This issue is especially relevant in hilly areas. In this case, special reinforcements are used. Thanks to the retaining walls, it is possible to protect against slipping and collapse of the soil on garden plot and in the yard. In this article, you will learn how to make a retaining wall with your own hands. You will also learn about what materials and methods for construction should be used, which will be discussed in this article.
At the very beginning, it is worth noting that any piece of land has its own individual forms, relief and size to be reckoned with. In addition, it is necessary to take into account personal preferences, the style of the house and other buildings. Even the types of garden paths can affect the choice of material and shape of the retaining wall. With a small garden area, the maximum height of the retaining wall should not exceed 60 cm.
Large walls will create a feeling of heaviness when examining the entire area. Experts recommend adding various architectural elements to those:
In addition, the selected material will also affect general form landscape design. When considering options, you need to consider all design ideas that will be implemented on the territory. So, textured and embossed materials, dimensional stones are used for monumental supports different forms or powerful logs. To create a sophisticated landscape design, plaster, small stones (gravel or chipped stones) are suitable.
A properly erected retaining wall will simultaneously perform several functions:
If your site is too pronounced, then it is worth considering options with a vertical layout. It consists in the fact that the entire section is divided into several sections, each of which has its own horizontal level and is fixed with a support.
Each retaining wall that will be erected in landscape design, should consist of four main parts:
The wall can be made of almost any material that is suitable for the local climate and the amount of atmospheric precipitation. It can be installed almost anywhere, but regardless of the planned height, it should consist of all 4 components.
By carefully considering each step, you can end up with a durable retaining wall. For work, it is enough to use your strength and inexpensive materials.
With proper planning, the wall will be as stable as possible. She will be able to withstand any stress and pressure. If this is not foreseen, then the soil creep will be guaranteed, and decorative wall destroyed. To avoid this, it is necessary to take into account many factors that will directly affect the strength of the entire structure. First of all, physical forces will act on the retaining wall:
Other phenomena will also affect the retaining wall:
In addition to the above factors, there is one more - the thickness of the retaining wall. To calculate it, it is necessary to take into account the type of soil and the height of the structure. For soft soil and high walls, choose wide protective shields.
Before making the wall, you need to choose the material. Among the most common are:
It is considered that the simplest and lightest material is wood. It will be much easier to build a wall from it than from stone or gabions. To create a wall, logs are selected with a height of 1 to 1.5 m. In this case, 50 cm should be in the ground, and 1 m will serve as a protective support.
The part of the logs that will sink into the ground requires special processing in order to last longer. For this, special modern means or hot bitumen are used.
The dimensions of the trench should be 10-15 cm larger than the logs. The bottom is covered with a gravel cushion and compacted. When installing lumber, you can use wire to increase wall density. You can also use nails as fasteners. After installation, the trench is filled with concrete.
This material is the most durable and practical. Such walls will be able to withstand even high ground pressure. If you apply a little imagination, then such a design can turn out to be very presentable. Also, in the case of concrete, you can use finishing materials for decoration:
It is necessary to start construction from the foundation, namely from the trench. The maximum depth is 50 cm. All technology is identical, as is the case with any building or fence. Formwork and cushion and waterproofing layer are being equipped. The strength of the structure is ensured by the reinforcement mesh.
For the construction of retaining walls made of stone, dry masonry can be used or cement mortar... A huge assortment of natural and artificial stone allows you to choose a suitable option for arranging landscape design on a garden plot, made in any style. Most often used:
The foundation for the stone retaining wall is made of concrete. The width should be 2 times the wall itself. If voids form during masonry, then they are rubbed with a special mixture. For dry laying of stones in the seams, use garden soil, into which the plants are then planted.
Quite often, after repair and construction work, both solid and chipped bricks remain. You should not throw it away or sell it, as you can build a beautiful but strong enough retaining wall from it. Masonry differs little from the technology of building a house. The only difference is the thickness. For a wall with a height of 60 cm, you can lay half a brick, a width of one brick should be designed to support 1 m or more.
Recently, structures made of gabions are often used to fence a private area or to create architectural and decorative elements. The construction is based on wire blocks filled with stones. It should be noted that in this case there is no need to equip the foundation, but for large structures additional fastening is required. All blocks are fastened together with galvanized wire. When laying stones, decorative and beautiful elements are laid on the front side. The rest of the volume can be filled with simpler stones:
The technology of building a retaining wall on a relief section will directly depend on the material from which it will be made. When forming a retaining wall, it is not necessary to use a flat one, horizontal line... It can be a wave or arbitrary patterns.
