My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.

From the affordability point of view I've been wondering about the use of
gabions, maybe fill with decorative rock rather than a conventional blocks
and mortar wall.

Any ideas how this would compare price wise?

Tim

Would you not have to make the wall curved so the pressure from the soil on
one side makes the wall stronger instead of knocking it over at the next
monsoon we seem to get in this country?
I've seen the result of not doing this at the bottom of the hill I live on!
Brian

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"Tim+" wrote in message
...
My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.

From the affordability point of view I've been wondering about the use of
gabions, maybe fill with decorative rock rather than a conventional blocks
and mortar wall.

Any ideas how this would compare price wise?

Tim

On 23/03/16 18:26, Tim+ wrote:
My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.

From the affordability point of view I've been wondering about the use of
gabions, maybe fill with decorative rock rather than a conventional blocks
and mortar wall.

Any ideas how this would compare price wise?

Tim


As others may have suggested, put a back slope on it (into the hill) and
that will help considerably. I've seen such walls 8-10 ft high made of
heavy density concrete blocks with a slight angle, so 3-4ft is not going
to be too hard.

If you used concrete blocks, vertical would be possible with good
foundations. A curved wall adds strength.

Not certain of the best slope angle - but the ones I've seen have been
10-20 degrees off vertical. With a big enough angle, you could get away
with dry walling.

On the theme of angled and drywall, there are these:

http://www.marshalls.co.uk/homeowner...garden-walling

They have a tab on the back to they interlock, but are otherwise laid
dry (except the top course has something to help stick them).

Those do have some explicit data sheets on max heights they will retain,
and how to manage extra height.

A variation would be to do 2 x 2' walls, one set back from the other and
fill the middle strip with plants.


Don't forget drainage holes in the bottom[1] and ideally a backfill of
free draining aggregate - that will alleviate water pressure when it
rains a lot.

[1] The Marshall ones drain through the dry joints.

On Thursday, 24 March 2016 03:05:31 UTC, Tim+ wrote:
My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.

From the affordability point of view I've been wondering about the use of
gabions, maybe fill with decorative rock rather than a conventional blocks
and mortar wall.

Any ideas how this would compare price wise?

Tim

Gabions are much cheaper, but eventually rust through & collapse.


NT

I have seen gabion walls several metres high used as retaining walls. As far as rusting away, they used gabions on the M62 in the Pennines and they are still there since the early seventies. The beauty of them is that they allow excellent drainage.


Richard

In message ,
Tricky Dicky writes
I have seen gabion walls several metres high used as retaining walls.
As far as rusting away, they used gabions on the M62 in the Pennines
and they are still there since the early seventies. The beauty of them
is that they allow excellent drainage.

Elsewhere you see concrete *shelving* which allows soil to penetrate and
slope at the angle of slump. This allows free drainage and an
opportunity for grass and flowers to grow.

I doubt you could purchase these for home use but something might be
achieved with sets of concrete barge boards.

--
Tim Lamb

On 23/03/16 18:26, Tim+ wrote:
My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.


If it is on to a main road you need to check the planning permission
side of things, in particular the requirement for visibility splays.





From the affordability point of view I've been wondering about the use of
gabions, maybe fill with decorative rock rather than a conventional blocks
and mortar wall.

Any ideas how this would compare price wise?

Tim



--
djc

(–€Ì¿Ä¹Ì¯–€Ì¿ Ì¿)
No low-hanging fruit, just a lot of small berries up a tall tree.

On Thursday, 24 March 2016 14:14:59 UTC, Tricky Dicky wrote:

I have seen gabion walls several metres high used as retaining walls. As far as rusting away, they used gabions on the M62 in the Pennines and they are still there since the early seventies. The beauty of them is that they allow excellent drainage.


To retain soil at a very shallow slope they work better. In such situations, plant roots can be used to bind it together for the long term. And even when the gabions rust the stones stay put. A retaining wall is a different matter.

There are always SS gabions, they don't normally rust.


NT

In article ,
DJC writes:
On 23/03/16 18:26, Tim+ wrote:
My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.

If it is on to a main road you need to check the planning permission
side of things, in particular the requirement for visibility splays.

You need planning permission for vehicle access on/off the road,
and if there's a kerb and/or pavement there, a council approved
contractor will need to make it suitable for vehicle crossing
(dropped kerb, replacing paving stones with weight-baring surface,
etc). They'll also consider things like proximity to junctions,
loss of on-street parking bay (particularly if revenue generating),
drainage of the car standing area, etc.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
DJC writes:
On 23/03/16 18:26, Tim+ wrote:
My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.

If it is on to a main road you need to check the planning permission
side of things, in particular the requirement for visibility splays.

You need planning permission for vehicle access on/off the road,
and if there's a kerb and/or pavement there, a council approved
contractor will need to make it suitable for vehicle crossing
(dropped kerb, replacing paving stones with weight-baring surface,
etc). They'll also consider things like proximity to junctions,
loss of on-street parking bay (particularly if revenue generating),
drainage of the car standing area, etc.

They don't like loose shingle which could migrate to the highway either.


--
Tim Lamb

On 3/24/2016 11:36 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, 24 March 2016 03:05:31 UTC, Tim+ wrote:
My daughter's garden slopes down to the main road and she's like to get it
dug out to create off-street parking. It'll need a retaining wall to hold
back the soil obviously. It's not steep but we could be looking at a 3-4ft
high wall.

From the affordability point of view I've been wondering about the use of
gabions, maybe fill with decorative rock rather than a conventional blocks
and mortar wall.

Any ideas how this would compare price wise?

Tim

Gabions are much cheaper, but eventually rust through & collapse.


NT

What about the cost of the stones, though?