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Multi-level living retaining wall
PLANNING BEFORE PROJECT START
We have a basement house with a plot on a slope. This is stage 3 in getting a nice garden and nice slopes with stone. On picture no. 1 you see the house and the result of the latest wall project (3 years ago). This project must be done in the same style and tied together with existing walls. The goal of this stage is to tidy up the slope closest to the garage and the friggeboden/woodshed. At the moment, the slope has retaining walls made of broken stone, a staircase made of wood and garden tiles and a grass slope that is too steep to mow (everything but grass grows there)! It then becomes a retaining wall down to a level lawn in 2 to 4 levels. The retaining wall must wind in arcs and shift the connection towards both the lowest and highest wall parts. There will be a new staircase entirely in stone/concrete in the same place as the old one, and there will also be a smooth path like a serpentine path along one end (opposite the stairs) that will connect to previous masonry projects. In picture 2, you can see the nearest grass slope with a difference in level of 1.5 m, and it's not just grass that grows there! At the far end are the stairs and between the grass and the stairs are the old limestone walls (they lean outward). I have used a simple drawing program to illustrate the project and to get the correct dimensions and proportions of the building. Image 3 shows how the retaining wall and patio should look in rough outline. The flat surface should be used for tables and chairs but also to place a chopping block for splitting wood. Behind the ventilated facade of the shed, we have a small wood storage. The sketches do not show everything. We will lay tiles along the left part of the wall. They should start directly adjacent to the patio and follow the wall down to the next level lawn and then connect to the tiles in the previous project. It will be like a small serpentine path for a wheelbarrow, lawnmower or pram.
3) Sketch of the building
2) Here it will be built
1) The entire plot in the southwest
FINALLY OPEN!
So the project was finally started . End of planning and paper construction. Step 1 was to demolish old walls and stairs. Even a 13-year-old retaining wall got a little unplanned. It must be raised, adapted to the new staircase and then it must be built of the same type of stone as the other retaining walls. Throw away the old stone? No then, I will return in later posts about what it should be used for. In addition to an additional wall, we have also talked about building a pond and/or a waterfall into the retaining wall. It is still being built in floors. Our projects tend to be a little more than planned... ;-) After the demolition, the digging began. Excavators are wonderful things. No matter how easily you lift up 10s of cubic meters, but where the hell do you make the earth ? The plot is not large, it is sloping and the new project will be built on almost the entire surface. In addition, it must be dug so that flowers and plants do not, to an excessive degree, sweep along. I realize that the profession of excavator operator is indeed about a soft touch with the levers so that it does not become jerky and marks on the facade, but it is also to a greater extent about planning, transporting materials and logistics. Driving the machine on a slope was also in some cases a balancing act. More than once I had to use the bucket for support to get up and down the slopes. As long as you have the machine, you drive like a normal person. When the dust has settled, it's time to take the shovel, fine-tune and control measure. That will be the next step and the next post. See ya!
A lot of soil, but the shape takes hold
Old wall and stairs gone
Oh, this is how it looked before
First scoops are easy...
... but it gets worse
THE SHAPES ARE BEGINNING TO APPEAR
One encounters some problems on the journey . The amount of soil and small area to put it on is one. Another problem is building walls in existing flower beds without removing any flowers. And a third is, at least for a basement plot, that both the lowest and highest level should "play" with existing walls and flat surfaces. The amount of soil is a logistics problem where only the imagination sets limits. You solve it, and what's left over you have to hunt by hand with a wheelbarrow - cheap training session. Speaking of training, digging in the middle of existing discounts is simply done by hand. Then there was that thing with measurement and adjustment, especially in height when it slopes over large areas and you don't have access to professional laser measuring instruments, then you resort to the hose spirit level. A wonderful and simple tool. All the digging is done and now the material is also starting to arrive. Crushed stone and stone flour are in a neat pile just outside the site. Tomorrow comes stone and fiber cloth. Then it will finally be time to start building.
The trenches are starting to take shape
Beware the flowers !!!
As I said, there will be a lot of dirt piles...