When erecting a retaining wall, it is necessary to take care not only of strength and high quality, but also of the organization of drainage. It is needed to protect back side walls from excessive moisture. To organize such protection, you will need high-quality drainage - a drainage system. Today, professional landscape designers offer 3 options for organizing water drainage:
Every territory needs a high-quality drainage system, but special attention should be paid to regions with constant atmospheric precipitation. A large amount of groundwater can be detrimental to the structure.
In order for the retaining wall not only to perform protective functions, but also decorative, it is necessary to think over the finish. It is better to plan and design everything in advance. The wall should harmoniously fit into the landscape design on the site. The most common way decorative finishing today is planting. The best option there will be a choice among ground cover species that will successfully emphasize any element of the landscape area.
Among the common options, it is worth highlighting several design options. One of these is an artificial reservoir or fountain. An alpine slide will look no less attractive. Climbing plants will braid all over the retaining wall. Also interesting option will become moss. To do this, the wall can be watered with kefir - this will accelerate the growth of plants, as well as make the structure old.
Prevent possible mistakes the competent combination of the colors and materials used will help. For example, if the buildings on the territory are made of wood, then the wall should also be made of lumber.
The retaining wall can be both an excellent addition to the planned landscape project, and also perform protective functions. Since it is in the open air, it is constantly exposed to atmospheric influences. To protect the inside of the structure, it is necessary to carefully process the seams of the masonry. Use special sealants, they allow you to protect the support from destruction or deformation. Various experiments with decoration will allow you to get original and unusual results.
Often, steps or so-called artificial terraces have to be created on uneven areas of the garden. Hilly areas need strengthening of the slopes, and such steps also serve as a beautiful decor. Often, even on flat summer cottages, the owners prefer to create decorative retaining walls.
Retaining walls can be not only practical, but also a picturesque interior detail.With a small slope (up to 8%), it is possible to fix the slope with plants, the roots of which hold the soil well. High level slope (8-15%) suggests terracing the slope. This implies the creation of horizontal steps, which are separated by retaining walls. Today we will dwell on the technique of manufacturing such structures.
The site will not be landscaped and comfortable if its slopes are not strengthened from slipping of the soil. Problems can arise both at the top of the slope and at the bottom. Thus, the arrangement of walls and fences is a matter that requires maximum responsibility.
On a plot with a slope, it is possible to create terraces with your own hands. different types and designs. For convenience, we have divided the options for arranging the retaining wall into three conditional groups:
What can artificial steps be made of? The material for the retaining wall is the main and decisive moment in the construction. The most popular because of its availability is wood. It is possible to use both logs and beams to support steps. The size will depend on the height of the railing specified for the retaining walls. Railway sleepers are a great alternative for steps.
Steps that rise above the ground to a height of no more than a meter require logs with a diameter of at least 15 cm. The length of the logs varies from 1.5 meters (half a meter of which goes to the underground part).
So that the wood does not collapse under the influence environment and pests, it should be treated with special antiseptic agents. The part that will be dug into the ground should be treated with hot bitumen or fired.
The next step is to dig a trench. In depth, it should exceed the size of the buried part of the logs by about 15 cm, and the width of the trench should be 20 cm larger than the diameter of the log. The walls and bottom of the trench are carefully tamped, you can, if desired, cover the trench with geotextiles. After completing this stage, you should pour 10-15 cm of gravel on top, then tamping is repeated.
The logs should be placed on the compacted gravel in a strictly vertical position. You can fix the logs with nails and wire. This fixation is temporary. The inner part of the walls is lined with roofing felt or tar paper. This is necessary to prevent rotting of the tree, which is possible as a result of exposure to soil moisture.
The trench should be filled with concrete. When creating a low retaining wall of the terrace (up to 40 cm), the use of concrete is optional. In this case, you can fill the logs with gravel and compact them well. The remaining free space between the wall and the embankment is filled with gravel. Top it off with fertile soil and planting plants.
