Retaining Wall Discussion

[LAAFTERHOURS]

Looking for input on a pricing, references, images of work etc for retaining walls. I have a sloped backyard that runs right into my grass so I am looking to cut into the slope 3-5 feet and build a 3 foot retaining wall to add some space to the grass as well as create a visual separation of the grass vs hill. I want to move my garden to the back hill also and leveling the slope out at a wall will help me do that. My wall will be about 50 feet wide x 3 feet high.

Types of walls Im looking at:

Poured Concrete
CMUs with stucco face
Manufactured blocks of some kind

Pros and cons of each:

Poured Concrete – Pros – I recently acid stained my slab which came out great and I could tie in the wall with the patio to make them uniform. Cons – Need forms built, requires a footing, not sure of the cost but I would think 50 feet by 3 feet high with a footing and 4-6 inch thickness would be 3-4 yards? Not sure of local cost of yards of concrete. I could also add a top cap to the wall. My hill is roughly 100 feet from the driveway so not sure if this poses a problem piping concrete in from a truck.

CMUs
Pros – I could tie the wall into the house stucco. Cons – requires a footing, seems like a lot more work and expense than poured concrete. Also not sure its as structurally sound as poured.

Block
Pros – entirely DIY job which wouldnt cost me any labor. Cons – highest price if im correct. Visually some of them are ugly, more expensive ones are better.

I am planning on removing the dirt and storing it on the side of my home until I need to backfill the hill once the wall is in place. This saves a good amount of cash for dirt removal.

Appreciate all your feedback, including your experiences with each, costs if you know of them and references for contractors for pouring concrete.

[bearishgurl]

For the strongest wall, I would do the block wall set in forms poured in a deep trench (permit required). There are thinner blocks available which are easier to work with. Since “cinder blocks” are ugly, you can brown the wall and color-coat the visible parts of it after you build it. If you have the $$, you can use 99-cent std bricks or the more expensive bullnose brick (if the wall is not too long) crossways on the top of the wall for an extra (classy) touch :=]

[bearishgurl]

For the strongest wall, I would do the block wall set in forms poured in a deep trench (permit required). There are thinner blocks available which are easier to work with. Since “cinder blocks” are ugly, you can brown the wall and color-coat the visible parts of it after you build it. If you have the $$, you can use 99-cent std bricks or the more expensive bullnose brick (if the wall is not too long) crossways on the top of the wall for an extra (classy) touch :=]

[bearishgurl]

For the strongest wall, I would do the block wall set in forms poured in a deep trench (permit required). There are thinner blocks available which are easier to work with. Since “cinder blocks” are ugly, you can brown the wall and color-coat the visible parts of it after you build it. If you have the $$, you can use 99-cent std bricks or the more expensive bullnose brick (if the wall is not too long) crossways on the top of the wall for an extra (classy) touch :=]

[bearishgurl]

For the strongest wall, I would do the block wall set in forms poured in a deep trench (permit required). There are thinner blocks available which are easier to work with. Since “cinder blocks” are ugly, you can brown the wall and color-coat the visible parts of it after you build it. If you have the $$, you can use 99-cent std bricks or the more expensive bullnose brick (if the wall is not too long) crossways on the top of the wall for an extra (classy) touch :=]

[bearishgurl]

For the strongest wall, I would do the block wall set in forms poured in a deep trench (permit required). There are thinner blocks available which are easier to work with. Since “cinder blocks” are ugly, you can brown the wall and color-coat the visible parts of it after you build it. If you have the $$, you can use 99-cent std bricks or the more expensive bullnose brick (if the wall is not too long) crossways on the top of the wall for an extra (classy) touch :=]

[sdrealtor]

If possible keep your wall 30 inches or less which I am almost certain is the cut off. Over 30 inches becomes an engineered retaining wall and quite expensive. If its 30 inches or less it is a sitting wall and does not need to be a permitted retaining wall. Of course, you will want to verify this for yourself but this is what I went through 12 years ago and why my wall is 30 inches high

MIne was a cinderbock wall wall covered in stucco to match my house and capped with the same flagstone that accents all my hardscaping both front and back. It has held up well and still looks very good.

[sdrealtor]

If possible keep your wall 30 inches or less which I am almost certain is the cut off. Over 30 inches becomes an engineered retaining wall and quite expensive. If its 30 inches or less it is a sitting wall and does not need to be a permitted retaining wall. Of course, you will want to verify this for yourself but this is what I went through 12 years ago and why my wall is 30 inches high

MIne was a cinderbock wall wall covered in stucco to match my house and capped with the same flagstone that accents all my hardscaping both front and back. It has held up well and still looks very good.

[sdrealtor]

If possible keep your wall 30 inches or less which I am almost certain is the cut off. Over 30 inches becomes an engineered retaining wall and quite expensive. If its 30 inches or less it is a sitting wall and does not need to be a permitted retaining wall. Of course, you will want to verify this for yourself but this is what I went through 12 years ago and why my wall is 30 inches high

MIne was a cinderbock wall wall covered in stucco to match my house and capped with the same flagstone that accents all my hardscaping both front and back. It has held up well and still looks very good.

