Home Repair forum - Castlewall retaining wall

Author

Castlewall retaining wall

The Tilton Family

2005-07-31, 12:21 pm

I purchased two pallets of castlewall blocks to build a two foot high
retaining wall to replace a railroad tie wall that had gotten rotted and
ugly. I then found that removing the ties was a major problem and was
wondering if I could successfully build the wall just in front of the ties,
which would require the base course be on the concrete driveway. That would
entail chiseling the lips off that base course. Has anyone had any
experience in laying these blocks on a concrete base rather than sand?
As Always Thanks,
Bob T

Percival P. Cassidy

2005-07-31, 1:21 pm

Somewhere (either in a landscaping book or in one of the manufacturers'
brochures) I read a recommendation to install the first course with the
lip facing up anyway.

Perce

On 07/31/05 10:38 am The Tilton Family tossed the following ingredients
into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

> I purchased two pallets of castlewall blocks to build a two foot high
> retaining wall to replace a railroad tie wall that had gotten rotted and
> ugly. I then found that removing the ties was a major problem and was
> wondering if I could successfully build the wall just in front of the ties,
> which would require the base course be on the concrete driveway. That would
> entail chiseling the lips off that base course. Has anyone had any
> experience in laying these blocks on a concrete base rather than sand?

Colbyt

2005-07-31, 1:21 pm

"The Tilton Family" <rtilton@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:gn5He.42305$B52.39333@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...
> I purchased two pallets of castlewall blocks to build a two foot high
> retaining wall to replace a railroad tie wall that had gotten rotted and
> ugly. I then found that removing the ties was a major problem and was
> wondering if I could successfully build the wall just in front of the
ties,
> which would require the base course be on the concrete driveway. That
would
> entail chiseling the lips off that base course. Has anyone had any
> experience in laying these blocks on a concrete base rather than sand?
> As Always Thanks,
> Bob T
>
>

I am not familiar with the brand you mentioned.

The upside down option might work. Breaking the lip off is an option if you
are careful. Grinding it off with an angle grinder is a better one for
accuracy. Mud setting them with a stiff layer of mortar is still another
option.

It is a good thing for your wall to tilt back slightly toward the retained
area.

I actually poured a footer for the wall I built and set the first course,
which was below grade in mud to insure a level first course from end to end
and a very slight tilt toward the retained area.

Colbyt

Larry

2005-07-31, 8:21 pm

I haven't put them down on concrete but I did knock the lips off my 1'
wall just so I wouldn't have a little more setback on each row. You're
going to have go up 6 rows to get 2'. As long as you get the bottom
layer level and have plenty of backfill, what's the problem? I used a
3" chisel and hammer on mine.

The Tilton Family wrote:
> I purchased two pallets of castlewall blocks to build a two foot high
> retaining wall to replace a railroad tie wall that had gotten rotted and
> ugly. I then found that removing the ties was a major problem and was
> wondering if I could successfully build the wall just in front of the ties,
> which would require the base course be on the concrete driveway. That would
> entail chiseling the lips off that base course. Has anyone had any
> experience in laying these blocks on a concrete base rather than sand?
> As Always Thanks,
> Bob T
>
>

Paul Franklin

2005-07-31, 10:21 pm

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:38:04 GMT, "The Tilton Family"
<rtilton@neo.rr.com> wrote:

>I purchased two pallets of castlewall blocks to build a two foot high
>retaining wall to replace a railroad tie wall that had gotten rotted and
>ugly. I then found that removing the ties was a major problem and was
>wondering if I could successfully build the wall just in front of the ties,
>which would require the base course be on the concrete driveway. That would
>entail chiseling the lips off that base course. Has anyone had any
>experience in laying these blocks on a concrete base rather than sand?
>As Always Thanks,
>Bob T
>

Setting on concrete not a problem per se, but from your description it
sounds like there would be nothing to prevent the first course, and
thus the whole wall, from sliding out onto the driveway. Normally the
first course is buried so it can't move. Yours will just slide
forward onto the driveway under the pressure from the soil behind. If
the railroad tie wall was stable and the block wall was purely
cosmetic, no prob, but that doesn't sound like your situation.

HTH,

Paul

Mark and Kim Smith

2005-07-31, 10:21 pm

Depends on which product you buy. Three rows got me two feet.
http://www.bunchobikes.com/pond42.jpg

Larry wrote:
[color=darkred]
> I haven't put them down on concrete but I did knock the lips off my 1'
> wall just so I wouldn't have a little more setback on each row.
> You're going to have go up 6 rows to get 2'. As long as you get the
> bottom layer level and have plenty of backfill, what's the problem? I
> used a 3" chisel and hammer on mine.
>
> The Tilton Family wrote:
>

LinkBot