Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Happy Easter!! 561Apr 05, 2010 5:39 pm I managed to dodge the rain, goto to the Royal Easter Show, and get most of the trench done over the last 4 days. A big thanks to my mate Wayne the builder for a lend of whacker, and Trev for a lend of his Laser Level. (everyone needs a Laser Level, they are just fantastic!) Front to Rear Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Rear to front Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ You're not a true DIY unless you hit something important! I have a fix for this. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The Rear Corner Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Located the Storm water pipe from the old house and it pretty much at the mid-way point of the wall which is just perfect to hook into. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ My blocks, sand, and gravel are turning up in the next 2 days so I'm pretty much ready to start laying blocks straight away. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3** Retaining Wall Pics 562Apr 10, 2010 5:45 pm Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall pics 10/4 565Apr 11, 2010 7:19 pm Rowena looking good look forward to seeing it finished. Thanks Rowena - 63 blocks in the bottom run. My back failed me at about 11am this morning and I'm not moving very quickly now but it's good to stand back and see what you have achieved for the day. Fernyhouse Oh looking great, the retaining wall looks easy is it interlocking blocks? Hi Ferny - yep they are Tasman blocks. The have a 10mm step-back per block. The hard part is getting the first course right then it's pretty easy from there. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall pics 10/4 566Apr 12, 2010 8:30 am Wow, great work, looks so neat! Anyway, what do you have as the base for the blocks? Is it concrete (strip footing), or is it just sand? Can't see clearly from the pics, but it does look like concrete And how deep did you go with it? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall pics 10/4 567Apr 12, 2010 10:02 am Lex Wow, great work, looks so neat! Anyway, what do you have as the base for the blocks? Is it concrete (strip footing), or is it just sand? Can't see clearly from the pics, but it does look like concrete And how deep did you go with it? Hi Lex - The footing is road-base that has been whacker-packed down. The depth varies from 150mm to 250mm due to finding some enormous rock in the middle. IMO for short runs road-base is ok to use, but in hindsight, I should have done my foundation in concrete as it would have been easier to get dead level along the entire length which is 24m. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..starting over 568Apr 12, 2010 4:43 pm Today, after a long think and a few phone calls, my suspicions have been proven regarding the amount of bedding sand I had to use on the blocks at either end of the course to achieve level. As a result, I have decided to stop, remove everything, and start again but this time I'm going to get the foundation done in concrete with a 100mm x 100mm toe along the front edge. I'm unhappy about the waste of time and effort but it was not built correctly and would have failed during or shortly after construction so it's better to pick it up now than later. I have a guy turning up Saturday morning to quote for the job. Anyone for more shoveling?? Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 569Apr 13, 2010 8:01 am o'h how annoying.....you poor thing after finally getting time and decent weather you're now stuck with starting over. i think concrete is a better option for a footing, should be stronger i'm glad my retaining wall was only about 4-5m long and was timber sleepers - that was hard enough for me! goodluck with the rest of it mel Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 570Apr 13, 2010 8:24 am yep - lesson learnt - "Not all advice is good advice" Removed the blocks last night and I'm removing the gravel and sand today and then the roadbase will come out and go around the back of the house. It's not wasted as I have a use for it for the short side of the house. Yep kicking myself a bit having to do it all again but am happier knowing that it will be done right. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 571Apr 13, 2010 8:43 am Oh no ... but good to see that it's not that bad or hard to re-start and I hope it goes really well this time! I did miss the detail on how or who advised you of using sand/gravel without concrete footing (not that I would be sure to say which way would be best here anyway ) ... ?! