Materials tools and site.
Diy concrete retaining wall forms.
A properly designed retaining wall will save you time and money.
Most retaining walls up to 4 feet tall including buried blocks can be finished without any special engineering.
Since plywood comes in 4 x 8 sheets the forms are better off 8 long for the most part.
When installed properly concrete offers much more room for customization than any other retaining wall material.
Poured concrete retaining walls can be colored textured accented with embedded objects and much more.
If your wall will be taller or adjacent to heavy loads such as along the side of a driveway consult a structural engineer.
Here are the steps tom ralston owner of tom ralston concrete in santa cruz ca follows when pouring a retaining wall.
Building a cap form step 1 measure the total width of your wall system.
When doing your own concrete work knowing how to form a homemade concrete wall is an essential skill.
Even though we are not dealing concrete blocks always base the height of a concrete wall form on a multiple of 8.
Follow the block manufacturer s instructions for wall height limits.
This includes the cmu concrete masonry unit block and any stone or brick veneer.
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.
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.
The wall we built was a weekend long project and an exhausting one at that.
The cap is made in a concrete form to fit the wall system.
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.
Snap tie concrete forms are a simple and easy system for foundation walls.
To form a concrete wall first set up plywood boards on either side of your concrete footer and attach them together with wire.
Build a concrete form to hold the concrete for the cap.
It would be advisable not to build the forms any taller than 4.
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How to build a concrete wall prep work.
Then pour your concrete inside the form using a chute or hose attached to the mixer.
Avoid having downspouts pointed at the retaining wall and if it s against the house keep soil and mulch well below the siding.
Cut a piece of plywood 4 1 2 inches wider than the thickness of the.