How To Build A Retaining Wall 4 Feet High

A 4 foot high 15 foot long wall could be holding back as much as 20 tons of saturated soil.

How to build a retaining wall 4 feet high.

To create a solid foundation dig a trench for the first course of your interlocking retaining wall blocks to sit in and make sure the ground remains even throughout. Soil is heavy especially when soaking wet from a recent rainstorm so a basic retaining wall four feet tall and 15 feet long potentially has to support up to 20 tons of soil pressure. If your retaining wall is going to be 40 feet 12 m long you need 14 posts 40 length of the wall divided by 3 space between each post for your wall. Cross section of a retaining wall a cinder block retaining wall is only as straight and solid as the base it s built on.

How high should my retaining wall be. Double the wall height to 8 feet and you would need a wall that s eight times stronger to do the same job. To get started you ll need to dig a level trench and add sand or crushed limestone to it as a base leveling material. There are many things that need to go into building a retaining wall before the first shovel of dirt is ever moved.

Use the plan design menu above to check out all of the information we have on how to build. There are a number of factors that come into play to dictate the height of your retaining walls. Tall wall excavate a trench deep enough to accommodate 4 to 6 in. Of leveling sand and half the height of the first course of blocks.

On average most retaining walls are between 3 and 4 feet high. With forces like these in play you should limit your retaining wall efforts to walls under 4 feet tall 3 feet for mortarless stone. Follow the block manufacturer s instructions for wall height limits. By using the information we have on building retaining walls you will get everything you need to plan design and build the perfect retaining wall project.

Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding. How to build a retaining wall. This is optimal because it doesn t require any anchors or expensive engineering methods though in some cases the wall must be higher. 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.

Using a tape measure decide the length and the width of your retaining wall then mark off the area with the garden stakes and string. How to build a concrete wall figure a. The success of your retaining wall depends on a level base. An average brick retaining wall that is 30 feet long and 4 feet high without any built in steps or extra reinforcements is typically around 4 220 the average homeowner will pay 35 per square foot and spend between 2 450 and 6 650 to build a retaining wall.