Did You Know That You Can See Allan Block How To Videos on You Tube ? – March 10, 2011
Terraced Walls Tackle Unruly Hillsides – November 9, 2010
Poor Water Management = Wall Failures – October 26, 2010
Don’t Wait Until Your Retaining Wall Is Built to Consider Fence Requirements – October 5, 2010
Allan Block will be at the 2010 Hardscape North America Show – September 21, 2010
Estimating Tool – What is Wall Rock? – September 14, 2010
A Backyard Oasis – May 17, 2010
Retaining Wall for Water? Why Not? January 5, 2010
To Pond or not to Pond, That is the question Novenber 16, 2009
Which Block is Right for Me? August 3, 2009
The importance of soil – July 16, 2009
Turn It Up By Turning Your Retaining Wall In – May 29, 2009
Find Peace and Tranquility in your Allan Block Water Feature – May 13, 2009
Finishing your Allan Block Wall with Style – April 23, 2009
Light up your Life – Adding Lighting to your Allan Block Retaining Wall - April 3, 2009
It’s Hip to be Square – When You Build with Allan Block Corners – March 26, 2009
Planning and Estimating your Segmental Retaining Wall – Feb 17, 2009
Do you want to build your own Segmental Retaining Wall? – Feb 11, 2009
Finishing Options for your Allan Block wall – Feb 9, 2009
Dirt Makes a Difference When Building a Retaining Wall – Feb 9, 2009
Don’t Come to the Party without the Right Tools! – Jan 22, 2009
Can I use a simple Gravity Wall? – Dec 12, 2008
Homeowner’s Hut FAQs
I built an Allan Block Wall this summer that looked great. However, the blocks have white stains that are covering a signficant portion of the blocks. What can I do to fix this problem?
It sounds like the stuff on your wall is efflorescence. Efflorescence is a deposit of soluble salts and bases,
usually white in color, that sometimes appears on masonry or concrete. While it may be an
aesthetic concern, efflorescence will not affect structural
performance.
It will eventually go away on its own as rain water will wash it away. If you don’t want to wait, most efflorescence can be removed by drybrushing followed by flushing with clean water.
I am building a 3 course high block wall around a new pool installation. I plan to pour a stamped concrete pool deck that will tie in flush with block wall. I would like a monlithic looking deck…no caps on the allan block. How do I do pour a concrete slab overtop of the block wall…slab becomes cap?
When putting a two-sided patio wall or seating wall on an exiting 4 inch thick concrete patio. What are the restrictions on the weight or height of the wall? (AB Courtyard)
I have a 5ft retaining wall to build that will have a staircase in the middle of it. I’d like to have posts on either side of the staircase and each end of the wall. If I build posts out of the courtyard collection (reinforced witht the interior cement pillar)and mix it with the AB retaining wall system will the posts have the stability required since the main purpose is a 5ft retaining wall?
I am looking to buy products for a retaining wall near Roatan Honduras. Could you tell me the closest place to purchase?
Its really hard to find a good blog, I really enjoy your site, thanks. thank you
Great article, I really love your tips.
Kudos!good quality points you discuss there. I do not fully rhyme on this idea with you, but interesting to know your viewpoint on this thing.
Adding an outside door to our basement so need to go down 6 feet with steps and access to the door. My question is there is only 7 feet 8 inches between our basement wall and the neighbors. If I use your long block and 24 inches and back fill and then my 3 feet of well I an up to the neighbors concrete wall. If I use the regular block with the reinforcement I have the same issue. Is there another acceptable way considering we have 7 feet 8 inches between houses I need a min of 2 feet 10 inch width clear then the depth of the block only leaves 3 feet max of dirt to the neighbors house. Your advise would be appreciated. Brian
Brian,
This is more of a site specific question. We will have one of the Allan Block Engineers contact you to discuss your project.
I have dug the trench to the recommended depth for a 3 foot tall (5 courses of 8 inch tall block, 1 underground) retaining wall, and the trench is sloped to daylight, effectively draining surface water that runs into it during rain. The bottom of the trench is all mud however due to seepage of water from the base of the hill that the wall will retain. (The mud remains even after several days of dry weather.) The soil is very sticky yellow clay.
