Tag Archives: Garden Walls

Woodward Landscape Supply Open House to Feature Free Do-It-Yourself Seminar

February 15, 2011, Phoenixville, PA

In recognition of the growing interest in do-it-yourself projects, Woodward Landscape Supply is holding an Open House on Saturday, March 19 which will feature a free “do-it-yourself” seminar on how to implement hardscaping™ projects.

The Open House will run from 11am to 3pm and will include several additional attractions including product displays, refreshments, special discounts, and networking.

The DIY seminar will take place from 11:30 to 1pm. This seminar will cover the basic techniques to install sidewalks, patios, and garden walls. Topics range from material selection, base preparation, cutting and splitting, setting and finishing, to use of tools and equipment.

Throughout this event, a free cookout will be available as well as access to all on-site product displays. Techo-Bloc Corporation, a major supplier to Woodward’s, will be supporting the event with their mobile product exhibit. This truck houses walk-through displays of many Techo-Bloc products, including 2011 introductions. In addition to this traveling exhibit, Woodward’s offers permanent indoor and outdoor displays which present products from EP Henry Company, CST, Versa-Lok, Techo-Bloc, as well as a huge selection of natural stone.

A Techo-Bloc representative as well as local professional contractors will be on-hand to teach the seminar and answer questions. No registration is required. Homeowners with questions about the event should call 610-983-9810.

Woodward Landscape Supply distributes all the materials needed to create patios, sidewalks, garden walls and other outdoor living environment projects. Woodward’s is an authorized dealer for several major manufacturers including EP Henry, Techo-Bloc, Versa-Lok, CST, and Andes Collection. Materials are available for pick up or delivery. Both contractors and homeowners are welcome to visit Woodward’s showroom and outdoor displays located on Route 724 in Phoenixville, PA. 19460.

Hardscaping is a registered trademark of EP Henry Company.

Building a Wall Step 3: Contruction

Deciding Who Should Build Your Wall

You’ve taken the time to determine the structure and choose the look and feel of your wall, and now the time has come to actually build the wall you have been planning. The most critical question is, should you try to build it yourself, or not? Several factors should be considered in evaluating whether or not you should attempt this as a do-it-yourself project.

Technical difficulty
Risks or impact of making serious mistakes
Availability of time to work on the wall
Personal physical fitness
Enjoyment
Urgency of schedule to finish the wall
Access to needed tools and equipment
Cost

Assessing Difficulty and Risk

This diagram charts the relative technical difficulty and cost of mistakes of major hardscaping projects, including wall (shown in red) projects. Technical difficulty is based on knowledge needed to execute the project, complexity of the construction steps, breadth of tools and equipment needed, physical demands on the construction crew, and the need for specialists and/or permits during the construction process. In general, the higher the wall and the more stuff behind the wall, the greater the technical difficulty. The cost of mistakes refers to the kinds of problems that incorrect construction can produce. In the case of a sidewalk, a typical mistake will result in poor grading, puddles forming, and ultimately the need to redo the work. Physical harm is unlikely. In the case of a wall, the worst case scenario is that it falls down and destroys what it lands on. The cost is not only reconstruction but liability for injury and damage.

Assuming you can convince yourself that you are willing to deal with the technical and liability risks, the next thing to consider is timing. Do you have big chunks of free time to work on this project? Is there a deadline for completion (e.g., your daughter’s graduation party) that is going to put a lot of pressure on you to find time you don’t have or work in unpleasant weather conditions.

Then you should consider your health. Building a wall, even a garden wall, is a lot of heavy lifting. How’s your back? Do you really enjoy this type of physical effort and are you in condition to do this work without injury?

Finally, consider the costs. While it will definitely cost more out-of-pocket dollars to hire a contractor, there are hidden costs to doing this work yourself, including renting excavation equipment, buying or renting the special tools you need (e.g., laser levels), and potentially the cost of hiring a contractor to fix your mistakes.

A simple, flat garden wall is a doable project for almost anyone. But, once you introduce grade changes, products with complex installation steps, large heavy wall materials, or heights above 18″, it is time to look for a contractor. Our website offers a list of referrals for your assistance in finding qualified help.

Landscape Supply Tips – Building a Wall Step 2: Look & Feel

1 Reply

Deciding How You Want the Wall to Appear

Regardless of the type of wall you want to build, you will find a huge selection of styles and colors in wall material. No matter where you find your landscape supply materials, manufactured wall block falls into two categories: Standard finish and aged finish. “Standard” products are characterized by square corners and a more consistent finish. “Aged” products are manufactured to look (obviously) old. Manufacturers may call this look antiqued, weathered, tumbled, or aged.

Standard finish products may be flat, split-faced, rounded, chiseled, or feature some type of beveling — all of these approaches produce a different visual impact in the final wall. Aged finishes also have a huge variety of looks. Given the significant variance in the visual results of different manufacturing processes, it is extremely important for you to see a sample wall before selecting the product. Although looking at an individual piece may help, you really want to see at least a small section of wall before selecting the finish you want.

Individual Vera-Lok Weathered and Standard Blocks

Tiered Wall Resulting from Standard Finish Block

Garden Wall from Versa-Lok Weathered Block

As an example, the picture above shows a single Versa-Lok block with both a standard and a aged finish. The next two pictures show wall built from each of these two finishes.

See the difference?

There are many factors in pricing the construction of a wall. Looking only at the wall material itself, two pricing rules generally apply: (1) the larger the individual wall block, the less the wall material will cost per square foot. (2) for a given shape, aged walls cost more than standard walls.

