Building a retaining wall is an essential and necessary step in the process of building a house. Walls are needed to protect the foundation from being washed away during heavy rain and prevent the land from eroding if it is on a slope.
As part of this article, we will give you instructions on building your own retaining wall and showing you some tips for making sure that it lasts!
What Is A Retaining Wall?
Retaining walls are constructed to prevent back soil from sloping away. This can be achieved with the use of blocks, bricks, or even concrete block walls.
Tips For Building Your Own Retaining Wall:
Measure your yard before building to make sure you know how much space you need for the entire width and height; this will determine what type (i.e., loose fill) material you’ll need to build it up fully on both sides.
Make sure no pipes or cables are going through the area where you want to put your wall – these might be underground but still cause an issue when trying to dig them out later.
Often grass won’t grow well if there’s a retaining wall, so you might want to consider putting down a mulch or landscaping fabric before building the wall.
How To Build A Retaining Wall?
Building a retaining wall is easy! Follow these few tips and tricks, and your beautiful new structure will last.
Measure Your Yard Before Building The Wall: First things first – measure your yard with precision to know how much space you need for the length and height of the structure. This will determine what type of material (i.e., loose fill) you’ll need to build the structure up on both sides. If measurements are precise enough, this can be nailed into place without any mortar by following installation instructions on packages instead. Still, if not, you’ll need mortar to hold it in place.
Measure the Height of Your Wall: Another important thing to know is how high your wall should be. For most residential use, a height between four and six feet will suffice – anything higher than this for common construction may not look aesthetically pleasing or “fit” with the rest of the yard space. You can also change up heights if needed later on by adding more loose-fill, but make sure you start at least two inches taller than what you want so that there’s enough room for additional layers as time goes on!
Lay Out Product And Prepare To Build The Wall: Once all measurements are finalized (i.e., length, width, desired height), lay down the product according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Loose-fill should be laid in layers, starting with the first layer closest to your desired height and ending with the last (usually lowest) layer furthest away from that height.
After this is done, you’re ready to start building! Make sure to use a level on each row as well as double-check measurements of length before continuing. You can also make stabilizing stakes for the wall by filling PVC pipes or other long cylindrical objects with concrete and placing them perpendicular under loose fill at both ends.
If you plan on being more ambitious than just one retaining wall, these will help keep everything stable when added later on down the line.
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