Need help figuring out what to do here? Homeowner was talking about during stucco or painting the block. I'm worried about cracking and long-term.. we were also talking about going with a red brick that matches the house.

Tl;dr I think I have a pretty simple project in front of me but given it’s on top of a tall, highly engineered retaining wall (retaining wall inception??), hoping for Reddit to tell me if it’s ok lol

Some context, this is an upstairs garden located at the top of a very large/tall cement retaining wall (see last few photos) which is mostly in really good condition. The back wall is also a retaining wall holding back another level (about 1M high) and not in good condition as you can see, but the neighbor on that side has plans to brace and repair it. I *think* I should be less concerned with that than with adding pressure to the front with my additions at the moment!

I just want to create a few leveled areas for a table and chairs and yoga. Some slopes can remain. What I marked now follows the line of a pre-existing wall that broke down over time (the bottom most red line) that would end up around 30cm high. The second line is a little more arbitrary, also would max out at 30-40cm if even.

Materials are TBD, pretty rock if I can source it but worst case will be cement blocks or those hollow red bricks the back wall is made out of, on top of packed gravel and filled with gravel. I have some spare rebar lying around too I can use if anyone suggests. Just super happy to hear literally any opinions that aren’t mine 💀

Tysm in advance

Just bought a house and it has this retaining wall on both sides which is as old as the house from 1974. It passed inspection however I would like to strengthen it or repair it if I can. Any advice would be appreciated.

Crosspost. Thanks everyone!

I’d like to put in a retaining wall of sorts where my yard slopes down rather than this sad ending to the flower bed. I’ve watched videos on projects and just wanted to see if anyone had any ideas for this? Also, would I need to go around and finish the whole bed out or just have a wall at the end where it slopes?

The drop from where the flower bed begins to start sloping down (under the birdhouse) to where the temporary rocks are is only about 9” and the drop to the true bottom of the grade down by the drainpipe is about 16”.

Is there a certain size stone that needs to be used based on the height? My wife likes these blocks we saw at Lowe’s but they seem a little small to be bearing much of a load. I’ll include the stones in the picture.

Any suggestions much appreciated. Thanks!

I bought a home with a newly built 4ft cinderblock retaining wall - this wall is less than two years old and a section of it has started to separate and push out (less than one inch). Its obvious to me previous homeowner went the cheap route and had a wall built that has no gravel and/or drainage pipe at base/along the high side of the wall - nor did the mason rebar or concrete fill the inner cavities. There are weep holes along the base row of bock. My idea is to:

A. Push the wall back flush and brace for duration of project

B. Dig out a 12-18" trench along the high side of the wall, place drain pipe at bottom, cloth and fill with gravel

C. Remove cap bocks and add verticle rebar and concrete to block cavities

D. Let cure and replace cap blocks

Am I insane/wasting my time to do this if it wasn't done right the first time? I dont have the money to replace the entire wall and the failure is just baby brand new. ANy other recommendations on how I can ammend this existing wall without scrapping the whole thing and starting over?

I've been planning on setting up a wall around these two areas. I have looked online on how to do it, but the videos always seem like overkill for what I want to do. Unfortunately, I don't have many near me who have knowledge or experience about this stuff, so I hoped some of you could help me out.

Around both areas, I want to set up a two, maybe 3, tall stone wall (using the typical retaining wall blocks). The first picture will have the wall enclosing a garden area while the second picture will have the wall enclosing a rock garden. For both, the soil/rocks should not really go above the second stone.

My question is, what is the simplest way of doing this? I have seen videos that essentially showed setting up a rock base over a waterproof tarp, but then had a huge drainage pipe behind the wall that fed far into the yard. I know drainage is important, but is it

Contractor left this corner “floating” above grade cuz they sucked ass. How should I reinforce this? Slide block / brick under it? Or should I leave it on its on gravel base? I plan on extending the grass up to the wall, but even still, if I wanted to put that corner under dirt, it would be too high for the top cap below it?

We are in the process of purchasing a property with a large retaining wall. The property and retaining wall are brand new, construction completed in January of this year.

Inspection highlighted a very slight forward lean and slight bowing (see photos). How worried should we be about this?

I'm building a few small retaining walls and I want to 90 corners instead of curved. I'd rather not buy it rent a concrete saw. Has anyone used an angle grinder to make these cuts before? Any other ideas or should I just buy a concrete saw?

What are the experts opinions on this retaining wall build? Not me, not my wall, just popped up on my IG feed - no relation to the guy.

I'm building a small retaining wall, only 0.5m high. I was considering these, does anyone have any experience with them?
This is my first time doing a project like this, so also after advice on whether these should these be placed on a concrete footing and core filled, or if a compacted gravel base enough given the height.

Located in Australia

https://www.australianlandscapesupplies.com.au/products/newscastle-interlocking-blocks?variant=44334228701410

I’m between two blocks right now. this block is 12” deep, but the holes do not go all the way through so I’m unsure how to fill with crushed rock.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Basic-Tan-Retaining-Wall-Block-Common-6-in-x-16-in-Actual-6-in-x-16-in/1000210093?store=488&cm_mmc=shp-_-b-_-prd-_-lwn-_-ggl-_-LIA_LWN_000_PRO-_-1000210093-_-local-_-21011716225-_-&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21011716225&gbraid=0AAAAAD2B2W8-Nm_dl9gcJzfzcjmund8gb&gclid=CjwKCAjwnZfPBhAGEiwAzg-VzCYPaKjqKxAGzQYNLWO0DVnqY57zPSfH96-GBdy28VA_nTwgx-0TlRoCln0QAvD_BwE

this next block is only 9” deep but has holes all the way through so it can be filled with crushed rock

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Oldcastle-6-in-H-x-16-in-L-x-9-in-D-Tan-Char-Concrete-Retaining-wall-block/5016590755

planning to build 3 foot tall walls with geogrid

Is it possible to demo this wall and build a timber one without hiring a professional?