I didn't come here looking for info about retaining walls, but I stayed because you did a great job presenting. I found this super interesting, but I'm a civil engineering student
My grandfather bought a lot in 1936 in, at that time was unincorporated Los Angeles County, Los Angeles. Between the sidewalk and the road was a 10 foot retaining wall. Some time in the 80’s that wall failed, started to push over, and the lot was condemned. Took the city decades to “fix” the wall. All they did was add concrete to the wall and angle the footing, making the road narrower. I wanted to build a small house on the lot but he wouldn’t let me because of how the city did the wall. He said if you put anything on that hill the wall would give. From what you are saying in this video, he was right. I ended up having to sell the lot when he passed away to settle his estate.
Good Job Stan! Many great points presented in your video. I design all types of retaining walls at my job, and we also investigate retaining wall failures. We only specify #57 stone for the foundation and drainage media behind the wall. We also add a perforated drain pipe at the base of the drainage media behind the wall to collect and discharge any water which enters the drain behind the wall which is connected to a stormwater system or weep holes at regular intervals near the base of the wall. The vast majority of the failures that we see are caused by hydrostatic pressure (water pressure) behind the wall. Other failures may be caused by the use of pea gravel instead of the angular #57 stone, the lack of a proper filter fabric (geotextile) wrapped around the drainage stone behind the wall allowing for soil migration into the stone, damage to the geogrid reinforcement behind the wall by planting large trees or constructing a pool or other structure to close to the wall or insufficient embedment in front of the base of the wall to resist horizontal sliding of the base of the wall. Some designers also do not properly account for sloping ground in front of or behind the wall, or run a global stability analysis as part of their design analysis. Keep up the good work!
I nominate this as the top comment for this video! Poster is absolutely correct. A retaining wall must have provisions for relieving hydrostatic pressure behind the wall either by weeping the water between stacked masonry units, or by provision of weeps in a poured wall. If weep holes are employed, there must be a french drainage system or perforated tile that extends to the weep holes in such a way that the drainage stone and weep hole cannot clog with soil. The drainage pathway must include appropriate permeable mesh surrounding it to exclude soil from the drainage fill, thereby maintaining both permeability and flow to move the water out the weeps.
We was talking over dinner the other day about my kids school when my son asked me Dad when is that fucker Aaron gonna build a retaining wall 50 ft high? I said I don't know son, now finish your vegetables
Perfect timing as I'm just trying to figure out a retaining wall for the inside of my greenhouse.... I was actually thinking of using pea gravel for the back fill because that's what I was going to be using for the floor...whew! You might have just saved me a bunch of headache Stan! thanks! Joe
Hey I have a question not sure how often you all check your RU-vid comments, but I’m current doing my first retaining wall and it’s on a slight hill right on the edge of my drive way I’m laying my first layer and it’s always slightly off to the left so I get it even then move on to the next stone and same difference I get that one fixed as well but when I check them both or even three it’s not leveled am I over-thinking because it’s on a slight hill or should I keep adding rock sand etc ?
great video. I have a slopped front yard and wanted to do a terraced retaining wall for raised gardens (versus a rotting wood raised garden). It seems that that is ok as long as I make them twice as long as they are high correct? then also use the correct backfill stone 3/4" angular with top soil on top (use garden mesh for the last few layers to retain the soil and avoid it silting out the rock). Does this all sound like a good plan? Anything I missed?
Farther. Even farther. Farther is used when describing a distance. Further is used like this ,”If I watch this video any further, it will be a waste of time.”
Do you ever put concrete inside the hollow blocks, we have wall blocks that you fill with concrete after you have installed them all, minus the top layer? Hello from Finland. :)
I clicked on this video thinking, yeah, probably something I'd do wrong if I tried right now. Turns out, there's a few somethings. I love videos like this.
Man that is so random! Was just gonna post 4:54 SQUIRREL and saw same post already by a dude I follow for awesome Subaru repair videos:-) Talk about small world! Great video, thanks!
obviously this guy is in the wrong business. Oh sure, he can build a wall but he should be a motivational speaker! That's about as concise a treatment of a critical topic i've seen on utoob. Now how do i go back and remove all of that pee gravel i've been using over the years......hmmm
Leavage and Drainage is the key... Oh yes, if you plant a tree - drill your augur hole 5ft. 180% from the wall, this helps the tap root and ball grow into the uphill bank side of the wall.
