 |
Garden WallsThe building of garden walls is normally the work of a mason or bricklayer but can be accomplished by a good diy'er. There are a number of materials that can be used such as brick, stone, glass bricks etc, and in all cases the foundation and structure is very similar. The weight of the wall will determine the size of the foundation to be laid and as a rule of thumb for the average wall add 200mm(8") to the width of 'your bricks' to give enough stability. For example, on a brick size of approximately 100mm(4") your footing or foundation will be The depth of your foundation will be equal to to the width of your wall so in this example the foundation will be The only major change to this would be if your wall is holding back soil or is 'retaining' in some way, then you garden wall will resemble in structure a right angled triangle gaining in height as necessary, keeping the right angle to the front. To explain how this works...imagine standing a boot up and push it from the side/top and it'll fall over. This is how a retaining wall works, the pressure of soil on the toe or base compensates for the pressure at the top of the wall and prevents movement. The pressure can be further reduced by leaving 'weep holes' in the wall to allow moisture to escape from behind the wall instead of building up causing strain. As an apprentice I constructed countless garden walls from brickwork and stone and learned how these structures were conceived and crafted and suggest possibly using a builder for the more complex walls. Mike Lyons.....Any questions! Please contact me. I'd welcome your comments, tips and suggestions, for more information click here (BOOKMARK HOMEPAGE FOR QUICK REFERENCE)
|
