Retaining wall with your own hands. Do-it-yourself retaining wall - a device made of various materials Retaining wall in landscape design

retaining wall in landscape design is an absolutely indispensable element that can not only decorate the site, but also divide it into zones. Therefore, we decided to consider the topic in more detail and tell readers how such a structure can be built with our own hands.

Retaining wall represents a certain emphasis, an obstacle and at the same time quite original decoration cottage landscape. This element of the landscape is very popular.

Today we will tell you about how, without applying special efforts and without spending serious money, build a wall that will not only form flower beds or a whole plot of various decorative plantings, but also restrain the soil from landslides and unauthorized geoplastics.

How the design works

The retaining structure is installed in almost any place you need in the country, but it must necessarily consist of certain parts. This is the foundation that holds the entire structure on itself, the body of the wall made of the material you have chosen, as well as a special drainage system that helps protect the main material of production.

What materials are suitable for work

First of all, the material should be determined based on the landscape design and style of the site, connecting imagination and always your own opinion. The next step is to decide on the budget. Honestly, no matter what material you choose, the cost will not seriously differ, only if it is not the most expensive material and is not ordered by a professional team. Save money and do everything yourself, it will be much cheaper, and more interesting.

Wooden retaining wall

By wood, we mean thick logs that can be planted vertically or horizontally into the ground, thereby forming a wall out of them.

Logs are selected with a diameter of 20-30 cm, installed tightly to each other in order to create a reliable support for the soil behind and an original appearance for the structure itself. For logs, a special trench is dug, with a depth of at least 40-60 cm, depending on the height of the retaining wall. Such an installation depth will give serious strength to the wall, but it is also worth considering the drainage layer and the foundation.

In principle, you can install logs on an ordinary gravel cushion, but process them special protection from moisture is a must. To do this, you can take professional wood protection products, or ordinary used machine oil, roofing material, and so on.

The installation takes place very tightly, depending on the design decisions, the logs are fastened with reinforcement, clamps, transverse jumpers, and so on. After, they fall asleep for stability, and with reverse side there is a spillage with a layer of materials to create a drainage system and ready-made soil for a flower bed or the formation of another site for plants.

stone building

Enough rare variant, since the process of arranging such a structure is considered laborious, and not cheap, because buying a quality stone at low price is unlikely to succeed.

Work begins with drainage and foundation - the initial layers, which are laid in a specially dug trench along the line of the wall. After pouring the reinforced foundation (construction debris will do for this - fittings, wire, bent electrodes, etc.), natural stone is laid on top of it. Most often, these are quartzite, granite, diabase and other rocks that are most suitable for this process.

You will have to choose the type of masonry, and here you can safely use dry or classic masonry.

Dry laying occurs as a standard, and voids are laid with soil with plant seeds - flowers, herbs, moss. If you decide to lay a stone on cement mixture, then the voids should be finished with a special grout.

Gabion variant

A popular choice today. In finished form, gabions are various shapes metal grids with stone material inside. If the gabion retaining wall is low, then it can be installed without a foundation, just on a well-cleared and prepared site. If the height is 1 meter or more, it will be necessary to fill the foundation with a gravel-sand cushion.

Containers are installed and tied up with each other. Installation occurs sequentially, waking up with material. If you use ordinary gravel, you can not particularly puzzle over the production of the wall, but if you want to get a more decorative appearance, flagstone, granite and other materials will need to be carefully laid on the front side, and the rest of the container should be sprinkled with inexpensive cobblestone, pebbles or the same gravel.

brick construction

Brick walls, like ordinary ones, with the same requirements for the foundation and mortar for fixing the material, but in terms of rigidity and pressure from the inside, they are slightly different. Thus, if the wall is low, in the region of half a meter, laying in half a brick is enough, if from 50 cm to 100 cm - in a brick, if the wall is more than a meter high, it is advisable to make reinforced masonry, one and a half bricks.

The wall foundation requires drainage and ligation, especially for high walls. Behind it will be necessary to lay a high-quality drainage system, since the brick especially does not like moisture.

