Raised Patio question

I plan to bulid a raised patio using a retaining wall system. I live in southern Minnesota. I plan to create a horseshoe shaped wall (about an 8 foot radius), it will extend from the left side of my patio door to the right side of the door. I will need to put fill material inside of the retaining wall and up against my house. The height of the patio will be above the cement block foundation of my home. I thought I would remove the siding from my house and apply an "Ice and water barrier" to the exterior wall, taking it down over the foundation. I have a 2X6 exterior wall on my house. Will there be too much preassure on the stud wall from the compacted fill? How about moisture? Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

If it is just a few inches above the top of your foundation (within the rim joist area), I would not worry. you should have the joist ends or blocking to help distribute the load to the floor system. The wood should be able to handle that small horizontal load.

Make sure you have subsurface drainage under the patio area - your patio will be more stable and the lateral pressures will be less. The general design of a segmented retaining wall on an 8' radius will probably drain well enough naturally unless you have some bad soil (silt, clay).

If you have access to the inside, you may want to make sure you have the appropriate anchor bolts AND nuts even though it is not likely the house would slide. It is surprising how many anchor bolt nuts never get put on by framers and are discovered after storm damage.

Dick