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Author Topic: Retaining wall construction.  (Read 3440 times)

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Offline husker77c

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Retaining wall construction.
« on: March 29, 2016, 03:36:33 PM »
If any of you have ever been to Pittsburgh you know that none of it is flat.  We have about a 1/2 acre of land but it drops off about 6' over 30' off of our parking area then the slope gradually lessens down to almost flat at the back of the property. 

I am getting quotes to build a retaining wall to expand our parking area this summer and to have a place for a future garage. 

Has anyone built a wall this high?   The back of the wall will be close to 6' high.  If it was a foot or two I might try to build it myself but that high I know I'm going to have to have a professional do it.   Can't have it fail with two big diesel trucks sitting on it.  Or a building in the future.

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Offline stlaser

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2016, 03:46:14 PM »
Helped a buddy of mine build a couple over 8' tall. Get the foundation laid level & compacted correctly & make sure you put an adequate drain tile system in behind at base (use plenty of pea gravel around tile) and there should not be an issue.
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Offline Dawg25385

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2016, 04:09:17 PM »
At 6', I wonder how close it would be cost wise to just having a concrete wall formed and poured, especially if there's any thoughts of a building in the future.

You're going to want to consider pouring a concrete footing for a block wall anyway...
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Offline stlaser

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2016, 04:18:19 PM »
1' bucket on a hoe & you can easily poor you a footer. All the labor on a concrete wall like that is forming.

HD rents mini hoes that would be ideal to use in a situation like this
« Last Edit: March 29, 2016, 04:20:46 PM by stlaser »
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Offline husker77c

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2016, 04:50:06 PM »
I had thought about forming and pouring a wall,  i would think you would need a fairly large footer buried at the bottom of the tall end to keep the whole U shape from sliding down the hill.   but it would be a challenge to get a concrete truck to the back wall.  Would almost have to rent a pump. 

I thought about timbers and installing a deadman back into the ground every few rows up. 

I would have to rent a roller or a jumping jack to compact the soil every few truck loads of fill.
« Last Edit: March 29, 2016, 04:53:26 PM by husker77c »

Offline stlaser

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2016, 05:01:50 PM »
We have a lot of lakes where I'm from, to build sea walls on these lakes & most of them are very hilly around the lakes with homes between sea wall and the lake shore. They either build a chute to let concrete flow down or lots of man power with wheel barrels......
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2016, 10:34:08 PM »
http://www.familyhandyman.com/landscaping/retaining-wall/how-to-build-retaining-walls-stronger/view-all

Good info here.  drainage, set back, fill compaction, and the footings are all important.  Nothing you can't handle
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Offline DDS

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2016, 09:25:11 AM »
where i'm from(MASS) anything over 4' has to be engineered & stamped, just an fyi...

Offline stlaser

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2016, 09:28:47 AM »
A stop at the local plan commission / building dept should tell you what you can & cannot do in your neck of the woods. Another thought is to research it on county website. Here where I'm at in the people's republic of boulder county a lot of info has been available on county website.
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Offline husker77c

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Re: Retaining wall construction.
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2016, 09:56:41 PM »

where i'm from(MASS) anything over 4' has to be engineered & stamped, just an fyi...

This is why I have a feeling I will end up hiring someone.  Or re thinking the whole proposition and making a seperate parking area lower down the hill where it's more flat.


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