Concrete building

Pouring walls out of concrete is quite simple, especially for hereditary builders or regular readers of our site, because we have repeatedly worked with cement and foundations. Enough high-quality dressing, standard for the requirements of the parameters of the construction of the foundation with drainage, formwork and high-quality mortar. It is also worth noting that a solid wall can be heavier than brick or wood, and therefore it is imperative to make the foundation stronger and wider.

Do not forget about quality protection finished product from soil moisture, and therefore be sure to install a drainage system to maintain the integrity and rigidity of our design.

Very often, concrete walls are not the prettiest, and therefore, in order to comply with all the requirements of landscape design, it will be necessary to produce decorative trim. Get help here own fantasy which will dictate to you necessary materials.

How to make a drainage

It is not enough to fill the trench for the foundation with sand and gravel, fill in a high-quality foundation and correctly place the design of the landscape decoration and zoning of the site on it. It is very important to protect the wall on the reverse side from moisture, for which we need high-quality drains, a drainage system.

At the moment, professionals in this field recommend that craftsmen install the following types drainage systems:

• Underground drainage is a special perforated drainage pipe, which is wrapped in geotextile and installed at the very base of the wall structure. Thanks to the pipe, water does not accumulate, but simply goes through it to any drain point;
• Ground drainage is installed on the back side of the wall from any loose material that does not allow water to reach the surface of the material of the structure, but allows water to go down. It can be gravel or broken brick;
• Drainage with filtration holes in the wall can be made in a stone or concrete structure. To do this, it is necessary to leave only one vertical seam without a fastening material in every second row of masonry. It is through these seams, which should be located every 1.5-2 m, that water will leave.

Retaining walls require some attention, and therefore select the material, fulfill all the requirements and do not forget about the most important thing that you want to do on the site - decorate the landscape. It is in this sequence and if everything is done correctly that you can achieve good results.

Reviews and comments

(5 ratings, average: 3,50 out of 5)

Emir 06.01.2014

Everything is correctly stated in the article, for people who live in a relatively flat area, this may not be so relevant, but for people who have a summer house or a house in a mountainous area, like mine in Crimea, this is very important. Although even with flat terrain, a retaining wall can be used as an element of the landscape.

Igor 12/13/2014

The diagram shows very accurately and correctly how best to make a retaining wall. Although it is clear from the photographs that the conditions can be different, and not all of them have a classic retaining wall - in part it is just a wall where the earth is filled up. or the slope is too small and it is just a wall that promotes leveling, that is, its support is relative. I myself have these.

Goshia 24.11.2016

A retaining wall must be arranged if the site is located on a relief. It can be built from red solid brick, 250 mm thick, from rubble stone, approximately the same thickness, or a little more. If it is possible to rent high-quality panel formwork, then it is possible to make a retaining wall from monolithic reinforced concrete. Its thickness, in this case, should be at least 200 mm, and the concrete class should be taken at least B 7.5. The retaining wall should not be located on the surface of the soil, but go deep into it by 500 - 600 mm.

Victoria 20.01.2017

I'm embarrassed to ask how much to deepen the foundation for a retaining wall 500 mm high?

Elizabeth 06/21/2017

We have stove heating and every winter we burn a large amount of firewood. Since we use only them for heating, then the ash is pure wood. Not all of course, but we collect some of the necessary amount in bags and scatter it in the spring when planting potatoes. This method can be considered environmentally friendly in the fight against beetle and other muck that affects young tubers.

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Dry masonry walls can be built without mortar, and the seams can be filled with soil with plant seeds. For retaining walls built in the usual way, you can choose a tone solution that matches the stones or a contrasting one, depending on the desired effect. Important: the top of the masonry must be protected from moisture and mechanical damage- for example, using slabs or protruding stones.

Dry masonry requires a gravel base 40 cm deep, and mortar masonry requires a concrete foundation 80 cm deep.

