In this video, a homeowner’s house had a garden that sloped away, being a sore spot. With the help of mason Mark McCullough and landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, the three built a retaining wall to fix the grade.
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While the yard sloping away from a home is great for the foundation, but it can create landscaping issues. Severely sloped grades make garden beds look sloppy and bare, especially if there’s a downspout nearby. When a homeowner struggled with her sloped garden, she called mason Mark McCullough and landscape contractor Jenn Nawada for the solution: a garden retaining wall.
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Where to find it?
Wall blocks provided by Unilock [https://unilock.com/]
Wall Blocks: Unilock’s Concord Wall Smooth [https://bit.ly/4i6mYAC]
811 “Call Before You Dig” [https://call811.com/Start-Here] was contacted before any work was done.
Jenn used a long tape measure [homedepot.sjv.io/MABeWP] to figure out the dimensions of the new wall. Then spray paint [https://homedepot.sjv.io/75eAPQ] was used to mark where to dig for the footing of the wall.
Mark used a mini excavator [homedepot.sjv.io/xL5dok] to regrade the garden bed and dig for the wall footing. The machine was used to make the work go by quicker, but shovels [https://homedepot.sjv.io/MmW4Bq] can also be used. Wheelbarrows [https://homedepot.sjv.io/0ZaWz3] were used to move dirt. Mark dug about 8 inches for the wall footing, but instructions for wall prep may differ based on the wall material manufacturer.
Hand tampers [homedepot.sjv.io/jeydan] or a compactor [https://homedepot.sjv.io/RGnVE7] can be used to compact the dirt down. About 6-8 inches of clear gravel [https://bit.ly/4jmvD2U] was added for the wall base. Then a heavy-duty metal rake [https://homedepot.sjv.io/APKNxo] was used to spread it out.
Mark used two stakes [https://homedepot.sjv.io/qzm2kO] to mark the two corners of the wall. The stakes were used to make sure the wall would be square to the foundation. Then he used string [https://homedepot.sjv.io/RG07W9] from stake to stake to represent the face of the wall. He used a line level [https://homedepot.sjv.io/POVGgM] to make sure the string was perfectly level. Then placed two benchmark blocks by each stake, using a torpedo level [homedepot.sjv.io/o4Ld6e] to make sure they were completely level. He then added a block every 6 feet, using a 6 foot level [https://homedepot.sjv.io/qzm2NO] and mallet [https://homedepot.sjv.io/ba426x] to shift the blocks into place.
Heavy duty construction adhesive [https://homedepot.sjv.io/6ydZME] was used on the corner and cap pieces of the wall.
For the drainage portion of the wall, Mark and Jenn used a 4” perforated pipe [https://homedepot.sjv.io/aOARXW] wrapped in drainage filter fabric [https://homedepot.sjv.io/kOMg3n]. And downspout adapters [https://homedepot.sjv.io/POVGdM] to connect the pipe to the downspouts.
Jenn planted:
Green Mountain Boxwoods [https://homedepot.sjv.io/jeydAb]
Delaware Valley White Azaleas [https://homedepot.sjv.io/Dyexz5]
Little Quickfire Hydrangeas [https://homedepot.sjv.io/WydoLJ]
Cunningham’s White Rhododendron [https://bit.ly/4i3S1gs]
Oakleaf Hydrangea [https://homedepot.sjv.io/LKmkGV]
About This Old House TV: This Old House is America’s first and most trusted home improvement show. Each season, we renovate two different historic homes—one step at a time—featuring quality craftsmanship and the latest in modern technology. We demystify home improvement and provide ideas and information so, whether you are doing it yourself or hiring out contractors, you’ll know the right way to do things or the questions to ask. Our experts including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor give you the tools you need to protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.
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How to Build a Garden Retaining Wall | Ask This Old House
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42 Comments
Nice job on the wall. You should of had Tommy look at that flat roof on the bump out by the deck. That's going to be trouble.
Why was she trying to sit on the wall after the glue lol like you just gotta grab another cap block lmao
That wall humps up and down now. Imagine how humpy it will be in a few years!