Crushed stone and stone flour have arrived
Hose level for level measurement
DELIVERY OF MATERIALS - TIME TO BUILD
Of course it's fun to drive an excavator, but it is still the construction itself that you long for! And now the material has been delivered, 16 pallets with almost 17 tons of stone , so it's time to spruce up the mud dikes. Fiber cloth, crusher and a handy ground vibrator in place. Now wondering if all the digging is accurate enough? I have set up measuring rods and measured height levels with a hose spirit level in about 10 places. The zero level, i.e. where I start from and place the first stone, is existing garden tiles at the bottom, also level for the first step (which is dug down so that the top is at the same level). Is the zero level correct, will the top step play with existing tiles at the top, adequately dug at each branch (walls that go out to the side seen from the stairs), etc? Yes, it feels ok. Almost 10 tons of crusher , still so far , maneuvered with a newly purchased wheelbarrow. The old wheelbarrow overturned during the previous wall construction. Both Kärra and I half-killed ourselves on the downhill, and what's the first thing you do? Looking around to see if anyone saw me ;-) Turn on the vibrator and shake loose . The slope where the stairs are to be built rises 2.4 m, and it was a bit sweaty, not up but down. The vibrator wanted to fly away.
This is where the main wall with several levels will stand
Delivery precision - see marking tape
The staircase construction requires a lot of crushing
A little prettier than clay...
Status right now
Then it was time for a little reboot after a few days of "holiday". The first stone for the stairs in place . It is not really the first step, but a step at the level of the ground plane. It is my "zero level", from which all measurements are based. The stairs are built with Megastep, 17x2 stones and that gives a total of 16 steps. Total height will theoretically be 2.40 m, but is increased slightly by making each step slope a couple of millimeters for the water runoff, and should finally be approx. 2.43 m. The substrate has been leveled with a ground vibrator, but each step must be flattened by hand with a so-called virgin / stomp. Don't know why it's called that virgin . Anyone who knows? Behind each step I put soil-moist concrete just to be safe. The wall is made of Mega Mini and builds inwards for each row due to the locking tab. As the wall builds inwards and the stairs are of course straight I straighten the wall as close to the steps as possible . The result is that the wall, from its usual position where each turn builds inwards, turns towards the stairs and is built "straight" a couple of bricks before the step. This one construction accomplished by chipping off the locking tab in whole or in part, but still ensuring that the stone is properly secured. The short description is that each row towards the stairs ends with a stone where half the locking lug has been cut off, and is allowed to swing outwards at the same height as the stone below, while the next stone has the entire locking lug cut off, and then runs completely parallel to the stone below. The second stone in the order is partially secured by being covered by the step itself. Any additional stones hidden by the stairs have the entire heel cut off. All of these stones thus have at least half of the heel left or are half secured by the stairs, unless they are completely secured by the stairs, and all of these stones are glued. In order for the gluing to be good, I use ordinary floor primer on both glued surfaces. Couldn't help but bring some bird watching . Noticed a diligently flapping and working little bird by the friggebod. It flew in between the very sparse paneling (sparse because it's a log cabin). Curious as you are, we peeked a little carefully and discovered a bird's nest with some small yawning hungry chicksJ
There lies the - 1st stone
The wall "straightens up" towards the stairs
The virgin is completely naked
Mega Step installation tool
Bird's nest in the wood shed
BRANCHES IN THE RETAINING WALL
Yes, once you get going, it rolls on in all corners. The lighting must be included from the start, at least if it is to be integrated into the tiling. I have previously used in-lite and just keep going. As simple as possible to splice on existing cable and transformer. The idea is to have lights that mark the passage from the top to the bottom level. There will be a total of 5 lights in the aisle. Then it is nice to illuminate the brick wall itself. There will probably be some there too. After all, modern LED draws almost no current and the theoretical lifespan far exceeds our likely living in principle for life...... One thing that is a bit complex is branches in the wall , i.e. where the wall splits and becomes 2 walls or merges. In part, it applies to pack as good as it gets near an existing wall without the existing wall moving. We do not recommend ground vibrators closer than about 60 cm. My method is to use my dear virgin ie a hand tamper and soil moist concrete. Then you go on a bit of stone cutting to make supports and to adjust so that the wall parts fit neatly and smoothly in the appropriate radius. See one of the pictures below. If, like me, you branch the wall and let it join in another place, you also need to ensure that the branches are made so that the overlap between the stones becomes optimal. What I mean is that the brick for the next layer should end up in the middle of a joint as optimally as possible to maintain strength. I already learned that during the holidays.... The locking lug must have a piece of underlying stone to "grab". You can try a few times and adjust both the radius and length of the branch. In the end it works.