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 572Apr 13, 2010 11:27 am Lex Oh no ... but good to see that it's not that bad or hard to re-start and I hope it goes really well this time! I did miss the detail on how or who advised you of using sand/gravel without concrete footing (not that I would be sure to say which way would be best here anyway ) ... ?! Hi Lex, The use of road-base for the foundation is fine in the right situation and as long as you get it absolutely dead level which is something I did not achieve. In my case, the large sheet rock that extended along my trench for almost 10 feet in the middle made it near impossible for a DIYer such as myself to obtain a level because the material would vibrate out of level further along the rock. Adding more road-base over the rock (which I did) caused 2 major and undesirable things to occur 1. The toe on the front edge of the trench at either end disappeared due the the need to add more road base in an attempt to obtain level. The manufacture recommends that 100 mm of the first course be situated below normal ground height. 2. The excess use of sand under the blocks in an attempt the achieve a complete level course end to end. The first decent rain would see the sand washed away and the wall would fail from the bottom up and collapse. So here is my fix for the problem. CONCRETE! Complete with built-in front Toe. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 574Apr 13, 2010 11:45 am Yes - I am much calmer today than I was yesterday. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 575Apr 13, 2010 12:11 pm Excellent, looks like a good plan, good luck !! Drainage pipe behind the wall, at the bottom level approx. Then some coarse base I think? And only then the actual soil (I read this somewhere )? BTW, what do you mean "built-in front Toe" ?! What's a toe in this scenario !? My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 576Apr 13, 2010 1:27 pm Lex Excellent, looks like a good plan, good luck !! Drainage pipe behind the wall, at the bottom level approx. Then some coarse base I think? And only then the actual soil (I read this somewhere )? BTW, what do you mean "built-in front Toe" ?! What's a toe in this scenario !? Lex, I have added some more info to my original picture above. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 577Apr 13, 2010 1:49 pm Aaaahhh, nice!! I also see what you mean re. toe (I guess in my ever so weird mind, if I was to pick a term that relates to a body part and is also in a builder's glossary, I would have called it "lip" - hahaha ) My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall.. 578Apr 17, 2010 9:29 am Yay !! the dude actually turned up this morning to quote on the footing. With the way my luck has been going recently I was not holding much hope of anyone turning up. He quoted me 2 different solutions. A footing with the front toe and a footing without. $2,000 with the front toe, and $1,500 without and he can do the job next week. I have another guy turning up later today (fingers crossed) so I'll be able to compare quotes and pick the best one. Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall.. 579Apr 17, 2010 10:09 am KnockItDown Yay !! the dude actually turned up ... I have another guy turning up later today (fingers crossed) What times have come that we get excited with them just showing up! Good luck! Oh, could you also nicely summarise for us the size of the quoted area, the materials used (and if they are included in their quotes), the methods (if anything special), etc. etc. You know we want it all !!! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Built an EB Memphis28Mk3**Retaining wall..Starting over 580Apr 17, 2010 4:45 pm 2nd quote is in and I have made my choice. The 2nd guy today wanted heaps more money for both solutions. So I'm going with the first guy. What I'm getting is a reinforced, (trench mesh), concrete footing, 600mm wide x 24m long and due to the rock it will be of varying depth, but the minimum will be 100mm and I'm going to go with the Toe on the front. Due to the varying depth he is going to order 2.4 cubic M of concrete, he made depth measurements every metre along the trench to make sure he quoted the correct amount. Given all of my blocks are now in the way and you can't back the truck right up to the trench, I need to get it done via wheelbarrows. The first guy was fine with it. He said he would organise a couple extra of his workers to run it in via wheelbarrows no probs. The 2nd guy today wasn't interested in wheelbarrows and wanted to do it via a pump truck!! As soon as I get the written quote via email from the first guy I'll accept it and away we go. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair We purchased a 1960s property that is on timber stumps mostly, and a newer section is on concrete stumps. We had a building inspection initially and they reported some… 0 13299 Strong enough for what? For linen, absolutely. To climb on, no. I've got similar shelving in my garage and it holds a decent amount of weight. 900 wide shelves will carry… 1 4348 Probably a not bad thing to mention particle board should in case anyone else reading this got the two confused. 6 5207 |