Im no mason but somewhat handy. My front retaining wall is broken and buckling. I have already dug out about half way down (as far as a could) and back filled with 2b gravel.

Behind the brick is concrete block. Its not the best choice for a retaining wall but it has lasted over 20 years.

I dont need it to look perfect just better to last another 5+ years.

I was hoping to just reset/replace some of the broken bricks and repoint the joints. Is this doable or am I in for more work?

Calculate the cost of doing it right vs doing a "patch job".

Then factor the difference saved now, and what the worst case would be if all that goes down the drain, should it fail at or near your five year point.

Me? I would do it correctly now.

(that issue will get exponentially worse with all the weight no longer adequately supported)

But it is easy to spend someone else's time and money from behind the monitor.

I can give you guidance, but, your pictures are not showing up in your post. Can you re-post your pics and/or email them to my email address in my profile.

Be sure to add "SigForum" in the subject line as I get a great deal of spam.

quote:

Originally posted by h2oys:
I can give you guidance, but, your pictures are not showing up in your post.

They work for me...

Perhaps just the links would work for you.


http://iamwingnut.com/photos/v...201.jpg?m=1629398905

http://iamwingnut.com/photos/v...202.jpg?m=1629399010

It probably took several years to devolve to this point and will likely deteriorate at a very slow pace going forward. How old is the work? It's not just the bricks. You can see the steps look to have sunk more compared the steps if you look closely at previous sealing efforts / calk lines. Probably settling of the back fill in the over-dig for the basement... VERY common issue. BUT my experience is in in the south where we have a max ground freeze of 12 inches so heaving would possibly be more of an issue there that we don't normally see here.

Personally, I would repoint the cracks with a flexible calk and then drill some weep holes at the bottom of the bricks down at the drive level to insure water isn't being trapped behind the wall, relatively cheap and easy... then observe the area for further movement.

I would probably only consider doing much more extensive repairs if it was my forever home.

Being on site would be much more helpful than just the photos.

Thanks for the links cparktd.

All I see in the OP's post is:



As best I can tell, it looks like there are 2 probable causes of the problem: 1) settling of the foundation upon which the bricks were laid, 2) use of salt to melt ice on the steps as the major issues are even with the concrete steps.

You can simply tuck point and replace the broken brick as a "band-aid". Drill weep holes through some of the head joints of the brickwork so water can get out from behind the wall, and it might get you to your 5-year goal.

Ideally, put in drain pipe at the bottom of the wall and direct the water away from the wall, add back fill of rock over the drain pipe, and then tuck point or have the bricks re-laid.

If there are pictures in a post and I am using a chrome based browser, sometimes I get those boxes and the pictures don't load. It depends on whether it is a gif, jpg or png file I think. If I right click the broken image icon and open the image in a new tab, the image will resolve and I can see it but it will never load within the forum post. This doesn't happen if I test the page out in Internet Explorer though.

Somehow, I think it's Google's fault. Because fuck Google.

quote:

Originally posted by h2oys:
settling of the foundation upon which the bricks were laid

Hard to see, but it looks like the edge of the brick is on the steps and the steps are dropping.

You could 1] remove the bricks and put a veneer of bricks on the backing cinderblock 2] remove the loose mortar and repoint with a more flexible mortar 3] my choice, do nothing. Five years is nothing, so let the next people worry about it. Cosmetic work to "correct" the issue without solving the problem is not worth the time IMHO.

You are going to have a tough time replacing the broken brick at each step. Some are an easy fix. For other you might want to break them out and fill the spot with mortar. You can put die in it to match the brick. Your limestone lifted which is an easy fix. Just be aware that as you chisel away other bricks may pop loose.

Yes you can repoint some areas. The make a cutter for grinders for this.
Also buy a bag of type "S" mortar and use brown sand not yellow sand.

Weep holes are most often used when bricks are up against a house. They typically get covered up as mortar falls along the backside of the brick. The is a half inch gap between the house and brick.
We used 1.5 PVC pipes in retaining walls for stress relief.

When we did walls like this we back filled with 3/4 stone. Sometimes we filled the block cores with concrete. Covered it with fabric and put soil on top for grass. The grass or soil should always be higher then the wall. You want the water to go over the wall, not behind.

Not sure why my pictures didn’t show right. They show on my phone but not on the PC

My 5 year goal is to replace the driveway, steps and retaining wall together.

I guess it will be trial and error. I never thought of other bricks popping or using stained mortar.

Thanks for the tips

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
Not sure why my pictures didn’t show right. They show on my phone but not on the PC

Same for me. The pics don't show up on my computer using Microsoft Edge but do show up on my iPhone.

quote:

My 5 year goal is to replace the driveway, steps and retaining wall together.

Then I probably would leave well enough alone for the time being.