Thanks for the exfra tip. Im planning a brick retaining to contain a circular section. Am.i askin for trouble tranplanting a mature Sago Palm into this circle? The tree is maybe 6'tall with a 7' diameter dripline. The wall diam is variable, but max is prob. 7' as well. The elev. difference is just 14". (Also, its adjacent to the house if that matters) Thanks!
I have a question ... We are having a house being built here in Florida... our back yard has a slope that goes down to a pond. The pond is about 25 feet from my property line. We want to build our backyard slope up so it is usable yard and then either slope it down again or build a retaining wall. We plan on having our wedding in this space so we need every foot of our yard to be usable. Right now we have about 20 feet that is usable but there is another 11 feet in this slope. So should we build it up and then slope it out again or make a retaining wall? We will fence the yard with pvc fencing and a smaller pvc in the rear to see the pond. I know its up to us but I would like the have your opinion .. thank you
Both are good options but the ultimate determinate is price. Walls are more expensive but will gain more space. Grading is cheaper but will not get you as much level ground.
Finally run into a video where someone knows proper wall construction. Many wall buildings videos out here are failures. I learned how retaining walls suppose to be built by watching major construction crews build them along highways like for overpasses. The large rock was larger than 3/4", the geo grid anchoring mesh, all very intresting. Hydrostatic pressure, expansive soil, a major consideration. Tree roots no good for any concrete, sidewalks, building slabs etc.
if i build a two tier wall. 3ft high first wall go back one foot and do a 1 to 2 high wall there. is it possible to put in long rebar and cement into the voids on 2nd wall? would that work? or would it also fail after awhile?
No..that is not what he said. Double the distance of the height of the first wall back. 3' tall equals 6' back. What he did not mention is that most towns require engineering at 4' tall, some less. So one wall at 5' high would require engineering in most areas, but two spaced correctly you can often avoid the engineering. With two walls you then get into something called global stability that has to do with soil loads and rotational loading..... that is over my head even after 30 years installing these walls.
PEA GRAVEL! Thanks! My friend built a retaining wall on his brother's property and it failed in the first six months. Two key words: Clay and Pea Gravel. I told him I would have used 3/4" lime stone and I never heard of pea gravel being used. Now I know why.
you know the best when u give up your secret and still not worry about know one taking business. that y I listen to your videos your the truth. next year I'm doing video with irrigation.
I heard drain tile you get at box stores is made for under concrete or light load and can collapse under heavier soil loads. Can anyone help me out here? Searching online has been a waste of time.
Look up The French Drain Man He focuses on French drain and weeping tiles in Michigan aka freeze thaw country and has special ordered a have duty drain pipe from a manufacturer that ordinarily makes industrial grade pipes. Much better stuff than big box store and not that expensive for what it is.
I have a question with regards to the geo-grid. I think I'm mainly confused just because when watching Stan's example with the wall to the side of the alley-way, Stan says that they went 14ft behind that wall. 14ft behind that wall looks like it would bring them beyond the pavement in the alley-way. In the clips showing behind the wall, the pavement looks quite aged. Am I mistaken in how far back the geo-grid goes? or was this job done quite some time ago and the pavement has just aged? Hopefully, this isn't taken as an attempt to dis-credit Stan, I just saw this and that made me question my understanding. I'm about to begin getting quotes for roughly 2000 sqft of retaining wall on the property of my primary residence, and Stan has the most trust out of any online source I've found thus far. If he wasn't so far from us, I would only need one quote... from him!
I am making the shortest wall, so I probably didn’t need to know most of this, but I feel good that I picked up the crush stone over pea gravel, and this was just a great video made by someone who has relevant knowledge to share.
Great retaining wall knowledge. Can you explain what is the best retain block section profile? I see many has lip on back side of black. Are these better then other? If not, why? What is your preference?
ive never seen pebble-dash....or pea whatever......used as drainage....ever....and whats this...."fill to cap so water flows over".....WEEP HOLES.....HELLO...?!...retaining walls 101.
thanks for the video. the one question I have is what about deadmans...how long should they be, how many and if they are needed. thanks again for the info, learned alot
Come and fix my 120 years old wall in my terraced garden, please. Or show me how to do it. Some of the huge boulders keep falling down and they might kill me one day. The professional people will ask for tens of thousands of pounds. Can't have them now. Don't know if I need to take the hole thing down ( not a huge wall) or if I could try to put the fallen stones back? If yes, how to stop them from falling again? It's a dry wall and on a steep slope so one needs to be steady on their feet, otherwise you'll fall backwards. Old houses, I love them so much but hate the work. If anyone has managed to read this, thank you so much. Feel better already.
