Retaining walls

[Ferdinand]

37 minutes ago, daiking said:

A dozen+ times... and fix with post crete

 

Or get the digger to make a trench anf mix and lay 1 cubic m of concrete...

 

Two Three possible options are:

 

1 - Get your local fence man to make you some shorter ones. If he has a 1.2m mould all he has to do is put a brick or a block of wood in the end to make it shorter, and perhaps cut the reinforcing rods. The first time I used these my slab man got a mould in to make them, and has now added post repair spurs to his regular range. If I wanted them shorter, I would just ask.

 

2 - Cut the bottom off it with a grinder. If it is concreted or postcreted in then it should protect from water. (Any opinions to the contrary?)

 

3 - Make your own, then you can decide the length.

 

That may sound drastic, but most of us have made things far more difficult. This is a video of someone making a post, and the only awkward elements of the process seems to be a) The finer aggregate and b) The vibration.

 

 

The moulds are only around £60 from here, so just your dozen posts could pretty much cover the cost:

 

 

Just thoughts.

 

Ferdinand

Edited July 5, 2017 by Ferdinand

[Temp]

11 hours ago, daiking said:

I've seen this arrangement for flag stone retainers on paving expert http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur06.htm but this also involves quite a bit of work with concrete.

 

 

Wouldn't be my choice. They just look so "run down council estate" to me. What do you do when one cracks in half?

 

Our allotment was given a load of scaffolding boards and they haven't lasted very well as bedding boxes.

 

I'd go with the sleepers. They look best laid flat but work out cheaper on edge.

[daiking]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

 

Two Three possible options are:

 

1 - Get your local fence man to make you some shorter ones. If he has a 1.2m mould all he has to do is put a brick or a block of wood in the end to make it shorter, and perhaps cut the reinforcing rods. The first time I used these my slab man got a mould in to make them, and has now added post repair spurs to his regular range. If I wanted them shorter, I would just ask.

 

2 - Cut the bottom off it with a grinder. If it is concreted or postcreted in then it should protect from water. (Any opinions to the contrary?)

 

3 - Make your own, then you can decide the length.

 

That may sound drastic, but most of us have made things far more difficult. This is a video of someone making a post, and the only awkward elements of the process seems to be a) The finer aggregate and b) The vibration.

 

 

The moulds are only around £60 from here, so just your dozen posts could pretty much cover the cost:

 

 

 

Just thoughts.

 

Ferdinand

 

thanks for suggesting, maybe for a later project to M.Y.O fence posts when there's more time. Looking to move a bit quicker this time, when the garden gets cleared, have something in quite soon and then turfed quickly.

[daiking]

4 minutes ago, Temp said:

 

Wouldn't be my choice. They just look so "run down council estate" to me. What do you do when one cracks in half?

 

Our allotment was given a load of scaffolding boards and they haven't lasted very well as bedding boxes.

 

I'd go with the sleepers. They look best laid flat but work out cheaper on edge.

 

You wouldn't see them, hence why I'm considering them.

 

You'd only see them sticking 250-300mm high  if you were stood in the stream looking up to the garden. In the garden I'd like to turf right up to/on top of them so you can't see them.

 

An 'infinity lawn' if you will.

[Ferdinand]

14 minutes ago, daiking said:

 

You wouldn't see them, hence why I'm considering them.

 

You'd only see them sticking 250-300mm high  if you were stood in the stream looking up to the garden. In the garden I'd like to turf right up to/on top of them so you can't see them.

 

An 'infinity lawn' if you will.

 

If you are tempted by the sleeper option then also consider sections of reclaimed telegraph pole, which will last as long and may be more inexpensive. 

 

Ferdinand

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2017 by Ferdinand

[daiking]

http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur04.htm#bag

 

now we're talking  Can't get much simpler than this

[Onoff]

23 minutes ago, daiking said:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur04.htm#bag

 

now we're talking  Can't get much simpler than this

 

Could you.....

 

- Get a pallet load of Postcrete bags

- Get the delivery man to stack 'em in a line just where you want them

- Go beserk with a garden fork

- Get the kids to give them a douse with the hose

- When set peel off the plastic at your leisure

 

[Declan52]

Not just do it with dwarf kerbs to suit whatever height you need. Can get them 2ft high and there  not that heavy to lift. A bag of ballast and some cement and bed them and that's it. Put a gd amount behind the kerb and then backfill. Will last longer than any sleeper or scaffolding plank.

[daiking]

3 hours ago, Onoff said:

 

Could you.....

