How to Build a Retaining Wall

a paved strong wall project will enhance the beauty of any lawn landscape or garden pave stone wall stones come in a number of colors shapes and textures and can be used to build a retaining wall section off planter beds create a decorative ring around your favorite tree add a terrace to your garden or reclaim space from a sloping section of your yard before you begin you will need to determine how many courses or layers of walls stone you'll need by estimating the approximate size of the wall you want to build your local pave stone authorized distributor will be happy to help you with this next gather the following tools equipment and materials gloves and safety glasses shovel tape measure mini sledgehammer four inch chisel carpenters level torpedo level nylon Masons string pencil string level stakes hand tamp wheelbarrow and a guillotine splitter you will also need pave stone pavers sand for a base and for some projects pave stone all-purpose stone for backfill your local pave stone authorized distributor will be happy to recommend a paper base or sand that's suitable for your project as well as help you determine how much you'll need there are four basic steps for installing a wall project using paved stone wall stones preparing the site preparing the base laying the stones and cutting the stones there are many choices available today in wall colors textures and shapes the stones we would use in this demonstration are pave stones anchor Windsor stones start by marking the ground area where you want to build your wall with spray paint then place tall stakes along the paint line as shown next run a string between the stakes at the height you want your wall to reach make sure the string is level by using your string level since the walled stones are four inches in height you will need to measure down the stakes at four inch increments marking each increment with the pencil keep in mind that for tall walls walls requiring more than three courses or layers of walled stones you must bury the first course fully small walls walls three courses or less require that you only partially bury the first course at least two to three inches into the ground the next step is to excavate the ground and install the base where you will set the first course of Walled stones how deep and thick your base needs to be depends on your wall height for small walls which are three courses or less of four inch wall stones dig out the trench three inches deep for tall walls that are four to seven courses high of four-inch walled stones the trench must be eight inches T both wall Heights require a trench that is 12 inches wide after digging and tapped down the floor of the trench with either a hand tamp or a compactor now you are ready to put in the base for a small wall all you need for a sufficient base is one inch of coarse sand place sand in the trench and then level the sand by smoothing it out as shown tall walls need a rigid base four inches thick for a rigid base use pave stone paper base or prepare a six to one mixture of dry sand and Portland cement that is six shovelfuls of sand for every one shovelful of Portland cement and make sure it is well blended be sure to keep this mixture dry as it will set if it gets wet whichever you use fill a length of the trench to a depth of four inches use a two-by-four to smooth out the base material and make sure it is level throughout in both directions now readjust the string height on your stakes by moving them down to the top of your first wall level you are now ready to start laying the wall stones if your wall is set on ground that rises or slopes begin at the lowest point now set the stones in the base side by side leveling each stone in both directions with a torpedo level as you go once the base course is placed set the next course by placing each stone in a staggered pattern making sure that each stone bridges the two stones below it so that the joints do not line up as you place a stone on top of a course pull it forward to secure it in place when building your wall you may need to lay partial stones to complete a course if you need to cut stones to Harshal lengths mark the length you need on the stone be sure to wear protective eyewear and then use the mini sledgehammer and four inch chisel to score the length you need on all sides of the stone if you need stones to be split in half you'll find several stones on each palette that have grooves down the center of the back to make splitting easier then on a sidewalk or a hard surface pound the scoreline with a mini sledge hammer and chisel until it breaks you can also use a guillotine splitter a guillotine splitter is both quick and easy and makes accurate clean cuts to finish out your project backfill the wall with native soil and compact in four inch increments for small walls just use the soil you excavated from the trench for tall walls use a clean granular backfill like fine gravel or pea gravel at a thickness of about 6 inches to assist in draining fine soils may wash through the joints from time to time to prevent this install a weed block or landscape filter fabric by rolling it out along the back of the wall before you backfill lay the top of the roll halfway over the last row of stones and set the top layer on the wall this will hold the fabric in place we also highly recommend that you glue the top stone or a capstone to the row beneath with concrete adhesive from the paint department to make the wall system more secure congratulations you just completed a valuable landscape improvement to your home step back and enjoy your accomplishment with the personal satisfaction of having created a beautiful outdoor environment that is uniquely yours easy to maintain and one that you your family and friends will enjoy for years to come [Music]

Channel: PavestoneCompany

Views: 1,760,665

Keywords: How to Build a Retaining Wall, Retaining Wall Installation, How to Install Retaining Walls

Id: mp5OLKynS3k

Length: 7min 38sec (458 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 18 2010