The ideal height for a dry stacked retaining wall is 18 to 22 inches so you can sit on it when your gardening chores are done.
Dry stack stone retaining wall construction.
Hands on techniques for building a dry stone wall stripping out.
Keep the largest ones nearest the wall to aid building.
Each layer of a dry stack wall is called a course.
Typical applications for mortarless concrete masonry include basement walls foundation walls retaining walls exterior above grade walls internal bearing walls and partitions.
Take out the main stones and put the top ones furthest from the wall.
Excavate to a depth of 6 inches along the entire base of the stone retaining wall using the string marker as a guide.
Even if you don t plan to sit on your wall 3 feet is about as high as i would recommend building any dry stacked wall.
Dig a ditch the length of the wall that is about a foot wide and 8 to 12 inches 20 5 cm 30 5 cm below the ground level.
Higher walls should be engineered for stability.
Use a hand or power tamper to level the base.
Plan for good drainage proper width height ratio and distance between tiers.
The easiest way to build a stone retaining wall is to use the dry stack method that requires no mortar between stones and does not need a concrete footing like mortared walls do.
Dry stack masonry construction can prove to be a cost effective solution for residential and low rise commercial applications because of it s speed and ease of.
When putting your wall together mix the stone sizes throughout the wall rather than using only large stones at the bottom and small toward the top.
Lay high quality stones and use a geotextile backing to ensure the wall lasts a long time.
Building a retaining wall is suitable for diyers as long as the wall is a maximum of 3 feet tall in most areas.
Try to cut the ditch into native soil rather than loose added soil as the former provides a more stable foundation for the wall.
Leave a gap of about 60cm alongside the wall for.
Anything taller should be handled by professionals.
Here are the basic steps involved in building a dry stack stone wall.
To build a natural dry stone retaining wall prepare the site.
This ditch will act as the wall s footing and prevent the rocks from sliding forward due to pressure from the earth behind.
For dry stack walls the base should be as wide as the wall is tall.