I have been debating on what I want to do with the perimeter of my yard daily and how to go about getting more privacy. My entire back yard is fenced in with a block wall. Each side of the yard basically has a different height of a wall. Almost like someone got majority of the way and said "eh this will do" and just left it as is. The back of my property is pretty private due to many trees as well as most of the east side of the property. The west side of my property is a free for all for anyone who wants to just have a look over and see whats going on. The wall is about a foot lower and the pool deck also raises up about a foot towards the back where as if we are sitting near the spa my neighbors have a pretty good shot. Besides the privacy my newly adopted pound doggy can easily clear this part of the wall. It seems most neighbors walls are another 1ft-2ft higher.

Any idea what steps are needed to add on to an existing wall to raise it up? My buddy had it done when he did his pool so it didn't know the cost and also my block wall isn't the full cinder block width the whole run, its skinnier, maybe 4" wide and has what I believe is the main support area every 10ft or so. I am trying to find a reputable company to come out but work has me to busy right now to figure out an actual set time frame when I am home so I am hoping to get an idea if its even worth the hassle or just look into other alternatives.

Thanks

 

You probably have 6" thick block walls that are spanning between the thicker portions (pilasters). That is if you mean the wall is more than 4" wide..

Many walls in your area are built using block that are 4", 6" or 8" high, which is different than the thickness.

Adding to the height, you problem will being able to extend the pilasters structurally and the size, depth and type of footing. The top part of the wall picks up more wind pressure than the lower portion.

Find a reputable fence wall builder that has been around a while and have him look at it. He may want to probe a bit to explore what the foundation/footing is like before making a suggestion. Depending on when the walls were built, and they were approved/permitted (which is likely for a party privacy wall in your area), the city may have the standard designs that are pre-approved.

You certainly do not want your new taller wall to become a sidewalk and end up in your pool/patio.

Say high to my cousin. She also lives in Chandler when she is not in Maui. - Someday, I will take her up on her offers to visit.

Dick

 

Thanks for the response, I figure it will be a fairly big job because of the structure so I figured I'd ask where I stood at least. I know when my buddy has his wall added onto he had the bigger/thicker blocks so it wasn't as big of a hassle. I just scheduled someone to come out over the weekend to help re-design my pool deck area and a few other things and I believe they can point me in the right direction with the wall as well. How would they add the new block to the wall even if it has a strong enough footer? Due to the thickness of the wall since it isn't all that much I don't know how they even stacked it the way they did.

A buddy of mine who does landscaping even mentioned adding onto the wall using a different technique which would involve more of a natural tree and ivy type deal but I'm not fully clear on what he means.

Thanks again for the response and what is your cousin doing back here when she can be in Maui.........

 

Not completely private, but I added some framed 2' redwood lattice to sections on top of my block wall that were kind of low.

 

I was thinking the same as fxpose. Framing up a short stub wall of nice weather-able wood, with slats. I believe the block would make it too top heavy, as Dick stated. OR, concertina wire, depending on your neighborhood JK.

Larry

 

the question is not the weight of the wall, but the extra amount of wind/seismic it catches, the connection of the wall to the footing and width of the footing to resist the overturning.

Usually, the up-to-date communities that use a lot of permanent privacy walls have some standard designs available for free to contractors an homeowners. An older portion of chandler could fall through the cracks.

Dick

 

Very older version!! Yeah, that is why I was thinking of slatting it so the wind would pass through it and not cause any more lateral forces than already are approved. Also the ease of building it if you don't know "concrete". Lifting block 6 to 8 feet is a royal PITA.

 

It looks like I am going to stay away from adding actual block to the wall to raise it up. Had some estimates done for my pool deck remodel and with the new look I am going to try and find a way to just use some sort of exotic landscaping to add to it. Prob going to add some more palms and others tree's/plants. Now its just setting up the layout to gain the most privacy and still look good. Thanks guys