Pinterest Facebook Twitter Come see how to build a spare wall. Our beautifully curved retaining wall features a top to make it more comfortable to sit, steps to access the garden, a buried drainage pipe for running water, plus information on how to keep spiders from moving. Finish the space with a DIY fire pit, DIY patio table with built-in drink coolers, and some outdoor patio lights. How to build a retaining wall using Pavestone’s RumbleStone Rustic Building Blocks We have worked in partnership with Pavestone on this project. . All opinions are mine This post contains affiliate links. Read our full disclosure policy here. Designing our small backyard for specific purposes made the patio look bigger and made it more usable! We highly suggest that you make a final plan for your yard so that you love it as much as we do! Here’s our blueprint for an entire backyard plan: In design, a retaining wall is right in the middle, wrapping around an existing pear tree with a fire pit nearby. These are two of the main architectural elements that we will see from our kitchen window. The fire pit is positioned to center around the existing pear tree and the window of the house. While we were working on the patio project, I started doing some research on how to build a retaining wall we love. I wanted a stone wall and found RumbleStone outdoor building blocks by Pavestone, and that was the beautiful look I was looking for! The main selling point was that I would be able to build this raised garden bed to my design and have a fire pit to match. perfect! How to build a retaining wall: Materials Our retaining wall dimensions are 48 square feet face (i.e. the front of the exposed wall) 32 feet high 19 inches high (including cover) 14 inches wide The wall has three curves and has a small set of three steps to take you To the larger garden area. This is needed: (5) RumbleStone Block Pallets – Sierra Blend Color – I used a total of five different block sizes and types: three different sizes for rectangles, squares and trapezoid. (15) Construction Adhesive (30 oz) – to fasten the blocks together to prevent movement. Because I was building a 19-height wall that would double as a bench seat and because it would bear some soil pressure on the back side, I needed to prevent water from flowing through the wall. I also installed a drain pipe, which required: (30) Drain Pipe 3 – Drain the water away from the wall at the base. (1) Cubic yards of gravel – to fill the top of the rear drain pipe. How to Build a Spare Wall: Paving Saw Tools – Rented from Home Depot – $ 65 per day – to cut 3 1/2 ″ thick block. Big Capping Gun – For larger construction adhesive bottles. Hand broom – gravel sweep after filling the gaps. Floor broom – gravel cleaning. Wheelbarrow – pulling blocks to the site. Shovel – Moving the straight metal edge of the gravel – Marking lines for cutting blocks Wax pencil – Marking lines for cutting blocks Tape measure – Measuring the pieces How to build a spare wall: Step-by-step process 1. Prepare the base When I pour the yard, I’ve made sure I added the rebar To concrete on the edges, to give it extra strength to withstand the additional weight of the wall. This gave me the perfect flat surface to stick a block wall on. If you are installing the wall to a different surface, follow Pavestone’s mounting instructions to set up the plinth. 2. The drain pipe and base layer of the blocks Before I started putting the block in place, I attached the drain pipe and placed it next to the concrete patio where I cut the soil to fit the tube. This is where the drain pipe from the house starts and works its way into the garden. (The photo was taken after a few layers fell off the wall, sorry!) Then I started with the base layer of trapezoidal and large squares and rectangles. Once I placed the first layer, I checked the shape of the wall looked good and made sure the radius of the curves was as correct as I could (using a center point and string to arch it perfectly). I chose to use all the big blocks to give the retaining wall a very solid base. Then I applied a good amount of Building Adhesive to each block and flipped it in place. (The smiley faces are not required, but were appreciated by my little girls. Also, this photo was taken a few rows in the project!) 3. Leave the basic treatment, then get to work! After the base was plastered and cured for a few days. I worked on the next layer. The entire wall took about three weeks to do by myself. I worked on it when I could, about 2-4 hours at a time for the most part. I’m fine with that. It gave me time to get it done the way I wanted it. With a few layers down, you can see how I used alternate block shapes to prevent joints from lining up between each layer of the block. This makes it stronger and looks much better. I also tried not to create a repeating pattern, but randomly took turns over how to place the little blocks in each layer. 4. Backfill with gravel When the retaining wall is long enough, fill the gravel back over the drainpipe. 5. The stairs The stairs were a bit difficult. I decided to keep the drainage pipe under the first step. I had to make sure the slope of the tube stayed in order for it to continue draining the water. Thankfully, I did and were able to hide the tube under the second tray without any problem. I mowed the soil where the stairs would go up, taking very little space to work. Next I poured a layer of 2 gravel for the base of the block for it to sit on. This way I was able to settle it perfectly. I decided to try using this reliable mini tile saw to cut the top of the stairs to the correct shape. Its thickness is 1 1/2 ″, twice the thickness of a small saw that can handle. In order to cut it all off, I had to slice one side then turn it over and cut the other side off. I had to cut the block without the guard and that’s what happened. Spray it all over. Cassity thought she looked so funny and had to take a photo of it. It took me 4 hours to chop up the first step blocks. That was too long. I went out and rented an even bigger saw! Here are some progress snapshots of the steps in progress. Here they are all broken and in place. 6. Connect with layers using the same process as before, build on layers. Stop when you reach your desired height. Near the end of the wall I had to make sure the front and back of the wall looked good. Due to the steepness of the flower garden area, both sides of the wall will be seen here. I love how it turned out! 7. Keep spiders away! Due to the curved design, there were gaps remaining between the trapezoidal pieces. Cassette had a great idea to fill the holes with gravel to help prevent spiders from moving into it. The last thing she wanted was to sit on a beautiful new wall and crawl a spider! I already found three black widow spiders that moved in a few days after the wall was built. Thank you, dear, for the great idea of keeping them away! We used a cup to transport a little pebbles and pour them into the spaces, and a hand broom to sprinkle the gravel in all places. At this point with five layers, I was ready to cut the cover off. 8. The top cover will cover all the gravel holes and make a nice place to sit. We decided to add 1 small flange to the cap for dimensions. He’s perfectly succeeded in cutting a long rectangle in half for the pattern to work. This saved us from having to purchase more blocks. Gorgeous! Due to the curved design, I had to cut each side of the block to make it trapezoidal. This took a lot of time, but it was well worth the final look. I also tapped the cutting edge to roughen it to match the “rustic” drooping edges of the Pavestone blocks. I rented a paving saw for a day and it took an entire day to cut all the cover bits: 8 AM to 9 PM! I think I got my money’s worth. 9. Corner platforms We added two raised platforms on either side of the stairs. They make the perfect place for a potted plant! We love this space after everything we’ve done, including the fire pit we built with matching blocks. Our backyard used to be very simple but now beautiful and we spend as much time there as possible! Please come and follow us on all kinds of projects from basic to fine. Find us on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Facebook. More Backyard Ideas: Stick to here at Remodelaholic and check all outdoor woodworking plans and lessons and never miss our recipes, or remodel and decorate them. First Posted on September 19, 2013 // Last Update Jan 29, 2021 Pinterest Facebook Twitter Remodelaholic is a participant in Amazon Services LLC Associates, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Please see our full disclosure here. Publication date: January 30, 2021, file under: * Our Projects, Building, Canyon House, DIY, How-To, Informative, Landscaping, Tutorials Tagged: Backyard, Canyon House Yard, Landscape, Outdoors, Living in Outdoors, outdoor projects, outdoor spaces, stone wall, yard
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