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My retaining wall bulged out 3 inches after one rainy spring and I am done pretending drainage is optional
I built a 2 foot tall retaining wall along my patio in Asheville back in March, and by June the whole thing was leaning out about 3 inches at the top. I skipped gravel behind the blocks because I thought the soil there drained fine. Turns out clay soil plus 6 inches of rain in two weeks equals a wall that slowly pushes forward. I pulled out the top two rows by hand, dug out the backfill, and put in 4 inches of clean gravel plus a perforated drain pipe running to the yard. Cost me $180 in materials and a full Saturday, which is way less than rebuilding the whole thing. If you are laying block against a slope, do the drainage or the wall does not care how nice your caps look. Has anyone here dealt with a wall that failed on one side only? I want to know if I should be worried about the other end too.
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ryan_shah3811d ago
Wait you seriously skipped gravel behind the block? In clay soil? In Asheville, which gets like the most rain in the southeast? That wall was doomed from day one, my friend.
Three inches of bulge in two months is wild.
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