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Rock Wall
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Posted by Ratherbgardening PNW 7 or 8 (My Page) on Tue, May 25, 04 at 12:33
I want to do a short wall with a rock facing, if that makes sense. We have put in gravel pathways around some garden beds and some of them are on a slope, which leaves me with some beds about 10" above the path. I was thinking of a concrete wall, then mortaring the rock to it. One bed is circular, so how could I make a form to pour the concrete around it and how thick should it be? I've thought of using rebar stakes with hardware cloth, or would the concrete just ooze out the holes? I hope this makes sense. :>)
I have some rainbow rock, mainly large flat pieces and it would be cheaper for me to use them in this manner. |
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RE: Rock Wall
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Sounds like alot of work for just a raised bed. The stone you have may be more useful as pavers rather than wall material. Lets figure the costs associated with a concrete wall: 1)Forms and the time to build them 2) Concrete and rebar, also the mixer or trucked concrete 3)tearout of forms and disposal(money out the window)4)Stone that is used for paving unless you use its edge 5)mortaring the stone in place, grouting the joints 6)Cleaning the excess mortar off the stone, very time consuming.
OR....
Buy a couple of tons of rock and dry stack it, this will give you the look of an old wall and less the concrete look.
You could probably hire someone to do the later option for less then doing the first yourself.
Sorry if I sound opinionated and pushy, but it is what I would say a customer.
Good luck! |
RE: Rock Wall
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| Thanks...I think. :>) I was wanting to use the rainbow rock since I already have it in use here. This circle is at least 10' across, with the south side sloping and I want to terrace that side of it. I will consider your suggestion. It would be a lot easier than what I was thinking of. |
RE: Rock Wall
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| A method used quite often around here is to build a wall with concrete block, then mortar thin stone to the face of the wall. Would that work for you? |
RE: Rock Wall
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| I thought of that, but with it being a cirle I don't think it would work very well. It would take a lot of them to go around it too. |
RE: Rock Wall
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| Since you are in plant zone 7 or 8 where the ground should not freeze much below the surface and you already have the rock that will give you the look you want, I say go for it. A 10 inch wall would be no problem as a DIY project. As Twinke pointed out blocks would be one way, and maybe a few dollars cheaper. The poured concrete would be a little stronger and have less hairline cracks. If you choose the block you might want to shift the center of the radius a couple of feet and go to a 7 ft radius. The wall length would not change much and the block would better fit the curve. If you choose concrete and need help with the form work go check out the details of the forms I’m using (see the thread "DIY Concrete retaining walls" on the :andscape Design forum), and then get back to me. I’ll give you an idea for the curved forms. Both types of construction will need a small footer. The ready mix concrete boys are not going to want to come out for such a small amount of concrete, so you better plan on doing the mixing yourself. Either way I don’t see this project being over $200 and I doubt that a contractor would do much of anything for less than that. A rough estimate of 30 feet of wall might be ....
steel $20
concrete and mortar $120
wood for forms $25
forms hardware $10
tool rental ?? |
RE: Rock Wall
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- Posted by mjsee Zone 7, NC (My Page) on
Mon, May 31, 04 at 17:46
| 10" is a rather short wall, but I don't see why you culdn't build a low wall from cinder block, using a stiff mortar mixed with good sized chunks of gravel, and then face with your rainbow stone. (What IS rainblw stoen, BTW?) I would pour a footing of some sort-- I'll give you a link to MY rock wall project (pros were involved)--perhaps that will give you some ideas! Click the option that lets you "view oldest first." When you've finished, if you want to view the finished project, click mjsee and that will take you to my main page--then you can go to the "finished project" album. melanie |
Here is a link that might be useful: melanie's rock wall
RE: Rock Wall
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I built a planter from rip rap rhyolite (12" average diameter lighter type stone) and masonry mix. The planter is 8'x3'x18". I spent a half day making forms out of plywood only to find out about all the good they did was helping be a guide for a straight line with the rocks. I'm just now prepping a 12'x12' area that I'll build another planter with dolomite rock. This time I will use pegs as guides, dig below the surrounding ground maybe a few inches so the first stone layer is slightly embedded, hand apply my masonry mix by globbing it down, then lay the next layer of stone and fill in the holes again by hand. The whole process is labor intensive moving the rocks but the masonry mix part to me is fun. My planter from last year doesn't have any cracks so I think I did ok with my mason mix water ratio.
Things I learned last time. Forms hardly seem worth the time. Regular cement has rocks in it which are ugly, mason mix is smooth and cheaper than the vinyl concrete that is your other smooth alternative. Mason mix applied with cement tools is more work and no prettier than laying it by hand, mason mix also will not squeeze out a homemade pastry squeezer. I also gave up on wearing protective gloves, the mason mix dries out your hands a bit but I didn't care, much simpler. This is a project that doesn't require being done in one day. If you want to work in small doses just mix small doses of mason mix. Rock for building projects doesn't have to be expensive, I buy my rhyolite for $3.50 a ton. Last time I had 16 tons delivered which unfortunately included too many small tocks. This time I'm going to drive to this place and hand pick my rocks. I figure I need 3-4 tons which will cost me $15 for the rock and probably $16 in gas for the driving. I love rocks for planters, not rotting, no chemicals and rocks are beautiful.
As for a circular wall, most rocks are ideal for this as they are round, your flat rainbow rock (don't know what that is) is perfect for layers though. Perhaps the rainbow would be a good topper rock so you could have a flat spot to sit. |
RE: Rock Wall
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I still don't know what I'll do. I had thought of using my rainbow rock as a topper, just so it will blend with the smaller rectanguler beds I did in it.
Rainbow rock isn't typically flat rock. I had to dig around to find the flatter ones. They're smooth with rounded edges. The bulk of them are irregular rounded shapes. There are 3 colors; red, green, and purple (whick looks gray when dry). The red is more of a rose color and the green is a pale light green. |
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