Hello, first post so be gentle!
I'm an moderate level diy'er with support of a master plaster/general builder as a dad, bricklayer for an uncle and property developer for a brother, ok I'm the weakest link
Id like some reassurances from other's if possible. I'm doing the wall myself to get some general experience with bricklaying and project work, plus I'm cheap!
My intention, is to build a 1m tall retaining wall for a patio at the rear of my house. The patio will extend 4m and is 9.5m wide. I have dug footings at least .75m deep and .6m wide at the shortest/thinnest parts. With the deepest bits being 1m and width .8m (it was easier just to fill this extra voids in the ground.
My 1930's house was build on the site of a very old stream/river. The river was divert many years ago, but left the area with a foot crust of clay. This layer of clay is .3m under the ground. So I have dug below the clay and hopefully this will 'toe' the footings if needed. The footings was made of 1 cement, 3 all in ballast and 1/4 lime. I'm not sure what you'd call the strength, but its pretty strong!
I'm using reclaimed engineering bricks from a class a chimney I removed. I'm doing a double skin flemmish wall with a dpc. There will be pillars every 2.5m. will be drainage holes every metre below ground level for ground water. I'm using a geotextile against the wall to waterproof it, so it can be rendered. And Ill have a perforated drain behind the geotextile. The surface of the patio will be slab with a mortar joint, sloping away from the house to a runoff drain.
I know someone will say, it'll fail footings need to be x,y and z dimensions or pillars need to be every meter etc etc. But I've see other walls that retain this level of weight in the area that are apparently 22 years old with no signs of failure. These walls don't have the pillars or extent of my drainage.
I'm hoping the wall will last at least 20 years like the others in the area. Would you agree it has a good chance?
Nic
I'm an moderate level diy'er with support of a master plaster/general builder as a dad, bricklayer for an uncle and property developer for a brother, ok I'm the weakest link
Id like some reassurances from other's if possible. I'm doing the wall myself to get some general experience with bricklaying and project work, plus I'm cheap!
My intention, is to build a 1m tall retaining wall for a patio at the rear of my house. The patio will extend 4m and is 9.5m wide. I have dug footings at least .75m deep and .6m wide at the shortest/thinnest parts. With the deepest bits being 1m and width .8m (it was easier just to fill this extra voids in the ground.
My 1930's house was build on the site of a very old stream/river. The river was divert many years ago, but left the area with a foot crust of clay. This layer of clay is .3m under the ground. So I have dug below the clay and hopefully this will 'toe' the footings if needed. The footings was made of 1 cement, 3 all in ballast and 1/4 lime. I'm not sure what you'd call the strength, but its pretty strong!
I'm using reclaimed engineering bricks from a class a chimney I removed. I'm doing a double skin flemmish wall with a dpc. There will be pillars every 2.5m. will be drainage holes every metre below ground level for ground water. I'm using a geotextile against the wall to waterproof it, so it can be rendered. And Ill have a perforated drain behind the geotextile. The surface of the patio will be slab with a mortar joint, sloping away from the house to a runoff drain.
I know someone will say, it'll fail footings need to be x,y and z dimensions or pillars need to be every meter etc etc. But I've see other walls that retain this level of weight in the area that are apparently 22 years old with no signs of failure. These walls don't have the pillars or extent of my drainage.
I'm hoping the wall will last at least 20 years like the others in the area. Would you agree it has a good chance?
Nic
