A Solid Retaining Wall for Your Home
When it comes to building walls, there’s no one right way. But if you’re looking for a simple way to keep your home stable and secure, building retaining walls is a good place to start. Retaining block walls are great because they can be easily customized to fit any project. In this guide, we’ll show you how to build these simple blocks that will help strengthen your home foundation and reduce the risk of damage in the future.
Dig a Trench Along the Outline of Your Wall
Dig a trench at least 12 inches deep along the outline of your wall. If you’re building a retaining wall that will hold back earth, dig at least 12 inches deep. If you’re building dry stack walls, dig at least 18 inches deeper for a stronger wall structure foundation.
Put Gravel Within the Trench and Compact It With a Hand Tamper
Once you’ve got your gravel, put it in the trench. Then, use a hand tamper to compact it and make sure that all of the gravel is compacted evenly throughout. Use an appropriate weight for your wall size. Five pounds per square foot is recommended for a finished surface area. It’s also recommended to use a steel or aluminum tamping tool because they’re more durable than plastic ones.
Add a Drain Pipe to Promote Drainage
Add a flexible drain pipe to your wall. This will allow water to flow down into your retaining block foundation, but it will also help keep debris out of the ground. Use pebbles and sand to promote drainage from under your foundation, which will help prevent unwanted moisture from building up in between bricks or stones below.
Place Your Blocks and Fill the Cracks With Mortar Mix
After the sand has been placed and tamped down, use a rubber mallet to tap each block down until they rest flat on top of the sand. If you want your walls to be as solid as possible, it’s important to fill the cracks between blocks with mortar mix. Use a trowel and shovel to spread the mortar mix into each crack until they are filled. Then let it dry for 24 hours before adding more plaster or stucco overtop of it.
If you need any assistance with constructing retaining block walls for your home in the Albuquerque, NM area, All Angles Masonry is willing to help you. Call us at (505) 209-3665 today!