jham
03-16-2010, 04:32 PM
I'm going to be putting a couple dry stack SBC landscape walls in my backyard and I have a few questions I would appreciate some guidance with. They will essentially be cutting the corners of the existing block wall that fences in my back yard to make raised planting beds. Between 2 & 3 ft tall (max 4 course of 8" block) on a 12"x6" footer and holding in a fairly small amount of gravel/soil that I fill them with. I live in S. Arizona so no ground freeze and little rain. Looking at 6" wide block. I plan to put on a ledgestone veneer and stone cap so I don't care how it looks. Not using Landscape block because I'm going for the lowest profile (thin and straight) I can in my small yard. Biggest issue concerning me is that it's pretty curved. Tightest being about a 90 degree curved corner at about a 2' radius.
For the questions: Is 6" block wide enough or do I need to go 8"? How close do I need to run vertical rebar and fill with grout? Do i need to run horizontal rebar? With the tight curves, would I be better off using a shorter maybe single cell CMU straight stacked to make those curves (to keep the cores aligned)? How would the smaller block and straight stack effect strength vs running bond? If I straight stack should I fill all the cores with grout for added strength? Lastly, what kind of a joint do I need between the existing cmu walls that the ends will intersect? Thanks for any input.
For the questions: Is 6" block wide enough or do I need to go 8"? How close do I need to run vertical rebar and fill with grout? Do i need to run horizontal rebar? With the tight curves, would I be better off using a shorter maybe single cell CMU straight stacked to make those curves (to keep the cores aligned)? How would the smaller block and straight stack effect strength vs running bond? If I straight stack should I fill all the cores with grout for added strength? Lastly, what kind of a joint do I need between the existing cmu walls that the ends will intersect? Thanks for any input.