. After that, I'm going to build terraces toward the back of my
> patio to hold back a dirt hill.
> http://www.keystonewalls.com/pages/Homeowner_pages/H.products.html
> I chose Keystone's Legacy stone because I can get it at Home Depot,
> it's cheap and they'll deliver many palettes of this stuff for $65. RCP
> block wanted $800 to deliver four palettes--the choice was easy. Also,
> the stones lock in place and don't have to use anything else other than
> to stack them on top of each other. I've never worked with concrete so
> I don't even want to get into that *yet*.
> My questions are:
> 1. How deep does the foundation of the wall have to be? I'd hate the
> thought of making a four inch trench with a sand base, and then
> burrying attractive (expensive) rock to support the wall. Can't I use
> dirt filled cinder blocks, would that support the wall? Please folks,
> keep in mind that I've never done this before so I appologize if that's
> a stupid question.