If the form is constructed incorrectly the concrete can blow out the form breaking it apart and creating an enormous mess while wasting much of your money.
Diy concrete retaining wall forms.
Follow the block manufacturer s instructions for wall height limits.
If your wall will be taller or adjacent to heavy loads such as along the side of a driveway consult a structural engineer.
Most retaining walls up to 4 feet tall including buried blocks can be finished without any special engineering.
To form a concrete wall first set up plywood boards on either side of your concrete footer and attach them together with wire.
It took a day to rip out the old collapsing retaining wall to dig farther into the hill to provide room for the backfill gravel and to help unload materials.
How to build a concrete wall prep work.
Cut a piece of plywood 4 1 2 inches wider than the thickness of the.
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Snap tie concrete forms are a simple and easy system for foundation walls.
When doing your own concrete work knowing how to form a homemade concrete wall is an essential skill.
This includes the cmu concrete masonry unit block and any stone or brick veneer.
The interlocking retaining wall block can be used to build walls up to 24 to 36 inches high depending on the size of the block.
For taller walls build shorter forms to add to the 4 sections.
Since plywood comes in 4 x 8 sheets the forms are better off 8 long for the most part.
Even though we are not dealing concrete blocks always base the height of a concrete wall form on a multiple of 8.
Materials tools and site.
Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding.
A properly designed retaining wall will save you time and money.
When installed properly concrete offers much more room for customization than any other retaining wall material.
For example if you are pouring a retaining wall that will be 12 inches thick and will use wooden planks that are 1 1 2 inches thick for your forms you ll need to space the stakes about 15 inches apart 12 inches for the retaining wall plus two pieces of 1 1 2 inch thick wooden board.
The wall we built was a weekend long project and an exhausting one at that.
Here are the steps tom ralston owner of tom ralston concrete in santa cruz ca follows when pouring a retaining wall.
Then pour your concrete inside the form using a chute or hose attached to the mixer.
To make the wall as strong as possible pour the concrete in layers no higher than 20 inches working from 1 end of the wall to the.
Building a cap form step 1 measure the total width of your wall system.
Build a concrete form to hold the concrete for the cap.