Dry Stack Concrete Block Retaining Wall

The hollow core design combines with mortarless construction to allow water to drain freely from behind the segmental retaining wall.
Dry stack concrete block retaining wall. You will need some mortar to create a solid foundation for your wall but we ll cover that later. Conventional home design only fills a. A dry stack wall is a block wall that doesn t need mortar to hold it together. Placed perpendicular to wall roof beams act as retaining but placed in other direction parallel with wall roof.
For this 18 inch high wall the footing should be at least 18 inches wide. Physical tolerances of dry stack concrete units are limited to 1 16 in. Throughout the block stacking phase and at the completion check that the wall has remained level. Earth bermed and thermal mass homes often use dry stacked wall construction because of its convenience.
1 58 mm which precludes the need for mortaring grinding of face shell surfaces or shimming to even out courses during construction. Part of the reason you need a stem wall is to keep ground moisture away from the structure you re building. The outside temperature spikes and plunges are buffered by this block wall mass in conventional homes. The dry stack construction technique allows the incidental water to escape by flowing around the blocks and out the.
Once the first course is set dry stack the remaining block in a running bond pattern to the desired height all corners should use an interlocking pattern. Stacking the wall at least 1 5 feet 0 46 m above ground level helps keep your structure dry and avoids water damage. For dry stack walls the base should be as wide as the wall is tall. They also fill every block cell with sand or concrete to improve the thermal mass of the wall.
Use a hand or power tamper to level the base. Excavate to a depth of 6 inches along the entire base of the stone retaining wall using the string marker as a guide. This will aid in the adhesion of the material to the block and will also eliminate the otherwise dry block from pulling the moisture out of your surface bonding cement mix. Step 7 thoroughly dampen the block wall with water dry block will draw the water from the mix making it difficult to finish and can cause inconsistent color and cracking especially in.
Stack your wall at least 1 5 feet 0 46 m above the ground level. Dry stack concrete block cinder block technique uses surface bonding cement sbc instead of mortar for high thermal mass htm thermic walls that are waterproof and much stronger than conventionally laid mortar block walls. Before applying the surface bonding cement dampen the surface of the block.