Cable for future lighting
Branching of the wall for planting
Construction of branching
The engineer troops have built a bridge
Product placement
MILESTONE REACHED
One small milestone reached . The entire lower wall section rebuilt including a connecting 3rd wall. The 3rd wall will be an extra level to level against the lawn to the same level where the future large retaining wall will start. Basically half of the stairs are also built. A little extra work was added in the form of a couple of extra steps to easily get from the stairs to the lawn. Now construction begins with the high wall part . I have just started to outline on the ground where it will spread. There will be quite a lot of planning so that all the branches end up in the right place. The innermost wall, i.e. closest to the woodshed and garage, I will partly to build with the stones I got over when I tore down the wall section at the bottom (which I have now built up again with the Mega Mini). I will use the old stones "below ground level", i.e. end at exactly the level that the first row of stones should normally be laid and will not be visible when it is finished. It will be about 6 stones high with old stone built into the ground/soil. The advantage of this is that I get an even and definitely packed surface to start the construction from. The wall part furthest towards the garage/wood shed actually starts at a height where the reused stones end. The part of the wall closest to the lawn is of course built in the usual way.
This is how it looks now
This is how it was before
Half a flight of stairs and stepped out onto the lawn
CONSTRUCTION OF RETAINING WALLS
I intended to dedicate this post to the lower part of the main building. The retaining wall should be approx. 1.5 m high in total, which is too high for the type of stone I use (Mega Mini), i.e. too high if I were to build it in "one piece". I therefore choose to build in several levels, but I also want the levels close to each other laterally. Having the levels close laterally can cause problems with packing at the bottom for the innermost wall parts, i.e. those that should start higher up. The basic idea is that I reuse the old stones from our old wall. I pack along crushed stone and stone flour at the bottom for all masonry parts and starts building with them the old stones in the innermost part respectively with Mega Mini at the far end . I also build branches for intermediate levels from the bottom with old bricks. It will be about 6 stones high with old stone which, so to speak, is built into the ground/soil. From the 6-stone level, I continue with the Mega Mini . I have also glued the first layer, partly for some adjustment in scale but also to secure a firm bottom. The advantage of this is that I get an even and packed surface to start the construction from. In the pictures below, you can also see some old rubble that I filled in (save some rubble). Closest to the house (farthest in the picture) I have also prepared a small pond that will be equipped with a small waterfall.
Packed gravel for all wall parts
It takes...
Budding pond and waterfall
HOLIDAY END
Yes then was holiday over and the build speed will slow down. What remains are 5 layers/rows of bricks at the top, the paving at the top and the walk down the slope. There is also lighting and the waterfall remaining, but they are not major tests of strength. Remaining work may be some evenings and weekends. The waterfall I have prepared by building in a regular drainage pipe through the first layer of brick, i.e. which is just below the soil surface, and up behind the wall in the crusher. In the pipe I run electricity and a water hose for circulation between the pump and the waterfall itself. The idea is to build a small house with leca blocks behind the wall and under the tiling. The house makes connections for electricity and water easily accessible. The pump should, for example, be taken up in the winter. For the electrical connection, I then continue with pipes from the small leca block house into the electrical outlet in the frigge shed. The wall design and all floors are now clear. There will be many levels .... Maybe it will be rice cultivation or vines?
Upper retaining wall structure complete
The stairs almost reach the top
Prepared for waterfalls
View from a window
There will be many levels...
