A retaining wall is generally built with a special strength that also makes its base stronger, for which this type of wall can be made only from stones or concrete, due to the immense strength of these materials. But the use of retaining wall stone is more popular for supporting the domestic gardens and artificially created landscapes. These stone retaining walls keep the soil of the garden and you can also decorate your garden areas with these walls in a proper way. With this retaining wall, you can make some boundary on your garden area and these walls can also block debris, soil, and water from outside. So, these walls can help you to keep your garden clean and you can also do some architectural designs on these walls.
Steps to Be Followed While Building a Stone Retaining Wall
First, the stones for building a certain wall should be selected carefully, which strictly depends on the size of the proposed wall and its exact location type. Usually, the large stones or rocks with numbers of angular faces are preferred for this purpose, where all the sides need to be flat for easy construction. Though the contractors hugely desire the rocks in the shape of bricks, it may not be always possible to get so many similar types of rocks and generally, one has to be content with a lesser number of flat faces in angular rocks.
The numbers of required rocks depend on the dimensions of the walls to be constructed, for which the contractor should make an approximate calculation of your stone yard. If you hire some local contractor for this work then you can save the transportation cost of these materials.
Next, the base should be prepared for starting the wall construction, for which a wide trench needs to be dug out with straight spades. The minimum depth of any such trench should be 4 inches, while its least width needs to be 2 feet. If the height of the wall needs to be more than 3 feet, then it is better to take prior permission from the local civic authority for such construction.
Then the base rocks should be carefully chosen and usually, the largest ones are used for placing at the basic layer of the stone retaining wall. It is best all same sized rectangular rocks are available for this specific layer. Else the irregularly shaped rocks need to be carefully placed to leave a triangular shaped gap between each pair of rocks, over which the next layer of rocks needs to be fitted firmly.
The Layering of Stones and Arrangement of The Stone Retaining Wall Is to Be Done Properly:
Some earth and dirt should be put randomly over the first layer of stones and even behind it, to make this base layer strong enough to carry the weight of rest of the wall. The dirt and earth over the rocks act as the mortar to cement the next layer of stones; while the dirt and pebbles dumped behind the wall strengthen the base. The base layer can be strengthened even more, by placing large rocks at a gap of certain distance behind the basic stone layer.
Likewise, the stones for the further layers of the wall should be chosen according to the angular joints that will fit into the available gaps in the previous layer of rocks, till the desired height of the wall is finally reached. The contractors working on this type of wall need to be very patient while working on the retaining wall stone, to bring the desired appearance and functionality of the created wall.
So, this blog helps you to learn about retaining wall stone. If you would like to know more then click here and get some more useful information.
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