Wall was built too high for the grade and honestly wasn't a 10/10 lay job either. Let me and my crew on your show we will get it done right.
is the ground heave going to affect the wall in the deep freeze?
They should have took the right side all the way to the house because everything will just flow out and around
Beautiful job guys
Bring back the full episodes!
Awesome
Why did the wall not go all the way toward the house? It should have gone further and then a righ angled turn toward the corner of the house. They showed the wall stop after the turn and then end and then there is all this dirt still sloped toward nothing. Bad design. You could have also made a few curves to make it more pleasing to the eye.
Nice improvement and great job guys, that home owner did a good job with those blocks !! They looked heavy but she was a champ…nice work
Downspout tile should be solid and not connect to the perforated tile behind the wall. That’s going to cause issues.
Would have been a good job for Rodgaaa
CAME OUT REALLY NICE
Nice work but why didn't they finish the return back to the house? That's a bad transition for mulch to grass, water runoff, looks bad…
Nice video
My house needs this. Dm me for my address.
Rodger would have dug that out by hand
One question I have is.. how do you get that string line level in the first place? I know he used a line level to keep checking, but how do you get it level to start?
This old house is going downhill. And turning more liberal everyday
Wow, couldn’t have come along any sooner. Something like this is what I will be doing at my front yard. Beautiful
Cinderblock retaining wall. Classy.
How much it cost
Mmhmm….right….ok….yep….got it
0:20 brother and sister?
Easily done in 13 minutes and 59 seconds.
A perforated pipe next to the foundation? Big mistake!
I am surprised This Old House did this.
Instead of being wasted the water could have been diverted to a rain garden or at least use a solid pipe since it's so close to the foundation.
Looks great but there are some issues. First one really depends on the block manufacturer, but you should key the first course halfway into the footing. Makes the wall stronger by anchoring it into the ground. Second, backfill behind the wall up to the top course. Leaving the grade behind the wall lower than the top course can dam up water behind the wall causing it to fail, even with drainage tile behind it. It also just makes the wall look ugly by having an unfinished face of the block exposed.
Third is more serious and important. Never plumb downspouts or catch basin into drain tile. The downspout and catch basin water flowing into the pipe will leach out of the perforated pipe and into the drainage rock. If there is no groundwater flowing into the drainage tile this will always happen. Your drainage tile will act as a leach field and saturate the soil around it, in this case the soil around and underneath the wall. You should have used solid pipe to plumb the downspouts separately either through the face of the wall or off to the end of the wall where the drainage tile daylights.
This reminds me of another episode where you plumbed a homeowner’s downspout through the face of their retaining wall. You combined the downspout and drainage tile, and just budded the cheap pipe you used up against a small little hole you drilled through the wall. Without a doubt I know that system has begun to fail, now that it has been a year or so since you installed that. The drainage tile probably isn’t working because it’s being flooded with water from the downspouts. That little hole is probably clogged up with shingle gravel and leaves. I bet she isn’t too happy about your work anymore.
I would suggest you have a contractor do the drainage from now on, so at least TOH wouldn’t get into any legal trouble with what they have been installing for these homeowners.
wrong blocks and process to bulid a retaining wall, they need to watch dirt monkey. drainage is wrong, they need to watch gate city foundation drainage.
Should have dug further and put some concrete in. This will fail too soon.
why did they just stop mid-slope with the wall going back to the house?
Does her husband know what she is doing while her husband is out working making money?
Looks, meh. Design, so so and blew it on the transition towards the front side of the house. $1,000 bucks worth of plants, must be nice being rich. Excavator, overkill. Drainage, fail.
Roger Cook would be rolling in his grave if he knew about that shoddy drainage. RIP Roger. RIP This Old House.
shouldve returned the wall into the house and curved the corner
Of course they insert the wanna be man to lead the job instead of letting Mark do his thing. DEI death of male leadership
No gloves?
Could you add faux stone facing?
Those perforated drain pipes will be clogged with roots in a few years time and look to be impossible to snake.
Since the gravel doesn't start very deep will frost heave push the wall?
I've not seen that style t&g block before. What are the details on them?