Hey Stanley, dumb questions coming your way... Here is the scenario; zero lot line home/property here, slope backyard, canal. I want to level the slope and fence in the backyard, does the fence go inside the retaining wall or outside (guessing inside) but brings me to zero lot line, what does the neighbor see in his slop yard, the retaining wall? Lastly, i was thinking to save monies and not level the slope directly on the canal edge and do a terrace step(s) that touch the water/canal, thoughts? Thanks in advance!
How do I build a 100 ft long retainer wall along a creek line for a solution to flooding my property and what is the best design. The creek is not deep and it is not straight, it has curves. The wall needs to be about 8-10 ft high.
@@Dirtmonkey thank you for this, I await more of these "how NOT to:" videos as well. Its funny how that statement signals the thinking of an individual who is humble enough to have learned how to learn from the failures of others rather than himself.
I am planning to build my own 3ft tall 50ft long retaining wall using the 18x12x8 block. The trench will be 18 inches wide and about 14 inches deep. 6 inches of #57 gravel base, and 1 full block buried. My question is should I use #57 for the base, or crusher run gravel? I want to avoid getting 2 different materials if I dont necessary need to. Price different for my area is $40 for #57 and $38 for crusher run per cubic yard, so not much difference in price. Also, is 2 inches of granite sand recommended for easy leveling of first row?
I'm constructing a 4' retaining wall about 20' long...long story short a contractor never finished the job and stole 2.5k from me. What size rock should I use for the base? I've received a bunch of different answers.
Hey Stanley I am struggling to find the right way to cut blocks for a wall I am building. First of all, thank you for all your amazing videos. I have Belgard Diamond Pro Smooth face blocks. I have rented a saw with a 16 inch Diamond blade from my locale rental. company. Is this the right type of tool?
Does anybody out there know of an alternative to Versa-Lok that's available in southeastern Massachusetts? Versa-Lok looks like an ideal system but the closest vendor is in New Hampshire. I like that the blocks are both pinned & solid.
all retaining walls are double skinned walls block then brick for face on 1 foot thick of concrete for strength to support walls base. these guys would charge you an absolute fortune for what they doing as over kill like ice road truckers major exaggeration. typical American hype.
I made a dam of 1 meters high to retain soil erosion. Now the soil is at the same hight of the wateroutlet canal. It retained almost 50 m3 of fertile soil.
Can someone point me to the right direction of how to build one against a fence? I want to raised plant base around 2ft tall and not sure if I need a retaining wall against the fence too
Highway - I225 with the flyover interchange of Parker Road in Aurora CO has a retaining wall that failed. It is currently patched with PVC and Concrete to allow drainage. They used the pea gravel and sand on the send up and down of the fly over (ramps, whatever engineers call the part of the bridge where it is dirt then the span and dirt again) I remember seeing the water come thru the wall and indeed have seen other spots that will likely fail and it is exactly the same mistake you discuss in this video. :) Now i know what happened. I also know it is a huge mess to fix it but still the more you know :D thank you for the explanation
i felt ordinary folks can't understand what youre talking about. It's better to show up some video step by step the process than just listening your explanation.
holy cow, a 16 ft wall with a zero failsafe built in? thats impressive, makes my peepydink project to small to even ask someones opinion, cheers, now I am going squirrel hunting
Hi Stan, very nice video. Apologies if this sounds like a silly question but was wondering if it is possible to build a concrete sleeper retaining wall in a shallow river where the water only rises just above the angle height and the height of the wall is about 2.5 feet? At the back of our garden we have a river not that wide and need to replace the timber wall in favour of a new retaining wall using concrete posts and concrete gravel boards where the gardener said he will use sleepers. I asked another gardener for a quotation and he said that if concrete posts are used then this could make the wall collapse overtime and he said that he would use metal angled posts to hold the wall together. Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks from the UK.
