

Think about the pattern you want to create – the style of boulder retaining wall will determine the size of boulders required for your DIY project.

Retaining wall blocks free#
They’re free if you can find enough of them for your project. They are sold in lumber stores.īoulders: For a creative way to build an appealing wall that is inexpensive, use boulders. Used railroad ties or sleepers would be another great and inexpensive material to build a wall from if cosmetics are not as important. If you can build yourself a raised garden bed using wood you can sure build a retaining wall from wood, just make it sturdier. A wood wall 3 to 4 feet in height will only need a simple base of crushed stone and T-shaped deadman anchors. Select lumber that is pressure-treated – it will ensure that your wall will be durable and long-lasting. In general, treated for ground contact wood is cheap and can be readily purchased at a lumberyard or home improvement store. Who knows how long will the lumber crisis last. Wood: Wood is a relatively affordable material. If you want the strength of poured concrete at around half the cost select cinder blocks. Then your other cheaper option is Cinder Blocks (concrete blocks with holes). For that, it’s better to go with a ready-mix cement truck which is costly. Of course, if you’re in need of a longer and taller wall, it’ll be lots of pouring and hard work. But that is where you save a lot of money doing it yourself! You dig a trench, you build a form hopefully using some recycled plywood (or buy a few sheets), you buy a bunch of bags of dry concrete, you mix it, you pour it, you lay a few drainage pipes, and you’re done. If you’re building a small wall (short and low) then going with concrete could be the least expensive DIY method. If you want the strongest wall then poured concrete is the way to go. Wall Material Selectedįor information regarding prices of various wall materials, jump to Costs.Ĭoncrete Blocks and Poured Concrete: Many sites list poured concrete as one of the most expensive materials used to construct a retaining wall. Residential Retaining Wall Cost Factors 1. Do retaining walls require mortar to hold them together?.Can retaining walls be built into other landscaping features?.When should you build a retaining wall?.Do you need landscape fabric behind a retaining wall?.How can I make my retaining wall look better?.What do you use to backfill a retaining wall?.At what height does a retaining wall need to be engineered?.Do I need a concrete footing for a retaining wall?.Do you need drainage behind a retaining wall?.How do you make a strong retaining wall?.What is the strongest type of retaining wall?.What is the easiest retaining wall to build?.What is the cheapest type of retaining wall?.Stacked Stone Retaining Wall Ideas (also called Dry Stack walls).Concrete Block Retaining Wall Ideas (cinder, cement).General Steps for Building a Retaining Wall from Blocks.Commercially Available Concrete Blocks for Building Retaining Walls.Residential Retaining Wall Cost Factors.The total cost of building a retaining wall is mostly determined by the following four factors. This guide should help you to discover some cheap and inexpensive retaining wall ideas. To see many other options and to get inspired, check out my great selection of wall designs and inspirational ideas.įor your convenience, I’ve also researched some most common questions and answers about building retaining walls. Still, it’s probably the most aesthetically appealing one, especially as a landscape feature. But while this option is one of the easiest to build it can be costly. Some type of anchoring will be necessary – consult at the store. Your main work will be to create a leveled gravel footing and lay the blocks. They are lightweight, have flat sides, and easily fit together without having to use mortar. They commonly come as self-aligning and trapezoidal in shape which makes it easier to form concaves, convexes, or straight walls. And the most DIY-friendly way is to use commercially available concrete blocks, sold in Home Depot or Lowe’s. The cheapest way to build a retaining wall is to DIY it.