MISCELLANEOUS PROGRESS
Time to report, it was a while ago, and the post will be about about a little of each . There is some progress despite the weeks being filled with "normal work". A couple of hours after work until it gets dark and of course during the weekends it's production. A little bit of each is pretty accurate. We take the opportunity to connect downpipes from the friggebod to the usual the ground drain . We're still there digging. In addition, the waterfall should have some electricity. Of course, we then take the opportunity to supply the friggeboden with electricity and lighting . The mega-step staircase has been joined by a small one cast retaining wall . We chose to cast it as it will not be visible anyway, we will probably expand the balcony with a "kind of" loft passage around the house. Therefore, the stairs have also been joined by a plinth (there is a small joist sticking up in one of the pictures below). However, that project is a completely different future story. The more we got things done, it felt fun to tidy up and sniff a little at how it will look when it's finished. Plants were therefore purchased for some of the plantings in the retaining wall. We also dug the small pond that will receive the water masses from Niagara Falls . Plants, some water that sounds, stones and lighting, ..... it will be amazing.
Few plants in place
Niagara Falls Landing Site
Staircase, molded wall and plinth
Friggan's roof drainage to the ground drain
Electricity for the friggebod and for the waterfall
SOON TIME FOR TILING
Finally up to the level of the patio . It is true that another row of bricks must be added to the height, but it will be there after the tiles are in place. The stairs now reach all the way up , 17 steps in total (not "the 70 steps" although it can feel a bit religious to get all the way up). I have also started adding stone flour for the ground stone. Everything seems to play in height, the top step, the old tiles at the house junction and then a suitable slope outwards and away from the house and garage. Couldn't help it try the waterfall also. It is embedded in the wall . The dimensions fit like a glove with the size of a brick, i.e. 10x30 cm. You only cut a stone lengthwise (the waterfall is only about 5 cm deep) so that the wall construction rests on the stone and not on the waterfall. A couple of stone wedges are also needed to fix the whole thing. The entire construction is not completely finished, a bit of dust cloth needs to be laid and then it needs to be decorated with more stones. I will return with more pictures later.
Niagara Falls built into the wall
17 steps done!
The stone flour comes stealthily
Up on level for tiling
So the usual view...
PAVEMENT STONE IN THE PATIO
The cornerstone because the patio is starting to come into place. All the whole stones are there and about half of the stones that have to be cut at the edges have been cut. You get a good overall impression even if a few small pieces are missing. I have also replaced parts of the old tiles that come from the driveway. The absolute last steps are also in place, i.e. a single step to the garage or to the shed. I will fill the joints with flex joint so right now they are only half-filled with joint sand, partly to keep them in place but also because approx. 2 cm deep is enough for the flexi joint. Flexifogen won't dry to a depth of 5 cm anyway, and oh well, I'll save some steel. The time from the patio, which descends along the slope and down to the next floor, has now taken your form. Soon there will be tiles there too.
Will be beautiful sitting in the sunset
that's how it goes
Gray with hints of red mix
Just missing a bit of Mega cover
The corridor becomes like a serpentine road
DETAILS TOWARDS THE END
It begins to suffer towards the end and most of the construction is finished. Thought this time mostly show a little details on the patio, paving stones, walkways and stairs. The flagstone is joined with flex joint . It remains to glue the Mega deck, but otherwise the patio including the walkway is ready. Other like remains are curbs around friggebod, the waterfall and lawn restoration. The lawn, we'll see if we have time (can) this autumn.
Switchback
The hallway connects to the patio
The stairs go down behind the ledge...
...and here is behind the edge
A stone row plus Mega cover above ground
A LIGHT IN THE TUNNEL
A light in the dark (or in the tunnel?). All lighting is now installed. Since the cable is misplaced and the transformer was in place from the previous project, it was basically a piece of cake to fix this. It can be a little adjustment and choice of light direction. I have fallen in Stellar Warm in the aisle (a total of 5 if I count the 2 I put in the last project) and in the wall I have put 2 fish-eye and 2 scope .
Marking the passage and light points in the wall
Scope to create silhouette of the plant
The darker the silhouette, the clearer it is
Å at another angle
Usual view but in the dark
LAWN
From the start, we planned to add a new one lawn , but it was not decided that it would happen this autumn. During all the work with the lawn, the lawn is torn up and some grass is killed under all the mounds of soil. In addition, with this wonderful summer and autumn with all the rain, you trample up a lot of other lawns due to the transport of soil and stone etc. with a wheelbarrow. We chose to buy lawn on a roll and it was a fairly quick job. The preparatory work is roughly the same as s: removing old soil (mha i.a. tiller), shoveling on new construction soil and leveling/turning. Once the new lawn arrives, it is then a baggis to lay. However, we don't have square surfaces so there was some cutting, but once it was in place it was magic. Everything looks nice and clean, as if you just had shook the carpet .... Also, the whole wall looks much better.
