Retaining wall

[Marc]

Himzo, why don't you build a small pillar with corner blocks? this way you can forget lateral movement for the end of your wall.
You could also make the end of your wall turn into the embankment. You may need to dig a small trench. This will give you a curved finish and it would be very strong.

[adrian]

I think the re-bar suggestion was pretty well spot on as the most effective alternative. After you lay the second course drill a hole in the end block to the size of the re-bar lift it off and continue the hole in the first, hammer in the re-bar then repeat the process for the next.
Effectively nailed together and no way are they going to move until the re-bar rusts away and I think the re-bar would still be there long after any cement or glue would have given way because of earth movement.

[himzol]

You MUST have some form of drainage behind the wall to release any water, either out the ends or through the base.

Den,

Way ahead of you on this one, I've spent the last eighteen months fixing drainage around the house where there was none, thanks to the previous owners home improvement ideas. Also repairing the resulting damage. This wall will have an Ag pipe inside a sock laid behind it with an exit on the odwn hill side. The pipe will then be covered with aggregate before the final topsoil.

Himzo, why don't you build a small pillar with corner blocks? this way you can forget lateral movement for the end of your wall.

Marc,

It's not the lateral movement at the end of the wall that concerns me, though the pillar idea does interest me, It's the lateral movement of blocks further along that step the wall up to the high point.

You could also make the end of your wall turn into the embankment. You may need to dig a small trench. This will give you a curved finish and it would be very strong.

This was one of the first thoughts I had but strange as it may seem it would look out of place.



Himzo.

[Trav]

I reckon we may be going over the top here. I've got a wall like this and, while it is only 4 blocks high, I don't need any reo rod or mud between them etc. I didn't even think of it to be honest.

All I hvae done is set the bottom course in mud and piled the blocks up. The design of the wall is to lean backwards anyway and unless you have a big slope, I don't think it is going to go anywhere. There are heaps of small gaps that let any excess water seep through to prevent any build up of pressure etc.

I put some ag pipe down at the base of the wall and covered it with gravel and then brought in the soil. But I don't have much of a slope so it isn't much of an issue for me.

The brochure I have suggested that you use liquid nails (exterior) on the top course if you have a risk of vandals. I guess it would work on the ends to stop the blocks shifting laterally.

For what it is worth.

Trav