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I am doing two projects, dry stack stone retaining wall and brick patio, right now for my old house. I need you professional help to make sure I am doing right.
I am a new home owner in MA. My house is on a slightly sloping hill, back yard is slightly higher than front yard. We dont have ground water issue, water table is lower than our basement, but we do have surface water issue in heavy rain. Water flew through my garage and flew into my basement via window in heavy rain in the past. So last summer I started exterior French drain project to catch surface water. I have done grading around the foundation and put French drain around the foundation. Now we are confident no water could flow through our garage and our basement should be dry. From one of my diagrams you can see I have planned to dig more French drain to catch water in the back yard and in the patio in front of the planned retaining wall. I plan to finish those planned French drain this summer along with retaining wall and patio projects. I will have a busy summer for sure.
I need your expertise to guide me in the right direction. I appreciate any input from you.
Dry stack retaining wall:
1. The wall is about 2.5 high from the foot, about 2 high from the patio top;
2. I will put about 4 thick of Ύ crushed stone as its base; is this enough? 6? Somebody says no base is needed because dry stack wall can go up and down slightly without any problem.
3. I may not put perforated pipe at the bottom back of the retaining wall because there are few places I cannot push back anymore (I need space to have my trailer pass through), so no space for it. Is this ok? The wall will be surrounded with French drain and the water should be able to flow out from the dry stack wall as some people point out.
4. I will refill at least 6 thick of crushed stone at the back of the wall, then the soil and in between is the fabric filter.
5. I need to build 3 wide steps in the middle of the wall by using the same material as the wall. There will be four 7 high steps. The deep of each step will be about 1.5. This will be the trickiest part in the wall project to me, I think.
Patio:
1. I was planned to put 4 thick of Ύ crushed stone. After read posts here, the crushed stone is NOT what I have now; I should mix them with some gravel stone, or buy mixed crushed stone.
2. I will grade the patio toward the backyard;
3. I will put another 1 top sand or fine crushed stone;
4. Then put bricks on;
Wall-patio-French drain:
Please have a look at that detail diagram for the integration of the wall, patio and French drain and give me your professional advice about how to integrate them properly.
Above are general steps but there must be detailed issues and questions during the process.
Thank you in advance.
Some photos and diagrams are here or
I am a new home owner in MA. My house is on a slightly sloping hill, back yard is slightly higher than front yard. We dont have ground water issue, water table is lower than our basement, but we do have surface water issue in heavy rain. Water flew through my garage and flew into my basement via window in heavy rain in the past. So last summer I started exterior French drain project to catch surface water. I have done grading around the foundation and put French drain around the foundation. Now we are confident no water could flow through our garage and our basement should be dry. From one of my diagrams you can see I have planned to dig more French drain to catch water in the back yard and in the patio in front of the planned retaining wall. I plan to finish those planned French drain this summer along with retaining wall and patio projects. I will have a busy summer for sure.
I need your expertise to guide me in the right direction. I appreciate any input from you.
Dry stack retaining wall:
1. The wall is about 2.5 high from the foot, about 2 high from the patio top;
2. I will put about 4 thick of Ύ crushed stone as its base; is this enough? 6? Somebody says no base is needed because dry stack wall can go up and down slightly without any problem.
3. I may not put perforated pipe at the bottom back of the retaining wall because there are few places I cannot push back anymore (I need space to have my trailer pass through), so no space for it. Is this ok? The wall will be surrounded with French drain and the water should be able to flow out from the dry stack wall as some people point out.
4. I will refill at least 6 thick of crushed stone at the back of the wall, then the soil and in between is the fabric filter.
5. I need to build 3 wide steps in the middle of the wall by using the same material as the wall. There will be four 7 high steps. The deep of each step will be about 1.5. This will be the trickiest part in the wall project to me, I think.
Patio:
1. I was planned to put 4 thick of Ύ crushed stone. After read posts here, the crushed stone is NOT what I have now; I should mix them with some gravel stone, or buy mixed crushed stone.
2. I will grade the patio toward the backyard;
3. I will put another 1 top sand or fine crushed stone;
4. Then put bricks on;
Wall-patio-French drain:
Please have a look at that detail diagram for the integration of the wall, patio and French drain and give me your professional advice about how to integrate them properly.
Above are general steps but there must be detailed issues and questions during the process.
Thank you in advance.
Some photos and diagrams are here or
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