Great video. I had a retaining wall fail in 10 years. The retaining wall was also the foundation of the barn that was 60 feet long. It was 8 feet high maybe 10" thick with a footing that was about 20 inches wide and 10 inches thick. There were 2 supports that were 20 feet apart built at right angles but only went back about 4 feet. The soil behind the wall was clay and heavy with water. The middle began to bow in. The back of the barn built on wood beams began to angle back 5 degrees then 10 then 15 then 20. It finally fell over in a mini tornado. The barn from 1790 was a total loss. 3 tractors crushed. They charged my 75,000 for the work on the barn.
@@TheGuruStud easier said then done. The retaining wall bowed in the middle. The 2 corners had lateral support so they were still mostly vertical. But the middle section was tipping about 15-20°. Pushing on it would probably result in the barn falling on the person inside. There is no chance this idea could have worked. The only solution was to raise the barn again, at great expense, tear down the old retaining wall and reexcavate. Then pour another stronger wall with deeper footing and better lateral support in the middle.
You have the best retaining wall videos online i have found. Please can I have the best form of contact with you for consultation on a 10% sloped land plot I wish to build a home on.
Very helpful video. I like how you get straight to the info with some good examples. One of your examples is exactly what went wrong with a retaining wall built to my house in 1948. It's terraced cinder blocks and it's probably been leaning since 1958. no real movement for the 15 years I've owned it. Somebody has proposed simply reinforcing it with recycled concrete versus taking it out and starting over. Any thoughts on this?
I've been stressing over this new home I moved my family into.. Wall is failing and gunna lose out big time.. Terrified to try to build one my self and can't afford to hire..
We bought a house 7 years ago with sounds about the same situation. Should have replaced it back then, had no inflation would explode like it did the last few years. Now it's going to cost a small fortune 😵
Very nice video! Regarding root activity of landscaping trees, select a tap rooting tree species rather than a lateral rooting species for plantings within 25' behind a stacked retaining wall. For example, redbud trees are commonly selected by landscape architects who want above ground beauty. But their long and forceful lateral roots can wreak havoc on a stacked retaining wall. So best to use other species like desert willow or another planting zone-appropriate tap rooter. If a lateral rooting species is to be included in the landscaping, the retaining wall should be poured concrete with sufficient tiebacks for anchoring into the ground mass behind the wall. In other words, additional tie-back to allow for the dynamic loading of lateral roots.
Stanley, I finally made a video and got my French drain almost complete. check it out if you get a chance, would really like your input on anything I should have done. thank you Sir
when we face a job with a big hill and we're going to install a retaining wall. we dig the hill making it smaller in height so we dont have to build 10 feet high walls.
Thanks. That helped me in considering what kind of retaining wall I want and need to build. The neighbors and I have a shared road and the hill above is very steep. The rain this spring has caused a slide. Good and concise information.
So that wall.. There is 7 feet of horizontal aggregate behind it? from top to bottom? just want to be sure I understand correctly... Also, what is under the wall for support, concrete, mortar, grade 5? Thanks Stan!
My h usband is building a retaining wall for our driveway to make it bigger. He is using cinder blocks. Do you have any advice on how to make it more structurally sound since it will have alot of weight on it.
Some of the oldest retaining walls, that shock me with their longevity, and even height, were made from........tires.... woa.....I've got a 50 year old retaining wall on my property holding a bridge, made with rock/dirt filled tires. They also lean back into the load, and thus, somewhat reduce the support triangle behind the wall. Concrete walls, are not doing as well.
I live in Florida, my yard is pretty much sugar sand. I am laying pavers but would like to add a sitting wall around the paver area. Do I need to pour a footer, or can I just geo, and gravel the base, and then stack paver blocks? I appreciate your video's!
When we do walls we use 57 limestone for our fill and compact every 8 inches, once the footing (a mix of 57 and 411) is compacted. we've never had a wall move or fail. Just my tidbit, we've seen some bad ones
I'm a huge fan of Rockwood retaining wall stone, it isn't held together by a poly or plastic pen. It uses (if done properly) the 3/4 or 1 inch stone along with the attached concrete knuckle to retain the block and wall. Thank you for clarifying the importance of back fill and drainage to counter the hydro-static pressures behind any retaining wall. It doesn't matter what stone you use, if you don't properly back fill and use it to the engineered specs it will be a failed wall.