Reddish brown stones are perfect for a Southern style garden. Next to such a wall, yellow inflorescences stand out especially brightly.

However, keep in mind that certain skills will be required to build such a stone partition.

Close-up: building a wall

A retaining wall combines decorative and practical qualities: it can reinforce a slope, create a dramatic backdrop for plants, or keep growing pets out.

A retaining wall combines decorative and practical qualities: it can reinforce a slope, create a spectacular backdrop for plants, or contain overgrown pets.

And most importantly, building it with your own hands is not so difficult!

You will need these tools:

• bayonet and shovel,
• solution bucket,
• construction mixer,
• hand rammer,
• masonry trowel,
• rubber mallet,
• gloves,
• building level.

materials:

• concrete of strength class B 25 for the foundation,
• building mixture,
• reinforcing mesh,
• masonry stones.

1. Mark out a place for the foundation with a lanyard or garden hose.

2. Mark the edges with a bayonet shovel, dig a trench 80 cm deep.

3. Upper layer soil remove with a shovel, but if the soil is clayey, it is better to use a mini excavator.

4. For strengthening concrete insert a steel reinforcement mesh into the ditch and align it so that it runs along the walls of the trench.

5. Concrete class B 25 mix with a construction mixer, pour into the trench, compact in layers with a hand rammer. Level the mass with a shovel so that the surface of the foundation is flush with the ground.

6. Pull the mooring cord at the same height, so that the laying goes clearly along a horizontal line. Mix the mortar and spread over the foundation with a shovel, press down with a trowel. Place a sandstone stone on the foundation, checking for straightness with a level.

7. Install the formwork board at the back in the same way, lay further rows of masonry on the mortar. Using a rubber mallet, drive the stones into the mortar.

8. On the finished wall open the seams with mortar and let dry.

To understand what the retaining walls will look like in, photos of their implementations taken in other areas will help in the best possible way. But besides them appearance it is worth knowing how they are created in order to understand what difficulties you may encounter when designing them, and what site problems can be solved with their help.

Design options and the purpose of their installation on the site

Retaining walls occupy a special place. They should not be underestimated, since in some cases they can look even more successful than and. Moreover, with flower beds, they can be well combined with them, creating a kind of hanging gardens.

Objects can be completely made of, but their functionality is quite limited due to obvious reasons, so more often natural stone is used as a decorative component, and the base is still made of brick, concrete or reinforced concrete slabs. At the same time, they can be used as a basis as already finished products, so they can be created on the site from scratch based on available components.

The peculiarity of this method is that all meshes used must have the same size and compatible shape. It is also desirable to use stones from one deposit in order to cover the entire area.

The best option is considered as a basis taken meshes made of metal with a polymer coating. It will protect the structure from corrosion and allow for a long period to keep the wall in its original form.

Complete walls and fences

If temporary resources allow more, you can make a more attractive wall, but no less functional wall. It will be based on a concrete or reinforced concrete slab cast on site. Under it is required to create from polypropylene pipes and rubble.

To create a wall body, collapsible formwork is required, and when creating high and multi-level structures with steps, also. The wall frozen the next day can be freed from the formwork and decorated according to your own design - tiles, wild or etc. But there is one more interesting option, which can be implemented on your site.

This method is most suitable for those who do not have sufficient funds to purchase wild stone, and it is not possible to find such a building option nearby. In this case, a fresh, barely set concrete composition can be textured to look like a stone.

This is done with the help of a trowel, which is used to mark future cobblestones. Each of them must have its own unique size, shape and position. According to the markup, artificial seams are created, along which furrows are created on the concrete surface.

After hardening, the concrete can be further treated with metal brushes to create the effect of a stone, wash off the dust and, after the surface has dried, paint the surface and open it with a waterproof facade varnish. Masonry, it is better to arrange it not with a concrete solution, but with a special glue designed for gluing stones. It is sold as a dry mix, which is diluted with water to the desired consistency.

Tip: the solution should not be liquid, so as not to leave streaks and other marks on the already finished part of the wall. It is very difficult to display them, but they look unpresentable.