 

- Get a pallet load of Postcrete bags

- Get the delivery man to stack 'em in a line just where you want them

- Go beserk with a garden fork

- Get the kids to give them a douse with the hose

- When set peel off the plastic at your leisure

 

 

You can. Apparently a quickcrete wall is an actual thing

Edited July 5, 2017 by daiking

[daiking]

3 hours ago, Declan52 said:

Not just do it with dwarf kerbs to suit whatever height you need. Can get them 2ft high and there  not that heavy to lift. A bag of ballast and some cement and bed them and that's it. Put a gd amount behind the kerb and then backfill. Will last longer than any sleeper or scaffolding plank.

 

This is not too dissimilar to the slab idea.

 

Can I ask why so much stuff seems to be Northern Irish? When I search for the AG and Tobermore wall systems and now the dwarf wall kerbs?

[Declan52]

Cause we are obviously world leaders in all this kind of stuff!!!

We have an abundance of quarries so stone, sand and cement is cheap so a lot of concrete products get made here.

[daiking]

Just now, Declan52 said:

Cause we are obviously world leaders in all this kind of stuff!!!

We have an abundance of quarries so stone, sand and cement is cheap so a lot of concrete products get made here.

 

Just seems to be a complete lack of mainland uk suppliers for these specific things. Its surprising. 

[Declan52]

You buy all the tobermore or Ag materials through a builders merchant. They like it that way as it means they are never out of pocket.  They both have very large showrooms with massive display areas at both their factories here but  most builders merchants or garden centres also have smaller displays as well. 

For a retaining wall I doubt there is an easier method , I haven't came across one yet. No concrete needed for a found and they don't need plastered up to finish them.

Do no merchants near you stock them or can get them ordered in for you.

Edited July 6, 2017 by Declan52

[daiking]

1 hour ago, Declan52 said:

You buy all the tobermore or Ag materials through a builders merchant. They like it that way as it means they are never out of pocket.  They both have very large showrooms with massive display areas at both their factories here but  most builders merchants or garden centres also have smaller displays as well. 

For a retaining wall I doubt there is an easier method , I haven't cage across one yet. No concrete needed for a found and they don't need plastered up to finish them.

Do no merchants near you stock them or can get them ordered in for you.

 

I have no idea. The only thing we're looking for properly at places the moment is paving stone. 

 

For the walls, most people who come round want to wall from sleepers or brick

Edited July 5, 2017 by daiking

[lizzie]

At our last house we used paving slabs set vertically into the bank if the stream as retaining,  we had the 'infinity lawn' look and  I also had 'grass' bridge made by local metal workers. Steel sides approx 6 inches deep with a mesh bottom. We put soil in and topped with turf, our grass bridge dissappeared seamlessly into the infinty lawn look. It all worked like a dream. I made a water garden down in front of the slabs (could only been from the middle of the bridge or the other bank of the stream), In the end it was a stunning feature in the garden and it only took us 22 years of messing about with numerous 'solutions' (including, scaff planks and sleepers) to achieve it.

 

The paving slabs were old ones we dug up when we replaced the patio so didnt cost us anything either.. The whole thing survived serious flooding on several occsaions.

 

I highly recommend the paving slab route.

 

 

[CC45]

We are likely to use 152 universal columns set into the soil.  Sleepers trimmed & slotted into them.  Needs to hold back~ 1m of soil.

[daiking]

9 hours ago, lizzie said:

At our last house we used paving slabs set vertically into the bank if the stream as retaining,  we had the 'infinity lawn' look and  I also had 'grass' bridge made by local metal workers. Steel sides approx 6 inches deep with a mesh bottom. We put soil in and topped with turf, our grass bridge dissappeared seamlessly into the infinty lawn look. It all worked like a dream. I made a water garden down in front of the slabs (could only been from the middle of the bridge or the other bank of the stream), In the end it was a stunning feature in the garden and it only took us 22 years of messing about with numerous 'solutions' (including, scaff planks and sleepers) to achieve it.

 

The paving slabs were old ones we dug up when we replaced the patio so didnt cost us anything either.. The whole thing survived serious flooding on several occsaions.

 

I highly recommend the paving slab route.

 

 

 

Sounds promising. Roll on the next week or so and I'll be able to see what's what

 

[daiking]

Groundworks crew doing a couple of days this week (Weds & Thurs) to clear the site and bring in some topsoil. 

 

Potentially there's opportunity to dig trenches for main retaining wall and my little retaining wall although I understand there could be a bucket size issue.

 

Ignoring that, we can estimate the size of the patio we want but I don't know what we're making the wall out of. Is there a generic trench that can be dug that would save some spade work in the future? 

Edited July 10, 2017 by daiking

[daiking]

It's looking like I won't need the small retaining feature along the bank - which suits me. We're marking out some trenches for the main wall but still need to make a decision on how to build it.