+1
We have a two-sided right angle retaining wall near a tree that is falling down. We’d like to replace it and move it a bit away from the tree. However, that would put one side of the wall on an existing concrete slab. Can we use this slab as a footer for that side of the wall? If so, how does the installation differ from the normal installation with rock used as the footer?
This is more than a general question and the answer will depend on a variety of site specific factors. One of the Allan Block Engineering Team will contact you driectly to assist you.
We have two Allan Block walls in our backyard. I love them. They are from the Europa collection. We are now planning to build a BBQ. I would like to have a similar block look. Do you make a veneer? Can you direct me to any one who does? The BBQ will be on a hard asphalt surfice – so I don’t think we will be digging trenches for conventional Allan Block.
You should try the AB Courtyard Collection for building your BBQ. The Old Country Courtyard has a finish similar to that of the AB Europa blocks. Check with your local supplier to see if they carry it. For tips on building that BBQ check out the How-To sheets on building a Grill Surround or an outdoor kitchen.
Hello,
A contractor is building a retaining wall using Allan Block but he is not filling the holes with crushed rocks. His reasoning is that he has poured concrete footing instead of rock base. Thus, the wall is just as strong w/o filling in the crushed rocks. Is this correct?
The house relies on the retaining walls to stay intact, therefore I want to make sure that it’ll work.
Thanks!
The base leveling pad and the wall rock within the Allan Block units are two separate entities. There are cases where a concrete leveling pad (made from low strength, unreinforced concrete) is used in place of the granular base shown in our installation instructions. The wall rock on the other hand is the rock within the block cores and a minimum of 1 foot behind the wall. The rock inside the cores is required to add weight to the block for a gravity wall. If this rock is omitted, there will not be enough weight here to resist the soil behind the wall. If geogrid reinforcement is used, this rock within the cores will be used to connect the geogrid to the wall facing. It is very important that this wall rock is installed with each course of block and compacted well. More installation information can be found in our AB Landscape Wall Guide.
Retaining walls should not be built upon muddy foundation soils, if at all possible. These soils should either be dried and compacted to the minimum compaction requirements (which is not always easy to do), or be removed and replaced with base rock. Your solution sounds reasonable, as long as you are sure to completely remove any unsuitable material from your trench. You can find more information regarding preparing your gravel base on our website at http://www.allanblock.com/retainingwalls/Installation/Landscape/build/basicinst.aspx?ta=1&product=rt
I am interested to buy the following:
- 1 roll of AB reinforcement grid 4ft wide x 50ft long: Part#:HSF151520 B004
I would greatly appreciate your feedback with information on AB sale point location in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Thank you,
Rudy
Thank you for you interest in the AB reinforcement grid. You will need to contact our local manufacturer in the Vancouver area. Please call CCI Industries at 1-800-556-9733 or email them at info@cci-industries.com
I have dug the trench to the recommended depth for a 3 foot tall (5 courses of 8 inch tall block, 1 underground) retaining wall, and the trench is sloped to daylight, effectively draining surface water that runs into it during rain. The bottom of the trench is all mud however due to seepage of water from the base of the hill that the wall will retain. (The mud remains even after several days of dry weather.) The soil is very sticky yellow clay.
I have some granular fill material on site, some fairly clean sand/gravel and a pile of fairly dirty rock/sand\ gravel. Should I dig the trench deeper (I was thinking maybe an additional 12 inches), fill with granular material and compact before adding washed rock for the wall base. I also have some concrete rubble available. Could/should I put the rubble in bottom 12 inches of the trench to help reinforce it?
I have read in at least one of your publications that muddy base soils should be amended but no further details were provided
Thanks for any help you can provide.
I want to build a 3 foot high separation wall, not retaining, and want both sides to have a nice finish appearance. It is a separation from a patio to the yard, all at the same elevation. I would like the wall to be flush vertical both sides. Do these block have the capacity for a finished look both sides and be flush vertically?
Allan Block Courtyard Product is the perfect solution for your application. Installation instructions for various projects are available on Allan Blocks Website. There you can estimate your project, watch AB Courtyard Installation Videos or read the How To instructions for various projects. You can also find where to buy the product and how to get help with installation instructions and ideas.