It is important to lay the adhesive in such a way that it does not reach the edge of the wall by 2-3 cm. If after laying it is still visible, the excess will have to be removed manually.

One more important point when creating walls - high-quality preparation of materials. For example, a stone is difficult to connect to each other due to a large number dust and splinters. Therefore, it is advisable to rinse it with plenty of water with pressure and only then use it.

The most successful retaining walls flow into areas located on the slopes, regardless of which part they are located in. They equally advantageously cope with the mission entrusted to them, if the site is located on the top of a hill, in its middle part, or even in a lowland. In each case, they will perform different functions.

Such walls work well in combination with steps, can act as an excellent base for benches, and can also be used as zone delimiters on the site. They will help not only to advantageously beat a non-standard terrain, but also to create it from scratch on an absolutely flat area. This can be done if there is only one wall, and if a whole cascade of them is created.

The last, but not least, advantage of such an element can be the possibility of creating a real fence, the basis of which will be the same wall that extends beyond the site. Use a similar engineering structure on your site, and you will be able to appreciate all its advantages.

When located suburban area on a hill or near a steep bank of a reservoir, the device is a technical necessity.

Various building materials are used for its construction: natural stones, brick, concrete, wood.

When choosing them, it is important to consider architectural features country house And general design the surrounding landscape.

In landscape design, these structures perform the following tasks:

1. Participate in the zoning of the territory;
2. Decorative features;
3. Strengthen the soil;
4. They create horizontal planes on which planting is possible.

Design features

Retaining walls can be engineering or decorative structures.

In the first, they are arranged to prevent landslides, do not allow the soil mass to collapse or slide from the slope of a hill, ravine or the shore of a reservoir. These are capital structures that require the involvement of specialists.

In the second case, they have only an aesthetic function and are designed to be an adornment of a country 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. Use is recommended, and natural stone– their surface has low water absorption and is durable in operation. Concrete is also characterized by high strength, but is inferior to the above materials in terms of aesthetics. Although there modern styles where concrete will look appropriate and harmonious.

Regardless of the purpose of the retaining wall in a certain landscape space, its design is the same for all options - this base and visible part.

Outside, the vertical plane of the structure can be flat or have a slope, and on the back side it adjoins the soil surface.

Important! Starting to design a retaining wall, it is necessary to consider how the drainage from the structure will be carried out. The accumulation of moisture on the back side is inevitable.

Wooden retaining wall

The use of wood to create a retaining wall in the landscape involves the construction of a temporary structure or decorative, and extremely short-lived.

Important! Choosing logs for the construction of a wooden retaining wall, you can not save. The material must be of high quality, without damage on the surface and signs of disease. Then it will last longer.

1. At the bottom of the trench, the depth of which is half the height of the wall being erected, sand and stone are laid;
2. Part of the wood to be immersed in the ground must be treated with bitumen-based mastic;
3. To protect the outer part of the wood from the appearance of mold and rot, it must be treated with antiseptic compounds;
4. Logs are immersed in the moat and connected to each other with metal spirals. The rock is laid in the lower part;
5. Then a cement-sand mortar is poured into the ditch.

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 wooden materials allows you to vary decorative effect. Of course, the most popular for creating retaining walls are timber and logs. But they can also be presented creatively:

Concrete retaining wall

Foam blocks

Thanks to the voids inside, they are a very convenient material for creating green walls.

The retaining wall should harmoniously fit into the landscape design - materials, color and shape of the enclosing structures and the style decision of the house. Just below 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 massiveness of the retaining wall structure is due to technical necessity, then its perception can be facilitated by the device ladders, 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 arrangement of earthen pockets during masonry allows you to subsequently plant flowers in them. Climbing plants from below and vines lowered from above will add to the overall picture.

Handmade jewelry can also look great. For example, a mosaic:

Photo gallery

Here are 25 more retaining wall designs to inspire you, perhaps one of them will serve as a prototype for your own design:

Your attention is invited to a series of articles that will address the construction of retaining walls in suburban construction. This article will outline the concept of retaining walls, when they are used and their types in suburban construction.

