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 Can you teach me how to build a retaining wall? 
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Biggest tip that I learned the hard way.....

Have a stiff brush (and scraper or hammer) and remove ALL sand/dirt/cement spall from the faces of the blocks when you set them. One small rock or high spot will make the blocks rock in place and result in a loose wall that will move when bumped. Rocking blocks only lead to trouble. I ruined many pairs of HEAVY leather gloves 'wiping' the blocks with just my hands....

Have two levels - a 3 footer for level along the line of block - should span 3 blocks - and a torpedo level for front to back. MOST important on the first course. After that its easy.

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Mon May 16, 2022 8:33 am
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JohnMBrowning wrote:
Biggest tip that I learned the hard way.....

Have a stiff brush (and scraper or hammer) and remove ALL sand/dirt/cement spall from the faces of the blocks when you set them. One small rock or high spot will make the blocks rock in place and result in a loose wall that will move when bumped. Rocking blocks only lead to trouble. I ruined many pairs of HEAVY leather gloves 'wiping' the blocks with just my hands....

Have two levels - a 3 footer for level along the line of block - should span 3 blocks - and a torpedo level for front to back. MOST important on the first course. After that its easy.


1000%+

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Mon May 16, 2022 8:38 am
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If you are using blocks with the lip on the back/bottom ---- be sure to remove any casting spall from right along the lip --- there would always be some that would make the blocks rock or not 'face up' right. And if you are curving a wall with lip blocks - be sure to hammer off the lip so that it is below flush with the face. I got to the point where I would remove the lip completely so that I could maintain the proper step back on the face --- otherwise the curves REALLY step back.

Funny/weird/annoying thing I ran into --- I had gotten 6 pallets of blocks --- all going well, until one of the pallets had blocks that were varying +/- 1/16" in thickness !?!?!? Of course the +s would always line up with the -s and I ended up with a wonky looking wall. Luckily after time, the weight of the wall tended to even it out..... and I stopped caring about it.

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Plan B is actually repeating Plan A.... it just involves much more alcohol.

Of the ten voices I hear in my head, only three keep telling me NOT to shoot....
Do I go with the majority or common sense?


Mon May 16, 2022 9:33 am
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Small wall is done. I actually bonded the blocks after wiping down. Feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeels solid. Ran out of fill dirt and fancy 1/2-1" drain rock for the front (those suckers aren't cheap!)


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Mon May 23, 2022 2:27 pm
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Looks great Pablo! :thumbsup2:

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Mon May 23, 2022 3:37 pm
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.44$ # for river rock. Ugh.

My wrists hurt like a mofo.

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Mon May 23, 2022 4:40 pm
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It looks ok but I do not see any buttress on the back side.


Tue May 24, 2022 8:33 pm
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hartcreek wrote:
It looks ok but I do not see any buttress on the back side.


A buttress would not be behind the wall, it would be in front of it. Since that wall is short and bonded, and it's not really "retaining" anything, it's fine.

JohnMBrowning wrote:
If you are using blocks with the lip on the back/bottom ---- be sure to remove any casting spall from right along the lip --- there would always be some that would make the blocks rock or not 'face up' right. And if you are curving a wall with lip blocks - be sure to hammer off the lip so that it is below flush with the face. I got to the point where I would remove the lip completely so that I could maintain the proper step back on the face --- otherwise the curves REALLY step back.



Good advice on removing the "spall", not so good on removing the retaining lip on the back of the blocks. The lip is what locks it together from forces from the rear, "Retaining" pressure from behind.
If you remove that lip, it's just blocks stacked on each other that will move without a lot of pressure. If you aren't really "retaining" anything, go for it but i still would not do that. The Lip is there for a reason....engineering.

Corners...you can't do 90 degree corners with those blocks, or they will set back. 45 degree's is about max. I have a wall built from the larger blocks in my backyard that is actually a "Retaining" wall for a hill.

Properly done with a Concrete footing it will be level and strong for decades. I did mine 15 years ago and it's as level and locked into place as the day i built it.

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Mr. Q wrote: so basically, if you have to smoke some asshole, make sure they become fertilizer and then Bounce? got it.

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Tue May 24, 2022 9:50 pm
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hartcreek wrote:
It looks ok but I do not see any buttress on the back side.


No need.

Small non structural wall, blocks are ever so slightly stepped back, bonded with architectural adhesive and backfilled with compacted (good draining) fill.

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Wed May 25, 2022 4:18 am
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