Archived Thread

NFT: DIY question regarding concrete footing for a wall

tbonfig : 5/23/2017 10:02 am

Building a small retaining wall for a veggie garden. I believe I posted something about this a while ago.

I'm going to get some concrete poured into the foundation. I trenched out around 30" deep, about 24" wide and about 12' long.

I've never done this before and have ever used rebar. I'm going to be using field stone from around the property for the actual wall itself.

Do I need to do rebar? How important is that? Any tips?

rebar is used for bending forces

Rocky369 : 5/23/2017 10:09 am : link

think of a concrete beam. I doubt a vegetable garden retaining wall footing is going to see any kind of significant loading, especially if your simply stacking brick/rock.

On the other hand, vertical bars have been suggested previously to support cinder block from movement, much the same way a typical strapping system would. Install the stones with a layback to account for future movement.

Small home improvement project such as this, rebar is overkill.

What kind of weight is the wall going to hold and where do you live?

Torrag : 5/23/2017 10:54 am : link

Is ground water and freezing a possibility? If you've answered yes to these question and a significant weight is involved go four feet deep or you risk having your wall heave with ice expansion and it will not last.

Since rebar

ctc in ftmyers : 5/23/2017 11:22 am : link

is extremely easy to add and doesn't cost much for what you're doing, why not?

RE: Since rebar

tbonfig : 5/23/2017 11:25 am : link

In comment 13479383 ctc in ftmyers said:

Quote:

is extremely easy to add and doesn't cost much for what you're doing, why not?

It's just really my inexperience and not having worked with rebar previously. Is it as simple as laying it horizontally and vertically?

RE: What kind of weight is the wall going to hold and where do you live?

tbonfig : 5/23/2017 11:27 am : link

In comment 13479343 Torrag said:

Quote:

Ugh, so it is a sloped area right now and I'm raising the sloping part so that the frost line on the back of the wall will be significantly artificially raised. I will be 30 inches below the frost line (I'm in CT and frost line is 48 inches - I'm not getting down that far).

I'm also hitting sand and potentially some shelf rock, although that may just be me being optimistic.