Even and neat in level
Hocus Pocus
The transformation is total
Just settling down
DETAILS
When you look at the final result on a regular image, you see a whole that looks good, but there is a lot details with which you have to put some thought and work. We raised the ground level next to the friggebod to come level with patio and put a retaining wall , a paved walkway to connect between the different ground plans in the garden to facilitate lawnmowers, prams etc., step for wood shed and garage immersed in the paving and finally the stairs. The stairs in itself is a relatively easy job, but getting it at the right levels up and down and playing against the wall that tilts inward with each turn - fun challenge.
Raised ground level and retaining wall
Serpentine entrance
Recessed steps
High stairs
Slope and yet straight towards stairs
WATERFALL
The waterfall has been what became clear last. It's a bit of a finishing touch. I have shown some pictures and told you before, but now there are some details and also the final look. The case itself is built into the wall and directly replaces a brick, or rather half a brick. The outward dimensions correspond to a stone, but behind there is a stone cut lengthwise. In this way, you can build in principle as usual. You can do a little holes for water and electricity . The actual place where the water falls I built with ordinary stone, and I had plenty of that after digging, so that it sloped down towards the tub. I have since dressed it with one protective blanket and a dust cloth which is glued to the wall. After that it was just decorating. To be continued....
A cut rock inside the case
So water and electricity
Founded with gray stone
The canvas in place
Oh so decoration
THE WATERFALL CONT.
To facilitate service and to be able to easily pick up the water pump in the winter, I have built a small one service house in lightweight concrete . The house sits under the paving of the patio and has a lid that has been set in with stones. It is made of colander (aluminium intended for boats), two handles for handles made of stainless fully threaded rod, some ground stones glued to the plate and flexi joint. Water and electricity go via this small service house. The case has been decorated with a mix of regular gray stones from the garden and black and white decorative stones .
The door to the service house recessed
Electricity and water
Decorated and ready
Niagara, what power
Mix with vegetation
TIME TO START SUMMER
Yes, it was actually time to summarize . There will be a cavalcade of pictures of the finished result. A little " lesson learned " for a project like this is that plan as much as possible. There's always something added that you didn't think about, which is a bit of the charm, but best to minimize. The logistics with the digging is good to think about; how much should be reused, where to put all the soil, etc. It's also good if you can involve family and friends, that's a lot to handle. Even a little help feels like a big help, thanks ! Roughly calculated, the project has included 21 tons of bricks, 42 tons of crushed stone and stone flour, 6 tons of building soil, almost 2 tons of lawn on a roll and about 25 tons of excavated soil that I had to restore and use in other places on the site with a wheelbarrow and shovel, i.e. almost 100 tons of material . No gym card needed ;-)
The cycle track perspective
The planning perspective
The overall perspective, i.e. done in 2012
The bird's eye view
The Niagara perspective
BY NIGHT
The summary continues with evening and dark images . In autumn and winter, it wouldn't have been the same without lighting, it gives the whole thing a little something extra. Now the lighting from the waterfall has also been added. It will only light up when the waterfall is running and there will be a weekly timer and regulation of the flow much like the water court.
Many bright spots
The waterfall as a shining mailbox
The project perspective again
Waterfall with lighting
From a slightly different angle
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
This absolutely last post , i.e. now I set the status to "After the project". Hmm, such a status rather makes one think that this is a follow-up a certain time after the end of the project. In my case, I've been working right up until now, right into the tile, so it's more of a "Done" or maybe "Finally" status. Anyway, it's been fun. Good support and advice when needed from Stenbolaget, many happy shouts from the cycle path next door (I have learned most of the routines for dog walkers and exercisers) and support from family and friends. The last pictures are from the same angle and perspective and show: pre-idea-ready in daylight or darkness. Thank you!
Before
Idea
Clear daylight
Clear darkness