The given construction technology can be changed. The logs can also be positioned horizontally. This arrangement implies the installation of wooden supports in pairs along the future retaining wall of the terrace. The step between the supports will be 1.5-3 meters. The gap between the paired supports is somewhat larger than the diameter of the log. Logs are placed in the grooves between the supports. Thus, you get something like a fence.
With the horizontal arrangement of the logs, you can do without gravel and concrete, which means that such an installation will cost less. It should be borne in mind that the bearing capacity of this second option will be lower in comparison with the first. Obviously, when laying the tree horizontally, the retaining wall should not be high.
Let's take a closer look at the structure of the retaining wall made of gabion. Gabion is a three-dimensional product made of a strong twisted wire mesh filled with stone. Gabion structures can be of various shapes. In the manufacture, a mesh of double twisted wire with a diameter of up to 3 mm is used. The mesh is covered with zinc or zinc-aluminum alloy. Gabion building material is formed by hexagonal cells of different sizes. Sometimes an additional polymer coating is used to cover the wire. Gabion retaining wall is common in landscape design because of its reliability.
Gabion structures are of the following types:
We propose to build gabions from welded galvanized mesh, or better with PVC coating. The welded structure is inferior in strength to the gabion versions made of twisted wire, but with a sufficient wire diameter and small size, you can make reliable gabions with your own hands. So, with an initial height of a mesh roll of 2 m, a box with a size of 100 * 50 * 50 cm can be made.
The mesh is well cut with metal scissors or a grinder. To obtain even bending angles, it is convenient to use wooden bar as a snap. You can correct the corners with a wooden or rubber mallet. Bends are best done away from welds. For knitting a structure, it is convenient to use mesh trims. The work is done with pliers.
Using tires as the basis of the structure, you can get fairly reliable walls. They are able to hold significant volumes of soil and prevent it from sliding down. This method of fixing the slope is quite inexpensive and requires little time.
Below are two options for creating a retaining wall from tires:
It is possible to use geotextiles to make the external design of the slope and strengthen the structure of the retaining wall. For the construction of reinforced soil walls, it is necessary to make a special formwork. Such formwork allows you to compact the soil layer by layer, reinforcing it with geotextiles. Such reinforced soil retaining walls are equipped with a slight slope. The soil placed on top can protect the outer layer of geotextile. The primer can be replaced with bitumen or decorative cladding, for example, made of metal or wood. Step by step technology structures of an armored soil retaining wall:
The strength of such reinforced soil walls is very high. In addition, such a building will be very inexpensive and durable.
Retaining walls made of soil reinforced with geogrids, with the use of geotextiles, have proven themselves positively in all respects. The walls perfectly withstand uneven settlement, and also cope with temperature movement.
A geogrid is a reinforcing material in the form of sheet strips fastened together. The height of the strip varies between 50-200 mm. The bonded strips form the cells of the lattice fabric, on the basis of which retaining walls of almost any type and configuration can be created at the summer cottage. The slope can be very steep, all the way up to vertical.
Geogrids are stacked one on top of the other, thus forming a multi-layer structure. Geogrids can be stacked with or without offset. Geogrid cells are filled with sandy loam with addition of stone components. A geotextile sheet is placed on top of each layer. The stones in the filler are needed to obtain a drainage effect.
The free outer cells should be filled with plant soil, into which the grass is then sown. As vegetation grows, it strengthens the wall and serves as a decoration.
This type of retaining walls made of soil reinforced with a geogrid has a number of advantages:
The installation of the geogrid is carried out according to the following diagram:
Often at the dacha there is a need to strengthen the ditch, which can be compared to two small slopes and apply all the technologies described above to create an artificial terrace. The sides of the ditch can have different slopes, which means they can be strengthened in different ways, or the side with a slight slope can be left without reinforcement. In most cases, when the ditch is shallow, the techniques will be somewhat different.
The most reliable and durable way is to cast a ditch tray from concrete using the following technology:
It will turn out somewhat faster and more beautiful if only the bottom of the ditch is cast out of concrete, and the sidewalls are laid out with a ready-made concrete curb. An easier way is to use sheet material to strengthen the slopes of the ditch: slate, metal siding, plastic panels, ready-made plastic garden curbs or concrete curbs. The material is cut into uniformly sized plates and buried or driven into the ground to a depth that provides sufficient support for the bottom of the workpiece.
