Advice needed on beautifying an ugly retaining wall

[Paene Finitur]

Our patio is bounded on three sides by a retaining wall built from blockwork. There are steps leading up to our back garden in the middle and he's constructed a double wall with a planter section either side of the steps. I had originally asked for this to be in red brick and flint and wanted quite an old fashioned/traditional look, but clearly the message did not get through. Anyway, we are where we are and I now need to make it look better but have a number of issues with it, that I'd really appreciate some advice on.

 

1. As you can see from the pictures, the wall has not yet been backfilled. I bought some 20mm shingle to do that with and was perhaps going to bulk that out with a bit of the bricks/blocks you can see lying around it. However, I've been advised that if the front of the wall is simply rendered, before too long water will get through, it will start to look dirty and mouldy and awful.  There are some weep holes on the back wall, but there is a fair bit of moisture built up there too. I was wondering whether I should dig out a bit further and then brush a coat of Seka onto the back of the wall to help with waterproofing? I intend to backfill with shingle up to, say 9" below the top level, cap with a geotextile to prevent silting and then backfill the rest with topsoil. Does that sound sensible? Would using the Seka help matters or be a bit of a waste of time?
2. The guy who created the wall assumed I was going to render it, which was not my first choice though I now think it would probably be easiest. That said, a couple of people, including an experienced landscape gardener, told me I should tile it as render will look naff fairly quickly and require repainting frequently. Trouble is that you can maybe see from one picture that there's quite a curve on one wall which doesn't lend itself to anything but really small tiles I'd have thought. Any ideas??
3. Lastly, he's coped the wall using the same Indian Sandstone that we used for the patio. It looks nice on the patio but I think it's far too thin to be used as coping. It's already broken up in places, particularly on the edges of the steps. I feel we should use something similar looking but a bit more robust.

 

Any ideas on how I might take this forward or on my backfilling strategy are gratefully received.

[Redbeard]

?screw-in wall ties, build single skin of brick and then replace the copings that you think you'd have to replace anyway? (Or brick slips? Though I'd be concerned about the adhesive de-bonding in the same way that render might).

[Dave Jones]

tile it.

[Discoeye]

+1 for brick slips and same concept as tiling but better looking.

[Radian]

Attach a geocomposite drain sheet to the back of the wall then just backfill right up against it. Water will  drain to the lowest point so have some way to discharge it.

 

[RichardL]

Plants - couple of shrubs in that bed infant of it and you'll not see it after 6-12 months.

[Wumpus]

Agree it would be better to deal with the water behind the wall than try to hide it. Is it too late to put in a land drain behind? Some form of waterproofing membrane on the back face would give the best result.

 

[Paene Finitur]

Thanks all. Good to know I'm on the right track. I'm going to check out whether backing the upper wall with a brush-on waterproofing layer might be a cost effective option. The delta sheeting is good but more suited to indoor use, I'd say, and pretty costly. As for the front, yes, I plan to replace the copings and the step surface, with something more substantial. The facing, I'm not sure about. Would love brickwork but I'm still not convinced that slips are the answer due to potential adhesion issues and the curvature on one section. Plus the cost is high. Guess, I'll have to look around - it's either that or render. It wouldn't have been my first choice but I'm kind of tending towards render as it's just a lot cheaper and easier!

[The Reverend]

I can't see a step (heel) on the back of the retaining wall so I would be concerned about settlement and hydro-static pressure building up. Tanking the wall as @Radian suggests will deal with potential water staining. French drain to a soakaway or rainwater gully should be considered if it's not too late and back fill with plenty of clean hardcore to 45 degrees woven geotextile and top off with soil.

Render is popular because it's relatively cheap and produces clean lines but if you wanted flint then just push it into the render, which does not have to be white(see cement pigments) but use a "whiter" cement for light pigments. Scattered tiles in the render can also break up the appearance or be creative and a do a mosiac. There are plenty of 20-25mm large tile to top off the wall but if the budget allows slate provides a great contrast.