Maybe his neighbor would want him to hire someone so it doesn't fall and
hurt some kid when they are playing on it.

"SQLit" wrote in message
...

"Tony Sinclair" wrote in message
...
I live on the Oregon coast, and my lot is almost pure sand. It is
about four feet above the lot next door, so I need a retaining wall to
keep my sand from sliding into the neighbor's yard. When I first
bought the place, there were some railroad ties there, but they are
weathering away, so I need a more permanent solution. They are only
two feet high and my lot slopes down from my house to the edge; I want
to make a four foot wall so I can have a flat lot (I can get more
sand).

Every conventional solution I've seen is too expensive for me. My
property line is over 100' long, so buying concrete landscaping blocks
at $2 apiece or so would cost thousands of dollars, plus most
recommendations I've seen say they shouldn't be stacked much more than
two feet high anyway.

I'm not much of a handyman by nature, but when I have to do something,
and when I have good instructions, I can usually get it done.

My idea is to pour the concrete myself. I've never done it before,
but I already have a lot full of sand, so I'm thinking that if I just
do a few trial runs to figure out how much cement and water to mix
with the sand, I can cast the blocks in place. It seems to me that
all I would need would be a rectangular wooden form, and I could make
it a lot bigger than a typical landscape block, because I wouldn't be
lifting the blocks, I'd just put the form where I want it, shovel in
the sand and cement, add water, and mix it up. When it is solid, I
knock the form off and do the next block. I guess I would have to use
a slightly smaller form for each layer, so the concrete doesn't run
out of the bottom, but I can figure out how big to start at the bottom
so that the top layers are still big enough.

I am thinking that if I did it this way, I could make a wall four feet
high, because the blocks will be bigger and heavier than regular
landscape blocks, and also I can gouge grooves in the top of the
blocks I pour before they harden, so that the next layer fills the
grooves and they lock together to resist sideways motion. I could
even make the bottom layer with a wide flange that goes back toward my
house, so the earth helps hold it in place.

I realize this would take a very long time, but I have time. If I
just do a block or two a day after work, and maybe a dozen or so on
weekends, maybe it will take five years, so what? At least the total
cost will be less, and the cost will be spread out for as long as I
want it.

So, I'm asking the experts here if this is feasible. Can a rookie
learn to mix concrete good enough for this use fairly quickly? Is
there something I don't know that makes it hard to cast a block on top
of another block? If I make the blocks big, say 3'x2'x1' (lxwxh),
and groove them the way I described, will they make a wall strong
enough to hold back four feet of earth, or would I need some kind of
additional measures? I know that I am not good enough to make a wall
with mortared joints, but I was thinking I could imbed some kind of
deadman anchors halfway up.

No need to be gentle with me. If this is just a stupid idea, feel
free to say so, but please tell me *why* it's stupid. Thanks for any
help.

Forming and reddy mix is the way to go.
First you need good base to put the blocks on.
If your looking for an electric mixer I highly recommend the Gibson.


http://www.constructioncomplete.com/...150WBPL15.html

Small enough to go through a door way but stable. I did some concrete
work
inside with one recently.
I see that the price took a jump. I paid just over $300 for mine
delivered.

Trying to do an retaining wall over a couple of years seems lame to me. I
would be interested in getting the ground stabilized. If you doing this
on
the fence line maybe your neighbor would be interested in pay for part.
After all he would be getting a wall out of the deal. I certainly would
ask.