Further, the plane of the wall is strengthened with supports driven into the ground. A galvanized pipe, tarred timber and even plastic can act as supports. sewage pipe(orange, for external use). The distance between the supports is chosen such that the sidewall sheet does not bend under the influence of the soil.
The more reliable the material, the longer the ditch will last. A great solution is to install spacers between the walls of the ditch. They can be made from wood. In any case, they will last longer than stakes driven into the ground. The spacers should be fastened at 1/3 of the height from the upper edge of the wall.
Obviously, any design falls into disrepair over time. There is nothing to be done - you will have to repair the artificial terrace. Everything is very simple: you just need to replace the failed elements. In this case, it is necessary to take into account an important circumstance - the soil being strengthened may collapse. So general rule during repair: before dismantling the failed structures, it is necessary to temporarily keep the soil from displacement.
What flowers and plants can be used to decorate a do-it-yourself retaining wall? Correctly selected colors will create a finished and attractive look to the wall. White and pale pink shades of flowers look especially good, they can be "diluted" with purple or blue colors. Will give pleasant tenderness design idea silvery wormwood.
Choosing a place under Vacation home, garden and vegetable garden, future summer residents often give preference to flat areas, on which earthwork will require a minimum of effort. However, a retaining wall on an area with a slope easily turns the unevenness of the relief into advantages, and a little theoretical training will help you create a unique landscape with your own hands.
Purchase land plot- a responsible decision. Depends on the features of the relief:
A site dotted with ravines or located on a slope scares inexperienced summer residents. To build a house or a small one, it will take a lot of time, effort and money to level the territory and protect it from landslides.
Can these problems be avoided? Landscape designers and seasoned gardeners know how to turn the weaknesses of a rough-terrain site into strengths. It is only necessary not to destroy, but to consolidate the slopes. What is the retaining wall for?
If, at the planning stage, such structures are foreseen made of stone, concrete, wood or other materials, you can do without significant labor costs.
Competently calculated structures:
Low retaining walls in an area with a slope, at the request of the owner, can turn into a base for a staircase or become. Protective structures look great as a frame for a flower garden or a secluded recreation area.
Plants are widely used in open areas to combat wind and water erosion. Trees and shrubs with a tenacious root system entwine the slopes, preventing the ravines from growing, changing the landscape and losing the fertile soil layer.
In the limited territory of the dacha, such use of perennials is not a very good solution. Plants not only take up a lot of precious space, but also shade a significant area. And it will take more than one year to wait for them to grow up. It is much easier and more profitable to use traditional Construction Materials:
They are great for building a retaining wall on a site with your own hands. Nevertheless, when calculating the structure, you need to remember that the wall must stand for more than one year, withstanding:
Each of the options has its own specifics, pros and cons, as well as common features. This applies to the support device, in addition to the wall, including a reliable foundation and drainage, which ensures the outflow of excess moisture.
If the design of the site and the house shows the features of the "rustic" style and emphasizes the connection with nature, an excellent choice is a retaining wall made of wood. The easiest and most reliable way is to build a dense palisade of vertically standing, tightly fitted logs, the lower part of which is dug into the ground and rests on a crushed stone pillow.
For strengthening the slopes, strong logs matched to the thickness are suitable, which are pre-dried and treated with compounds to protect against pests and decay. When choosing a material, it must be borne in mind that a third of a solid wall must be underground.
Work on the device of a retaining wall in the country begins with laying trenches. They are dug 10–15 cm deeper than the underground part of the logs, and their width is 20 cm greater than their diameter. This is necessary to create a foundation and waterproofing.
The gravel cushion at the bottom of the trench is compacted, then prepared logs are installed on it. You can fasten them together using wire, self-tapping screws or nails of a suitable length. Backfilling with sand helps to maintain a vertical position in the ground, broken brick or rubble. Heavy high structures are best fixed with a sand-cement mixture.
To exclude contact of the tree with wet ground, the back of the wall is insulated with a sheet of roofing material or other similar material. The gap between the structure and the soil is filled with drainage, pipes are taken out for the outflow of moisture.
The denser, heavier the soil and the higher the wall, the more massive and stronger it should be. Incorrect design calculations can cause weakening of the structure. Special measures to strengthen the retaining walls will help to avoid collapse.