[sdrealtor]

If possible keep your wall 30 inches or less which I am almost certain is the cut off. Over 30 inches becomes an engineered retaining wall and quite expensive. If its 30 inches or less it is a sitting wall and does not need to be a permitted retaining wall. Of course, you will want to verify this for yourself but this is what I went through 12 years ago and why my wall is 30 inches high

MIne was a cinderbock wall wall covered in stucco to match my house and capped with the same flagstone that accents all my hardscaping both front and back. It has held up well and still looks very good.

[sdrealtor]

If possible keep your wall 30 inches or less which I am almost certain is the cut off. Over 30 inches becomes an engineered retaining wall and quite expensive. If its 30 inches or less it is a sitting wall and does not need to be a permitted retaining wall. Of course, you will want to verify this for yourself but this is what I went through 12 years ago and why my wall is 30 inches high

MIne was a cinderbock wall wall covered in stucco to match my house and capped with the same flagstone that accents all my hardscaping both front and back. It has held up well and still looks very good.

[UCGal]

For our granny flat project we had significant hillside work – 2 seriously engineered cmu walls, and some smaller gravity walls. Here are my thoughts.

You have a footing of some kind with all of them – including the stacked block… it has to be dug out and the first course started below grade or it can shift/slip etc. Saving you on all three walls is that the wall is only 3 feet high – so not a huge footing for any of them. (We had some seriously huge footings on our project…. but they’re holding up a building slab.)

Keeping the dirt onsite is a huge saver. There is an entire sub-industry in construction buying/selling/moving fill dirt. As consumers, you pay to remove dirt and we pay to import dirt. If you can make the dirt net out even by not exporting/importing that’s a good thing.

Our super engineered CMU walls have a stucco coat. They’re ok looking… They work with the setting. We had some issues with the stucco coming off – but the contractor addressed that.

We used a Keystone Legacy block for our smaller walls… I don’t think they’re ugly, but that’s a personal taste/preference. We planted stuff that kind of laps over the top and it looks nice.

[UCGal]

For our granny flat project we had significant hillside work – 2 seriously engineered cmu walls, and some smaller gravity walls. Here are my thoughts.

You have a footing of some kind with all of them – including the stacked block… it has to be dug out and the first course started below grade or it can shift/slip etc. Saving you on all three walls is that the wall is only 3 feet high – so not a huge footing for any of them. (We had some seriously huge footings on our project…. but they’re holding up a building slab.)

Keeping the dirt onsite is a huge saver. There is an entire sub-industry in construction buying/selling/moving fill dirt. As consumers, you pay to remove dirt and we pay to import dirt. If you can make the dirt net out even by not exporting/importing that’s a good thing.

Our super engineered CMU walls have a stucco coat. They’re ok looking… They work with the setting. We had some issues with the stucco coming off – but the contractor addressed that.

We used a Keystone Legacy block for our smaller walls… I don’t think they’re ugly, but that’s a personal taste/preference. We planted stuff that kind of laps over the top and it looks nice.

[UCGal]

For our granny flat project we had significant hillside work – 2 seriously engineered cmu walls, and some smaller gravity walls. Here are my thoughts.

You have a footing of some kind with all of them – including the stacked block… it has to be dug out and the first course started below grade or it can shift/slip etc. Saving you on all three walls is that the wall is only 3 feet high – so not a huge footing for any of them. (We had some seriously huge footings on our project…. but they’re holding up a building slab.)

Keeping the dirt onsite is a huge saver. There is an entire sub-industry in construction buying/selling/moving fill dirt. As consumers, you pay to remove dirt and we pay to import dirt. If you can make the dirt net out even by not exporting/importing that’s a good thing.

Our super engineered CMU walls have a stucco coat. They’re ok looking… They work with the setting. We had some issues with the stucco coming off – but the contractor addressed that.

We used a Keystone Legacy block for our smaller walls… I don’t think they’re ugly, but that’s a personal taste/preference. We planted stuff that kind of laps over the top and it looks nice.

[UCGal]

For our granny flat project we had significant hillside work – 2 seriously engineered cmu walls, and some smaller gravity walls. Here are my thoughts.

You have a footing of some kind with all of them – including the stacked block… it has to be dug out and the first course started below grade or it can shift/slip etc. Saving you on all three walls is that the wall is only 3 feet high – so not a huge footing for any of them. (We had some seriously huge footings on our project…. but they’re holding up a building slab.)

Keeping the dirt onsite is a huge saver. There is an entire sub-industry in construction buying/selling/moving fill dirt. As consumers, you pay to remove dirt and we pay to import dirt. If you can make the dirt net out even by not exporting/importing that’s a good thing.

Our super engineered CMU walls have a stucco coat. They’re ok looking… They work with the setting. We had some issues with the stucco coming off – but the contractor addressed that.

We used a Keystone Legacy block for our smaller walls… I don’t think they’re ugly, but that’s a personal taste/preference. We planted stuff that kind of laps over the top and it looks nice.

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