Building a cinder block retaining wall, three feet high, 24 feet long.
Been a while since I did any masonry but I remember the basics and
helped my neighbor build his a few months ago. In fact, this wall will
tie off an end of one of his runs. Block is 8x8x16 plain cinder, will
be filled solid and have a stucco skimcoat. Wall will hold back a 2.5
foot wide strip of sandy soil between a sidewalk and my neighbor's
block wall. Has good drainage.

My question regards the footing. I'm on the California coast, so
there's no freezing; no frost line to consider. Below-grade soil is
hard, virgin rotted sandstone. The footing will be concrete, 12" wide,
8" thick, buried 6" or so below grade.

What number of pieces of 1/2" rebar is recommended for this type of
footing under this kind of wall? Is two enough? I plan to bend one or
more pieces of rebar up at 90 degree angles along every four to six
feet of the wall to a height of 30" or so, and slide blocks down over
them, then fill and cap all blocks with solid concrete, plus generous
placement of masonry ties during construction.

Any useful thoughts and advice is highly appreciated.

-chib

--
(email: change out to in)

You don't mention where you are in Calif. but I have had several homes on
San Diego and San Diego Co. and any wall 3 ft or taller requires a building
permit..

Normally I wouldn't even mention this since I do a lot without a permit..
However I do know there is a reason for a permit and proper building plans
and inspection of division and retaining walls..

A improperly built wall can be very dangerous.. I happen to know of some
children who were crushed when a wall collapsed on to them.. All they were
doing was, a kid thing, swinging on a gate..

Your masonary retaining wall requires better planning and engineering than
you are going to find in a news group..

Sorry

Steve

You don't mention where you are in Calif. but I have had several homes on
San Diego and San Diego Co. and any wall 3 ft or taller requires a building
permit..

Normally I wouldn't even mention this since I do a lot without a permit..
However I do know there is a reason for a permit and proper building plans
and inspection of division and retaining walls..

A improperly built wall can be very dangerous.. I happen to know of some
children who were crushed when a wall collapsed on to them.. All they were
doing was, a kid thing, swinging on a gate..

Your masonary retaining wall requires better planning and engineering than
you are going to find in a news group..

Sorry

Steve

In article , Steve
wrote:

You don't mention where you are in Calif. but I have had several homes on
San Diego and San Diego Co. and any wall 3 ft or taller requires a building
permit..

Thanks, Steve. I'm in Santa Barbara County, outside any city limits. I
checked. Structures under 4 feet high don't need permits.


Normally I wouldn't even mention this since I do a lot without a permit..
However I do know there is a reason for a permit and proper building plans
and inspection of division and retaining walls..

A improperly built wall can be very dangerous.. I happen to know of some
children who were crushed when a wall collapsed on to them.. All they were
doing was, a kid thing, swinging on a gate..

Your masonary retaining wall requires better planning and engineering than
you are going to find in a news group..

I was merely asking the folks here if there were any major flaws in my
plan.

I've looked through most of my home improvement books, and online as
well. They all agree that my footing is adequate for a wall like this
but none of them mention rebar, size, number of bars, etc. For all I
know, rebar isn't necessary. I plan to use it, anyway.

-chib

--
(email: change out to in)

In article , Steve
wrote:

You don't mention where you are in Calif. but I have had several homes on
San Diego and San Diego Co. and any wall 3 ft or taller requires a building
permit..

Thanks, Steve. I'm in Santa Barbara County, outside any city limits. I
checked. Structures under 4 feet high don't need permits.


Normally I wouldn't even mention this since I do a lot without a permit..
However I do know there is a reason for a permit and proper building plans
and inspection of division and retaining walls..

A improperly built wall can be very dangerous.. I happen to know of some
children who were crushed when a wall collapsed on to them.. All they were
doing was, a kid thing, swinging on a gate..

Your masonary retaining wall requires better planning and engineering than
you are going to find in a news group..

I was merely asking the folks here if there were any major flaws in my
plan.

I've looked through most of my home improvement books, and online as
well. They all agree that my footing is adequate for a wall like this
but none of them mention rebar, size, number of bars, etc. For all I
know, rebar isn't necessary. I plan to use it, anyway.

-chib

--
(email: change out to in)

You have not had much response to your question. Engineering will help
prevent roll over. If you are going to do your own anyway, I would suggest
that you make the footing wider. A typical minimum would be twice the wall
thickness, as a retainer, it could easily need more. It would be usual to
keep more of the footing under the hill. Drainage is critical as
hydrostatic pressure behind the wall will push it over Residential footings
require 2 #5 bars. I would think you need a tied mat with your hook bars
coming up in the block cells. I would suggest 4' o.c. as an absolute
minimum.

--

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing. . . .
DanG


"chibiabos" wrote in message
...
Building a cinder block retaining wall, three feet high, 24 feet long.
Been a while since I did any masonry but I remember the basics and
helped my neighbor build his a few months ago. In fact, this wall will
tie off an end of one of his runs. Block is 8x8x16 plain cinder, will
be filled solid and have a stucco skimcoat. Wall will hold back a 2.5
foot wide strip of sandy soil between a sidewalk and my neighbor's
block wall. Has good drainage.

My question regards the footing. I'm on the California coast, so
there's no freezing; no frost line to consider. Below-grade soil is
hard, virgin rotted sandstone. The footing will be concrete, 12" wide,
8" thick, buried 6" or so below grade.

What number of pieces of 1/2" rebar is recommended for this type of
footing under this kind of wall? Is two enough? I plan to bend one or
more pieces of rebar up at 90 degree angles along every four to six
feet of the wall to a height of 30" or so, and slide blocks down over
them, then fill and cap all blocks with solid concrete, plus generous
placement of masonry ties during construction.

Any useful thoughts and advice is highly appreciated.

-chib

--
(email: change out to in)

You have not had much response to your question. Engineering will help
prevent roll over. If you are going to do your own anyway, I would suggest
that you make the footing wider. A typical minimum would be twice the wall
thickness, as a retainer, it could easily need more. It would be usual to
keep more of the footing under the hill. Drainage is critical as
hydrostatic pressure behind the wall will push it over Residential footings
require 2 #5 bars. I would think you need a tied mat with your hook bars
coming up in the block cells. I would suggest 4' o.c. as an absolute
minimum.

--

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing. . . .
DanG


"chibiabos" wrote in message
...
Building a cinder block retaining wall, three feet high, 24 feet long.
Been a while since I did any masonry but I remember the basics and
helped my neighbor build his a few months ago. In fact, this wall will
tie off an end of one of his runs. Block is 8x8x16 plain cinder, will
be filled solid and have a stucco skimcoat. Wall will hold back a 2.5
foot wide strip of sandy soil between a sidewalk and my neighbor's
block wall. Has good drainage.

My question regards the footing. I'm on the California coast, so
there's no freezing; no frost line to consider. Below-grade soil is
hard, virgin rotted sandstone. The footing will be concrete, 12" wide,
8" thick, buried 6" or so below grade.

What number of pieces of 1/2" rebar is recommended for this type of
footing under this kind of wall? Is two enough? I plan to bend one or
more pieces of rebar up at 90 degree angles along every four to six
feet of the wall to a height of 30" or so, and slide blocks down over
them, then fill and cap all blocks with solid concrete, plus generous
placement of masonry ties during construction.

Any useful thoughts and advice is highly appreciated.

-chib

--
(email: change out to in)