A horizontal "tyn" made of wood is constructed in a similar way. The role of supports for it is played by vertically dug at regular intervals pillars.
Boulders rolled by water and wind, angular chipped stone, malleable limestone and incredibly hard basalt. These materials are not only durable, but also fit perfectly into any landscape. It is not surprising that a stone retaining wall on a sloped site is one of the most sought-after options.
Depending on the concept, purpose, type of soil and the stone chosen for the construction, they use:
Before making a retaining wall from cobblestones, prepare the foundation for the structure. First, they dig a trench under the foundation, build a formwork, and then pour it with liquid concrete so that another 15 cm remains to the ground level.
In order for the base to guarantee the strength of a heavy support, it is made three times wider than the wall, and after pouring it is allowed to stand and harden for several days.
A self-constructed retaining wall from boulders can be vertical or slightly sloping. The first row is laid from the largest stones, then the cobblestones are selected in size and shape so that the wall is as dense and strong as possible.
The space between the stones and the slope is filled with drainage.
Before making a retaining wall of stones, fastened with mortar, it is better to rinse the cobblestones. This will significantly improve the adhesion of the material and give the structure additional strength.
More and more often, rubble stone is used to strengthen the slopes. Pieces that are not uniform in size and shape are not easy to hold together. Therefore, in the construction of the retaining wall with your own hands, gabions will be made of rubble.
These are container-like designs made from durable metal mesh... They greatly simplify labor-intensive work, depending on the size of the cells, they are suitable for both large stones and crushed stone. Between themselves, individual gabions are fastened with wire, and a roofing material or geotextile is laid between the wall and the ground.
Masonry of a retaining wall made of bricks differs little from the construction of a house wall. Structural strength provides concrete foundation, the thickness of the structure is chosen based on its height, climatic conditions and the characteristics of the slope, which is to be strengthened and decorated.
For example, for a half-meter height, half-brick masonry is enough, and it is better to lay out a support above a meter from one and a half bricks, not forgetting about drainage. The tubes are laid at equal intervals between the first and second layers of bricks.
The space between the wall and the slope to be strengthened is filled with rubble.
Building blocks are a good alternative to durable but expensive bricks. They are not only cheaper, but also larger, which makes work easier and faster.
With a properly erected foundation, a self-made retaining wall from blocks is very strong, but less decorative. But such a structure can be decorated with facing stone or tiles.
Concrete structures are a kind of strength standard. Such retaining walls will help to hold large volumes of soil, give the landscape solidity and monumentality.
How to make a retaining wall out of concrete correctly? To make the design meet expectations, for it:
An indispensable element of a self-made retaining wall made of concrete is drainage. The cavity remaining between the structure and the slope is filled with rubble, broken brick or gravel. This layer prevents soil erosion during rainy periods and when snow melts. And the pipes brought out through the concrete layer remove excess moisture.
To hide the monotonous gray color, the designers suggest using a finish from facing tiles, natural stone or living climbing plants. Visually aging concrete allows surface treatment with kefir. Lactic acid fungi and bacteria promote the growth of moss, which helps to blend the wall into the landscape.
When a suburban area is located on a hill or near a steep bank of a reservoir, the device is a technical necessity.
Various building materials are used for its device: natural stones, brick, concrete, wood.
When choosing them, it is important to take into account the architectural features of a country house and the general design of the surrounding landscape.
In landscape design, these structures perform the following tasks:
Retaining walls can be engineering or decorative structures.
In the first, they are arranged to prevent landslides, do not allow the ground mass to collapse or slide off the slope of a hill, ravine or the shore of a reservoir. it capital structures requiring the involvement of specialists.
In the second case, they carry only an aesthetic function and are intended to be an adornment of the suburban exterior.
When choosing a material for a retaining wall, it is important to take into account its strength characteristics, hygroscopicity and the presence of pores. It is recommended to use natural stone as well - their surface has low water absorption and is durable in operation. Concrete is also characterized by high strength, but inferior to the above materials in the level of aesthetics. Although there are modern styles where concrete will look appropriate and harmonious.
Regardless of the purpose of the retaining partition in a certain landscape space, its design is the same for all options - this is base and visible part.
Outside vertical plane the structure can be flat or have a slope, and from the rear side it adjoins the soil surface.
