| Do you want to add beauty and value to your home | | | | end and measuring to the face of the wall. |
| or business with a stone retaining wall? Yes it is so | | | | As you build you retaining wall try to avoid |
| that a experienced stone wall builder can surely build | | | | continuous horizontal and vertical joints by breaking |
| the perfect stone wall - and it will last forever. But | | | | them up with larger and smaller stones. Place stones |
| the installation of a stone wall can be performed by | | | | so they fit tightly together for strength and a nice |
| the adventurous do-it-yourselfer with relative ease | | | | appearance. Fill in the area behind your wall with dirt |
| and great success. | | | | and compact it as you go. (Not clay) Every now and |
| First you have to determine the length of the wall (in | | | | then , turn a long stone into the hillside to act as an |
| feet) and the height of the wall (in feet). If the wall | | | | anchor stone. This will help the stability of the |
| is no higher than 4 feet high, you will be able to use | | | | retaining wall. Finally almost finished. Remember those |
| stones about 1 foot wide. That will make the the | | | | nice pieces we saved for the top of the retaining |
| retaining wall about 1 foot thick . If wall goes over 4 | | | | wall we can add them now. |
| feet high you should contact engineer. | | | | Take your time. The final results will be very much |
| Let's start building our retaining wall | | | | worth the effort in the apperance of your property. |
| Dig a trench about 6-inches deep and about a 12" | | | | TOOLS AND MATERIALS NEEDED |
| wide along the base of the proposed location of | | | | 1). Sledge Hammer |
| retaining wall. Fill it with crushed stone as a base. With | | | | 2). Tape Measure |
| the dry stack retaining wall you get away without | | | | 3). 4' Level |
| building a elaborate footing system. | | | | 4). Shovel & Rake |
| Sort your stone by sizes so you can easily find the | | | | 5). String Line |
| size stone you are looking for. (This make installation | | | | 6). Crushed Stone |
| much faster and less frustrating searching for that | | | | 7). Select your stone |
| perfect stone). Exp. 6" pieces, 5" pieces, 4" pieces | | | | How to calculate amount of stone |
| etc. Keep the attractive stones for the top row of | | | | Let's say we are going to build a wall 100 foot long X |
| retaining wall. | | | | 3 foot high X 1 foot thick |
| Place the largest stone in the trench, end to end. Lay | | | | Here is our formula: |
| all your stones flat as they would lie naturally on the | | | | 100' X 3' X 1' = 300 Cubit Foot (CF) |
| ground. Make sure stone is below trench line so it | | | | The stone weight will weigh an average of 100 |
| wont slide. | | | | pounds per cubic foot. |
| Now, as you begin to stack the wall, working from | | | | 300cf X 100 pounds/cf = 15 tons |
| one end to the other, you must remember to slope | | | | Make sure you buy good quality stone material, all |
| it back toward the high ground or batter the wall. | | | | stone is not good quality. |
| This is accomplished by simply standing your level on | | | | Good luck with your retaining wall project. |