The concept and design of a retaining wall (wall)

In the general construction concept, a retaining wall is a structural structure that keeps the mass of soil behind it from collapsing and sliding on the slopes of the terrain (slopes, slopes, bulges and depressions of the surface of the site).

In suburban construction, retaining walls are used in areas of terrain with a sharp difference in elevation (ravines, steep slopes, hills, etc.). In addition to their direct purpose as engineering structures, they have found application as artistic and decorative elements of landscape design.

All walls erected during suburban construction can be divided into:

Decorative: used as an architectural and artistic element. They are used on flat (smooth) and slightly sloping areas as an element of landscape design;

Strengthening: used to hold soil on slopes. They are widely used in terracing natural slopes in order to increase the usable area for landscaping and landscaping elements.

In this article, decorative retaining walls will not be considered, and in the future we will only talk about reinforcing retaining walls. Further, the reinforcing retaining walls in the article will be referred to as retaining walls(without the word "strengthening").

Main purpose reinforcing retaining walls- to strengthen the soil on slopes, slopes and prevent the collapse and sliding of the soil (formation of landslides), which are often observed in areas located along the banks of rivers, lakes and ponds. This phenomenon is especially dangerous in the vicinity of ravines, since their unfortified slopes slide almost constantly even from light rain or melt water. Retaining walls are also used when arranging terraces (we will talk about terracing a site in a separate article).

The experience of planning plots on slopes shows that with a slope of more than 8%, it is practically impossible to do without retaining walls.

In addition to the main functions, reinforcing walls allow you to solve a number of problems in planning and designing the site:

• organize optimal terracing;
• rational use of garden areas;
• fill horizontal areas formed during terracing with a fertile layer and create favorable conditions for plant growth;
• divide the site into zones - functional and aesthetic.

The method for determining the magnitude of slopes is described in the article.

Regardless of what purpose a retaining wall serves, it consists of the main parts:

• Foundation - underground part walls;
• Body - above-ground (visible) part of the supporting structure;
• Drainage and drainage, necessary to increase the strength of the retaining wall.

The foundation, drainage and drainage system perform only technical functions. And the body, apart from technical functions, can also solve aesthetic problems.

The materials from which the retaining wall elements are made will be discussed below.

Forces acting on a reinforcing retaining wall (general concepts).

The following main loads are constantly acting on the retaining wall:

BUT- self-weight of the wall (vertical forces);

B- loads on the wall from the loads located on it (vertical forces);

IN- backfill soil pressure on the wall and its foundation (vertical forces);

G- backfill soil pressure behind the wall (horizontal forces);

D- forces of friction or adhesion to the ground (horizontal forces),

Forces arising from loads A, B, C, D provide wall stability.

Here comes the strength G tries to move (create sliding on the base) or overturn the wall.

Also, with uneven sedimentation of the soil, washing out of bulk soil with deficiencies drainage system, inhomogeneous density of backfill soil, action of forces B And IN can lead to wall pile-up on the ground (this phenomenon is typical for high walls).

It is also necessary to remember that the following periodic forces still act on the wall:

• wind (with a wall height of more than 2 m);
• seismic (in seismic areas);
• vibrational (for example, during heavy traffic of heavy wheeled vehicles along a nearby street. When the site is located near the railway);
• flood and storm water flows;
• frosty swelling of the soil, etc.

Improving the stability of retaining walls

When designing a wall, along with its strength characteristics, it is necessary to ensure its stability as much as possible.