Important! When starting the design of the retaining wall, it is necessary to think over how the drainage from the structure will be carried out. The accumulation of moisture on the back of it is inevitable.
The use of wood to create a retaining wall in the landscape involves the installation of a temporary structure or decorative, and extremely short-lived.
Important! When choosing logs for the construction of a wooden retaining wall, you cannot save. The material must be of high quality, without damage on the surface and signs of disease. Then it will serve longer.
Important! The main enemy of wood is excessive moisture and dampness. Therefore, the combined drainage device must be made from the back of the structure.
Manifold wood materials allows you to vary decorative effect... Of course, the most popular for creating retaining walls are beams and logs. But they can also be presented creatively:
Thanks to the voids inside, they are a very convenient material for creating green walls.
The retaining wall should harmoniously fit into the design of the landscape - with the materials, color and shape of the enclosing structures and the style of the house. Just below there are four completely different retaining walls:
The wall should not stand out against the general background and be dominant. A height of half a meter is enough for such a structure.
If the massive structure of the retaining wall is due to technical necessity, then its perception can be facilitated by the device stairs, niches or built-in benches... Such complexes require careful planning, but they look just magical.
Original retaining wall with built-in bench:
Plants will become a natural and harmonious decoration of a retaining wall made of natural stone. The device of earthen pockets during laying, allows you to subsequently plant flowers in them. Climbing plants underneath and vines dropped from above will add to the overall picture.
Handmade jewelry can look great too. For example, a mosaic:
Another 25 retaining wall options for inspiration, perhaps one of them will serve as a prototype for your own design:
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Retaining wall on suburban area is necessary not only for decoration, leveling areas with a slope and elevation difference, but also for a beautiful delimitation of zones. Most often, such structures are built on a site with slopes and not only strengthen the upper part, but also create an intricate landscape decoration. A retaining wall can be built from virtually any available materials that a zealous owner will have at hand.
We will look at how to build a retaining wall in the country with our own hands from hollow decorative concrete blocks. It is not difficult to make it out of concrete blocks; it will delight the owners with its strength, reliability and durability. And you can decorate the blocks with ornamental shrubs, decorative facade materials or painting in any color.
The calculation of a retaining wall up to one and a half meters high does not require special calculations. If the height is planned to be more than 1.5 m, then you need to carry out special calculations. Concrete walls can be considered the most durable and reliable.
The construction of a concrete retaining wall at a summer cottage is impossible without a shallow strip foundation.
Along the entire length of the fence, a ditch is dug with the width corresponding to the width of the concrete block, and the depth also corresponding to the depth of the concrete block + 5-7 cm. The bottom of the ditch is covered with rubble to create a drainage cushion. During falling asleep, crushed stone is spilled and carefully rammed.
On the level, the first basement row of concrete blocks is laid out tightly to each other. They must be carefully aligned in height and in a row. After alignment, the blocks are filled with rubble along the edges. The voids inside are covered with rubble. When shoveling, in the same way as when creating a drainage cushion, crushed stone is spilled and rammed as far as possible so as not to move the blocks.
At the level of the second row, you need to lay a drainage drainage system. To do this, you can use a special drainage perforated pipe wrapped in geotextile or ordinary fan pipe with slotted holes.
The drainage pipe lies along the wall from the inside at the level of the plinth, its open ends come out from the edges of the fence. In addition to the drainage pipe, drainage outlets should be located every 10 m in one row and exit through the wall with a slope. Through these drainage systems, water will go down.
The blocks are stacked row by row on the grout. Excess mortar should be removed immediately with a trowel. Each row is immediately leveled.
When shoveling, the largest fraction of crushed stone is laid from the bottom, the higher, the finer the fraction is filled. Every 20 cm, crushed stone is spilled and rammed. The soil is poured on top.
Before laying the last two rows of blocks, which will rise above the earth's surface, a reinforcing geogrid is laid. The geogrid should be positioned in such a way that one part of it completely lies on the seam between two rows, and the other is spread 2-3 meters from the wall.
After the completion of the reinforcement, you can lay the geogrid, fill in soil and plant ornamental plants.
The concrete wall can be decorated with any facade finishing materials: decorative stone, siding, plaster or just paint. The question of how to build a retaining wall in the country has been practically resolved. Photos and videos on this page will help you build a retaining wall yourself with high quality and for centuries.