Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [retaining-wall]

135 questions
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How can I level and secure retaining wall steps?

We have some retaining wall steps that are in dire need of repair. We would like to re-level some of them and re-adhere all of the cap stones so they no longer rock. Is it possible to create a spacer between the cap stone and the retaining wall…
Ben
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Setting fence post in gravel/backfill?

I am attempting to build a privacy fence that will sit just behind a retaining wall (as in, on the ground behind the wall and not on the wall itself). While digging today I realized that while the ground behind the retaining wall does have ~10" of…
TMK
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My yard is eroding away and taking my house with it: what's the cheapest way to build a retaining wall to stop it?

We can't get grass to grow in spots in our backyard due to a combination of dogs, trees, and shade. Behind the house is a hill. A third of it has a retaining wall built with rail road ties. It has been there since before I moved into the house as…
James P. Wright
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Can a retaining wall follow a slope?

We've got a 50' stretch of yard that has a very gentle side to side slope that we can't easily eliminate (fences on each side built at different heights). We want to build a retaining wall along that stretch. The wall will be 6" to 10" high. (Two or…
Jakerc
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What Kind of Wooden Beam is this

My wife and I recently purchased our first home. We'd like to make a flattened area in our backyard (which is somewhat sloped) for a firepit. My thinking was to dig out a shallow area and fill it with gravel, then place the firepit on top (similar…
Ryan
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How to make a Tall Retaining Wall

Recently, as in September [Final close date was 11/13/2015] this year, I bought a house. This house is on an extreme incline. I would like to level out this incline. The front first floor of the house sits level with the ground. The property is 120'…
Kayot
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Retaining wall: footing or no footing?

I'm looking to build a retaining wall on my sloped backyard. I'll be using cinder blocks (with mortar to join them together and rebar for added stability). (added info: at the lowest point the wall is going to be close to 4 feet tall, not counting…
ttothec
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Can I build a retaining wall along an existing fence?

Our yard has a small slope to it, and we wanted to make it level. (Mainly so we can put a swing set in for our kids.) I was thinking I could build a small retaining wall and just fill it in, but would that pose a problem since it would be along an…
user6769
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Building a free-standing wall on top of a retaining wall

My house is well below street level. The slope from the sidewalk down towards the house is visibly eroding, to the point where I can see the entire side of many of the sidewalk slabs. The yard looks like this: From the house, facing the…
alexw
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Are railroad ties suitable for a retaining wall under tree canopy?

This video shows a sharp cliff near my house that leads down to a stream. The drop is about 20 feet. I would like to build a 4' high retaining wall right around where you see a stack of dead branches. We'll be about 10' away from the stream and…
Wynne
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Should a 3'-4' retaining wall have interlocking blocks?

I'm building a 3'-4' retaining wall in my backyard and I'm in the process of choosing block. One of the blocks I like isn't engineered with any kind of lip or interlocking feature. Is this necessary for a wall that size? Or is this type of block…
lecrank
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My timber retaining wall is tipping over

My timber retaining wall is falling over, I'm just wondering what my options are? Is there a way to fix what I've got, or will I need to dig this whole area out and rebuild? You can't tell from the pictures but it's about 3-4 feet tall. Photo:
Dan Williams
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How to fix a retaining wall that is difficult to access behind the house?

My retaining wall needs to be fixed/rebuilt since it's leaning, but I can't get any machines back there because house doesn't have much side or rear setback(maybe 5ft on each side) and behind the house is steep hill and above that another house.…
Ville M
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How to saw inground lumber

My townhouse has some outdoor stairs built out of 6" x 8" lumber. A couple of the steps are rotten and I need to change the lumber. There is also a perpendicular long piece of lumber that crosses underneath the steps, more or less flush with the…
Jimmy
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How can I prevent this concrete block wall from falling over?

I have a concrete wall that separates my backyard with my neighbor’s. It has been there for decades (at the very least 30 years). I have a slope of about 30 degrees and have noticed that the wall is slowly falling over to my side. The rain gutter…
Rick
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