Thinking of building a retaining wall? Great choice – a retaining wall is an excellent way to create structural support and more usable space in your garden. Plus, it can add a significant amount of value to your home. Retaining walls come in a huge variety of types, styles, sizes and materials – and you’re really limited only by your own imagination with what you want to build.
And they don’t have to be hugely expensive or time consuming, either. Here are four useful hacks to make your retaining wall build both cheaper and easier.
Use larger-size blocks
Your choice of material will have a big impact on how hard or easy your wall is to build – and also on the cost of the wall. If you want a quick and cost-effective solution, your best bet is larger concrete blocks. Not only are these cheaper than many other types of material (such as stone, brick and timber), they also make for a quick and easy wall build.
Their larger size means fewer pieces you’ll have to install in the wall, and a concrete block wall will prove to be a far quicker install than one made out of smaller bricks or other types of material.
Use an interlocking system
This is a great hack, because by far the most quick and simple way to build a retaining wall is to use a link wall block system such as the ones you’ll find here https://www.nationalmasonry.com.au/blocks-bricks-pavers-retaining-walls-qld-nsw/retaining_walls/.
These block types don’t require any specific engineering or even any concrete, glue or mortar! Rather, the system is designed for the blocks to lock together strongly, as they use the force applied to the wall to interlock each block to those next to it,
forming a strong and solid unit. They do this by using a specially designed lip along the edge of each block, which provides support and eliminates the need for mortar. Most interlocking systems don’t need additional corners or caps either, as they come with purpose-made corner blocks and caps to reduce any need for cutting or splitting blocks.
You can also find interlocking systems that allow you to simply and quickly make curved walls with no gaps – such as a firepit.
Use hollowed blocks
Obviously, solid and heavy materials will take more effort to assemble than lighter ones. If you’re going for ease of installation, choose retaining wall blocks which are hollowed out inside or underneath to make them easier to handle.
And if you choose properly engineered concrete blocks such as these https://www.nationalmasonry.com.au/blocks-bricks-pavers-retaining-walls-qld-nsw/retaining_walls/ you won’t be sacrificing strength and stability, and many of them don’t require core filling either.
Get all your prep done before you start
Order everything you need early, and have it delivered a few days in advance, so you have time to fix any problems before you start your wall build.
It’s too late to discover an important component missing when you’re in the middle of your retaining wall install. Check you have everything you need before you start, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time down the track.
So, give these hacks a try and watch your retaining wall go up quickly and easily – you’ll be enjoying it in no time (and without putting too tight a squeeze on your hip pocket, either)