To increase the stability of retaining walls for shear and overturning, a number of constructive measures are taken during their design:

• the back face of the wall is designed with an inclination towards the backfill (to reduce the pressure of the backfill soil, see option "a");

• increase the roughness of the back face of the wall, which also helps to reduce the backfill soil pressure on it. To do this, the edge is made uneven. In concrete and reinforced concrete walls, horizontal adjacent formwork boards are displaced by 5-10 cm relative to each other. Make small chips in concrete. in brick and stone walls make protrusions of masonry material;
• arrange mandatory drainage of the wall (will be described in detail in the next article);
• from front side the walls are arranged with a ledge - a console. This reduces the chance of the wall tipping over;

• light hollow elements are laid in the backfilled soil. This reduces the specific gravity of the backfilled mass and, as a result, the lateral pressure on the retaining wall. For example, expanded polystyrene (EPS) granules are used, which are hollow balls filled with a gas-forming reagent. Their density is 8-10 kg/m3. The size of the granules is 3-5 mm. The main purposes of using PPS granules in construction are - filler for the manufacture of polystyrene concrete - filling insulation;
• production of insulating boards. IN agriculture for loosening the soil. In the manufacture of furniture, as a filler. When transporting products as bulk packaging.

Waste EPS boards or extruded polystyrene foam - XPS can also be used.

Apply unloading platform in the wall. The site allows you to include the weight of the soil above it (additional vertical forces) into the work, which increases the stability of the wall, reduces the pressure of the soil on its lower part.

The listed measures are universal and can be applied to any type of reinforcing retaining walls.

The dimensions of the cross-section and the profile of the retaining wall are determined on the basis of complex engineering calculations of its strength, resistance to overturning, shear, bulk. This mainly applies to industrial and civil construction. As for the walls erected in suburban construction, a simplified technique is used here based on the extensive experience in the construction of such structures.

Experts recommend that if the height of the retaining walls is more than 1 m, the presence of unstable weak soils on the site (mainly sandy, sandy, loamy rocks saturated with water), close (1-1.5 m from the soil surface) ground water or, even worse, the presence of so-called quicksands, contact specialized organizations for their construction, since in such situations the walls are a complex engineering structure with a deeply buried part.

Types of reinforcing retaining walls

Reinforcing retaining walls can be divided into the following types.

According to the method of construction:

• A. Monolithic . They are made in the form of separate links at the factories of reinforced concrete products, and then transported to the place of construction. They have a corner profile and are cantilevered or buttressed. Also, monolithic walls are cast from reinforced concrete, rubble concrete in place into a given shape (formwork);
• B. Prefabricated . Laid out from various building material(stone, brick, wood, etc.) at the construction site.

By depth:

• A. Deep laying (the laying depth is more than the width of the wall by one and a half or more times);
• B. Shallow.

Height:

• A. Low (height does not exceed 1 m);
• B. Medium (height from 1m to 2m);
• B. High (height exceeds 2 m).

It is expedient to calculate medium and high walls by special (including on the basis of computer programs) methods, and not take dimensions based solely on design considerations.

By constructive solution achieving sustainability (by massiveness):

• A. Massive retaining walls. The resistance to shear and overturning is achieved by the mass of the wall itself (concrete, rubble or brickwork). Massive retaining walls are more material-intensive and labor-intensive during construction than thin-walled ones, and can be used with an appropriate feasibility study (for example, when they are built from local materials, there is no precast concrete, etc.). As a rule, massive retaining walls have the same dimensions in height and width;
• B. Semi-massive. The stability of the retaining wall is ensured in a complex way: by the mass of the wall and the soil lying on the foundation slab. Such walls are usually a reinforced concrete structure;
• B. Thin elements. They usually consist of reinforced concrete slabs connected to each other. The stability of walls of this type is provided mainly by the mass of soil above the foundation slab and only to a small extent by its own weight;
• G. Thin. Their stability is ensured by pinching the base in the ground.

By location:

• A. Freestanding;
• B. Associated with adjoining structures (stairs, ramps, plant niches, etc.).

According to the material of manufacture:

• reinforced concrete;
• concrete;
• rubble concrete;
• from natural stone;
• brick;
• wooden or metal, etc.

In the article, we examined the types of reinforcing walls, the forces acting on the structure, under what conditions of suburban construction it is necessary to build them.