Retaining wall was destroyed. Looking for options to rebuild it!
I had my sewer line replaced. In the process my retaining wall was destroyed. A 100 year old retaining wall. It was sunk when they dug underneath it. It was the city's contractor that did it when they dug their side of the pipe replacement, but that's for litigation to decide. While that is in the works, I want to look at options on what I can do.
Initially, the retain wall was lined up right to the edge of the front porch. It was a level wall that came to meet at the sidewalk at level. Now that it is gone, I like the bigger front lawn on that side. The issue is the dramatic slope by the house. I had originally thought of doing a retaining wall again, but push it out further, so, if they ever have to dig again, the wall will not be anywhere close. Doing that would require more dirt, more money... but I also like it with a 4 foot wall drop-off at the back end.
So, my thinking now is, if it is possible, just build one retaining wall perpendicular to what the retaining wall was so it makes the front lawn on that side as wide as possible with a gentle slope in most places. The perpendicular wall would start at approximately 3.5ft down to meet the dirt. I will also be putting up a fence around the area and getting rid of the bushes. Dogs use the front yard, and they need to be kept safely in the yard.
The lighter stone for the foundation goes down another 10ft from where it meets the brick. They had to dig down 8ft to get to the sewer pipe and that pipe is at least 2ft above the foundation of the wine cellar which is right behind that wall.
Is this a viable option? What concerns should I be thinking of? Should I fear any erosion from the slope that doesn't have any retaining wall?
Red lines are what the old wall was. White lines what I'm thinking. There's a screen cap where you could see how it was.
Is it possible sure, a lot depends if this is something your going yourself or having done.
If your thinking a brick/mason type wall once you get over a couple feet tall then things get more complex, you need good footers, anchors, and drainage to keep the wall stable, earth will just push them over with time.
Another option is a boulder wall. I have built and have some currently. Prior house had series of walls, 180 tons worth, some over 6' tall with large 18-24" dia rocks but I have a tractor with loader.
The nice thing about boulder walls is that first they are not formal looking, they are basically just set and stacked on the ground so no footing or drainage, but they are heavy.
Either way, the larger the material the better, those small retaining wall pieces you can get at BBS simply don't work for much over a ft tall.
Do not want to use concrete again. Will be doing it myself. What size/weight are we talking about for boulders? I don't mind that look. Something I could do on my own?
Post #9 in this thread shows a stacked stone wall but mortared and smaller stones than Marq1 mentioned. Professionally installed but could be DIY. See thread for cost and time details.
Your wall looks great. Far bigger than the wall I want to do. It will end up being about three feet high down to meeting or almost meeting the driveway.
Have to figure my wall will be 4ft high at the start and go to ground level over the span of 5ft. It's going to be small. That's why my initial thought was to do retaining wall pavers with the BBS stones.
That's why my initial thought was to do retaining wall pavers with the BBS stones.
Get the biggest blocks you can find, check your local concrete/landscaping outlets to find what they offer, they have a larger, physically bigger, variety. Do it right!!
Just to be clear, the retaining wall you desire will be to hold dirt in the front yard from spilling into the back behind the front face of the house? If so, using large DYI blocks might not be aesthetically pleasing because of the step down in such a short distance Have you thought about starting a retaining wall at the front sidewalk/driveway meet (or property line) extending back then making a right angle (or quick curve) to connect to the house such that the top of the wall is roughly horizontal? You could even start the wall back from the sidewalk if you didn't want it to be so tall. In my area, anything over 4' (from the bottom of footing) requires a permit. Having a 40 degree slope of ground is rather unusable.
I would build the wall with pre cast concrete retaining wall blocks. They are engineered to be retaining walls and are very reliable. The blocks are light enough that everything can be lifted and placed by one person. And the blocks are available in many different designs and colors to you have some options.
Hello community! I just finished pressure washing and stripping the paint off this front porch slab; the house flippers put cheap paint on it last year and it was peeling. The slab itself is in good shape, and it grades down away from the house. From this point I think I have two directions to go in.
1. I could stain it. The only concern I have is there are existing stains on the slab, and it is a little discolored in some areas. I just wonder how this would affect the stain with those things known? I believe I would use a water based stain and seal it afterward. Perhaps a darker color such as gray will help hide those imperfections? I have never used concrete stain before so I am not sure how it reacts with existing stains. Do you recommend any certain brands?
2. I could tile it. I think this would be pretty straightforward as long as I use a good outdoor floor rated tile, and have it waterfall over the edges.
Side note: do you see that raised area by the door? It is about 1/8 inch raised compared to the rest of the slab. It was probably the original foundation. It is not in good shape. Could I add some concrete to this to raise it just a little and for the main purpose of smoothing it out? I was reading that a polymer based concrete could work for this purpose as regular concrete won't do well being laid out that thin on top of existing concrete.
In short.....is the slab in good shape for staining or should I abandon that and tile it? Also, what to do about that raised area by the door? Thanks for any help!
[img]https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/640x480/porch1_541db40d2a1ceaa144dacc5ac59ef1c070937330.jpg[/img]
[img]https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/640x480/porch2_39f3e51f4f7dc06ae7404134916da34587994ed1.jpg[/img]
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[img]https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/640x480/porch4_a66779fcc9122f96f7c04c8164ed4d66415e51ac.jpg[/img]
[i]This is the raised area I was talking about. [/i]
If this is not the right forum, please move this post. Thank you.
As you can tell, the top is bowing down. What should I do? Thank you.
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[i]Top plate bowing down[/i]
[img]https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.doityourselft.com-vbulletin/692x289/garage_7ed5cc520fffe9be8c15f93aa3b7b35d3cba3214.jpg[/img]
03-25-23, 05:53 AM