After selecting finish, the other major element of look and feel is color. Every mnufacturer offers a selection of colors and if you consider the color pallet of the industry, you will find an amazing selection. Although you will find a few solid colors among your options, most products will be blends of two colors. More recently, manufacturers are beginning to introduce tri-color blends. It is not necessary to limit yourself to one color. Although not as common as a homogenous wall, colors can be mixed.

Never select a color from a catalog or a website. Wall materials are not glossy, they have a natural finish and it is extremely unusual to find a picture that looks a lot like the real thing. See a sample or, ideally, see several. Usually, color has no impact on price unless you want a special order color.

In additional to manufactured products, wall can be built from natural stone. Natural stone is significantly more inconsistent in texture and color. It’s beauty is that inconsistency. The price range for natural stone is huge. Generally, the labor for natural stone will be higher than for a manufactured product.

One of the newest trends in wall products is manufactured products that simulate natural stone. For an example, consider Techo-Bloc’s Muro Naturale.

When you have finished your look and feel investigation, you will have selected a landscape supply product or short list of products that will define the texture, finish, color and, as a result, the overall impression that your wall will make.

Building a Wall Step 1: Determining Structure

Understanding What Kind of Wall You are Trying to Build

You want to build a wall to enhance your outdoor living environment. The first step is to determine the structural needs of your wall. It is the structure that dictates your construction technique, what construction materials and tools you need, and, perhaps most importantly to your finished project, what natural stone products you can successfully use to build the wall. The appearance of the finished wall will be determined by the wall material you choose. The issue of appearance, i.e., style, texture and color for your finished wall, will be covered in a separate article: Building a Wall Step 2: Look and Feel.

There are three major types of wall structures:
1. Garden walls
2. Retaining walls
3. Sitting walls.
The fundamental differences in these walls are their height and what is behind them.

A Garden Wall refers to a wall designed to define an outdoor area such as a flower bed, a tree, a mailbox, a lamp post. No higher than 18 inches, a garden wall generally holds in soil and may be topped off with mulch or decorative stone. With a garden wall, you create a raised area that becomes a softscaping environment filled with whatever you want to create the visual impact you envision. Options to complete your garden wall project include plants, boulders, statuary, fountains, birdbaths.

Garden Wall around Pond

Literally any wall block or natural stone hardscape supply can be used as the garden wall has the least demanding structure. Although any wall product is technically acceptable, the most common materials are small wall blocks or stacked natural stone. Manufactured garden wall blocks include Coventry Garden Wall from EP Henry and Manchester from Techo-Bloc. Most garden wall products are approximately 4” high x 12” long x 8” deep. There may be a lip on the back of the block to lock each course as you build it up but many are simply stacked and held in place by weight. Garden Wall products can not be safely used in either retaining wall or sitting wall applications. If the garden wall requires a greater height than 18 inches, products classified as garden walls can not be used as designed and you must use retaining wall construction techniques.

Retaining Walls are structures with the specific requirement of holding back large amounts of soil and/or rock. Retaining walls are 2 feet up to literally as high as needed. Commercial walls, e.g., the walls you see along the highway or around a shopping center, can be amazing heights. Situations where a residential retaining wall (also known as an SRW) is necessary include:

Building a wall to eliminate a sloped back yard and create a large flat yard for outdoor activities or a patio or other outdoor use
Building a wall to protect your driveway by holding back soil that slides onto a driveway from a yard that is significantly higher than the driveway
Building a garden wall around the side of the house where the front yard is higher in the back yard so that the wall may be only 15” high in front but becomes over 2’ in the back
Building a wall to surround a walk-out basement

EP Henry Retaining Wall

Retaining walls fall into two categories: gravity walls or engineered (reinforced) walls. Engineered walls require multiple skilled professionals to be safely executed. A professional hardscaping contractor should be hired to build this type of wall as he or she will have the capability to arrange the technical resources needed for projects of this scale. Gravity walls can be safely built by anyone willing to take the time to learn how. Retaining walls can be built from manufactured segmental retaining wall block, stacked natural stone or boulders, and other construction materials such as Gabion baskets; however, very high walls require a suitable segmental retaining wall product.

A huge range of manufactured hardscape supply products are available to construct retaining walls (also known as SRWs). Not all products are suitable for all heights and all applications. Examples of SRWs suitable for modest height gravity-based SRWs elude EP Henry’s Terrace Wall and CST’s Versa-Lok Mosaic. These products are at least 8” in depth and 6” in height and feature some locking mechanism Examples of SRW’s suitable for large scale gravity-based or engineered SRWs include: Diamond Pro from EP Henry; Suprema from Techo-Bloc; and Versa-Lok from CST.

Sitting Walls are structures used to create a free-standing wall that can be used like a bench or for privacy. Typical applications include:

Creating a sitting area on a patio or pool deck
Creating a boundary between two residences that are close together
Creating an outside perimeter on a raised patio to protect from falls
Creating an alternative to a railing on steps

Sitting Wall Bordering Patio

Each sitting wall product has a maximum height which is usually between 24 and 36”. Sitting wall products are the most expensive manufactured products due to the requirement for them to appear identical when viewed from either side. Examples include: Mini Creta Plus from Techo-Bloc, Double-sided Coventry Wall from EP Henry, and Veranda from CST.

Please see the rest of the series on the construction of each of these wall types:

Building a Wall Step 2: Look & Feel

Building a Wall Step 3: Construction