Retaining Wall Gravel Base

To keep the blocks on your retaining wall level and structurally sound you need a base layer of several inches of well compacted sharp gravel.

Retaining wall gravel base. Retaining walls are designed to hold up a surcharge of soil such as a sloping hill or raised planter box. Next compact it and level it using either a hand or mechanical compactor. Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding. For lower walls 2 we put 1 minimum of gravel 6 of sand then reinforced concrete base or concrete block below grade.

Crucial for supporting the rest of the wall a good base is made of compacted soil and at least a six inch layer of compacted sand and gravel. The taller a wall is the further below ground level it should be set. Also called drain tile at the base of the wall. The interlocking retaining wall block can be used to build walls up to 24 to 36 inches high depending on the size of the block.

More information on retaining walls where the base trench steps up a slope. Similar to gravel paver base is a form of construction aggregate that contains crushed rocks such as limestone. This is standard for all. Retaining wall base trench.

A retaining wall must have the strength to hold back the weight of the soil plants and sometimes small structures behind it. Round rocks such as pea gravel rolls and dislodge under pressure resulting in failure of the retaining wall. Our trenches were more like 18 24 deep or more depending on the grade and about 18 wide. Lay a 4 6 inch layer of the crushed base material in the trench.

All retaining walls share some common building components in their construction. Due to soil erosion your retaining wall should be built on a solid foundation made from paver base. Retaining walls can be constructed using a variety of materials from poured concrete and large timbers to natural stones even bricks. Choose a paver base with landscape rocks between 1 2 inch and 3 4 inch in size.

150 mm plus an additional 1 in. A handheld tamping tool can really help in getting the gravel level but you re right one stray stone can throw off the entire operation. The base of a retaining wall should be set below ground level. The wall gets its strength from a sturdy base consisting of gravel.

Below is an overview of the different types of walls and these common components. 600 mm wide the length of the wall the depth of the trench will be 6 in. 25 mm for each 1 ft 300 mm of wall height for the amount or buried block that is needed. A level base on which the wall sits.