Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Feb 09, 2011 8:38 pm What are the pros and cons of using pretty-faced blocks (eg. Tasman) vs. bricking (and possibly rendering)? Or rendered besser blocks? Our wall would only be about 700mm high - if that matters. Heavy clay. We were certain we'd have a dry block wall, but bricks make it way easier and more flexible to design it so it better fits with pergola slab and stairs. I love the look of capped rendered walls ... but how high maintenance they are? Also, cracking is a concern and what it means maintenance-wise etc. How about waterproofing if the wall will need to retain a garden bed ? Is waterproofing required and when? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Retaining wall - block or brick? 2Feb 10, 2011 8:55 am Cost is a big factor. Dry stack walls are DIY friendly which can keep the labour costs down whereas Besser Blocks and render are not. Dry Stack walls are pretty flexible. Tasman for example are really easy to make a curved wall but can also be adapted to produce neat angles I pinched the attach pics off Princess Fees' blog to show what I mean. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Retaining wall - block or brick? 3Feb 10, 2011 11:09 am Thanks, Leo! From memory (I think ) someone said that in the end the cost works out similar, but never got any comparative quotes. Our issue is around the flexibility of stairs, for example. If we do the wall in Tasmans, then all step goings would be of same material (eg. tasman capping or some thick paver) except the top one because the top one would actually be the tiled pergola slab. Not sure how would that look - stairs are nicest when all steps look the same (and I can't find any pics). Also, on one side of the pergola slab, it needs to sit right on top of the wall. So if the wall is tasman, we have to pour only up to the wall and then use tasman cappings on that edge! Whihc would look really weird. And I don't like the raised capped edge, I want to see the slab/tiles on top only. I think we won't have that issue if we brick or besser&render the wall. All pics I've seen show the slab sitting on top of those walls woth no issues (I think ... now I have to double check that !!) . Any ideas, anyone?? Oh, another thing - if we brick/besser, we can have soil levels lower and as we wish. I think with tasmans you have to fill up pretty high, or else the back shows ... (I've never seen a tasman from the back, so not sure exactly, but ... ) My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Retaining wall - block or brick? 4Feb 11, 2011 7:37 am Agree, Besser blocks are cheaper per unit to buy than a Dry Stack block such as Tasman etc. For my situation I got quoted just over $12K for my wall to be done in Besser Blocks with concrete foundation but this excluded the drainage and backfilling which I would still have to do myself. My DIY effort in Tasman's including drainage material and backfilling came to just under $6K. The back of a Tasman block looks very similar to a Besser Block. Given you want to put a slab on top of and to the outer edge of your wall I think you are right in steering away from a dry stack system. there is a standard besser block wall pdf somewhere online with footing sizes, also have a look at dincel. 1 2916 Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5193 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16149 |