A brick retaining wall is one of the best ways to ensure your landscape’s soil stays in place aesthetically. 

With a Brick wall, the overall spectacle of your property will be spruce, tidy and aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. This will enhance the curb appeal of your home and increase your property value.

But, how to do this? Well, it’s not as tricky as you might have thought. Follow our easy step by step guide, and you’ll have your strong and reliable brick retaining wall in no time.

Steps in Building a Sturdy Brick Retaining Wall

Step #1: Dig a Trench

To build a Brick Retaining Wall, you have to dig a trench first. Use a shovel in digging a ditch for the footing of your retaining wall. 

In general, the footing should be three to four times wider than the base of your wall. Thus, if you’re utilising regular red bricks for your retaining wall, you should deepen your footing trench around 12 to 18 inches in width.

Ideally, the depth of trench footing is approximately 1 inch for every 8 inches of wall height. Ensure that your foundation is level and compacted before establishing the base.

Step #2: Footing Installation

The next step that you should do after trench digging is footing installation. This is critical in building the sturdy brick retaining wall detail that you want.

To create the footing, follow the given steps below:

• Put pieces of steel rebar in the trench and attach them together using thin metal wiring.
• After that, mix the concrete in a small cart (wheelbarrow). Make sure to follow the instructions stated on the cement mix bag.
• Then, get the shovel and spread the cement mix in the ditch that you’ve dug.
• Let the cement dry before resuming the task.

Step #3: Place the First Row of Bricks 

After installing the footing, you’ll then place the first row of bricks. To do that successfully, consider following the instructions below:

• Mix some mortar. Then, spread a thin layer of the mixture on top of the footing.
• After that, lay your bricks about 1/2 of an inch apart in a linear manner. Use a chalk line to create the straight line on top of your cement footing.
• Once the bricks are aligned, use mortar mix to fill in the gaps between the bricks. When filling the gaps, ensure the mortar is packed to the brim of the first layer of bricks.

Step #4: Lay Another Layer of Bricks

Now that you’ve already placed your first row of bricks, you should proceed to the second row. 

• When laying bricks for the second layer, make sure they overlap the seams of the primary row. This makes the piles hard to topple as they’re essentially woven together, making the wall sturdier.
• Furthermore, ensure that the edges of your bricks are aligned with the first row before you set them into a wet mortar mix.
• Repeat what you did with the first row until you’ve reached your desired height.

Step #5: Install Brick Wall Caps

After you’ve reached your desired brick retaining wall height, install brick wall caps to complete the installation. Install brick caps the same way you did with the other rows of bricks. 

However, you have to turn the bricks perpendicularly to other rows of bricks. Once you’re done with the cap row installation, examine the whole surface of the wall and remove the excess mortar.

Some mortar might have spilt onto the wall bricks surface during the process. Thus, this needs to be cleaned for a perfect finish.

Takeaway

The brick retaining wall has diverse uses. You can build a garden retaining wall from it and ensure the stability of your landscape. It also enhances the natural scenery of your place without sacrificing the durability of your retaining wall. 

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