![]() Speaking of the adhesive, that’s the other reason I don’t like interlocking concrete block for seat walls. If the adhesive does its job and you have several people leaning against the wall – creating lateral pressure, a direction of force for which the wall isn’t designed – you have a big lever that wants to topple over. That’s why a seat height wall (18-22”) may only have one course of block buried. First, the whole point of these wall systems is that they can move a little with frost heaving and thawing. There is just too much that can go wrong with a freestanding wall built from interlocking wall block. I’m a firm believer that a good designer plans for the worst case scenario. Here’s why I don’t use SRW block for freestanding walls. The problems with interlocking block freestanding walls Generally the tops and bottoms are flat and smooth, and the walls are held together with adhesive. Block for freestanding walls has “good” faces on both sides. Built properly, they’re structurally strong, even though the footers are relatively shallow compared to walls built of concrete block or poured concrete.įreestanding walls (also seat walls) : these walls are primarily decorative, although they can be used as seat walls if built to a height of approximately 18-22”. With SRW block walls, we use geogrid – a plastic grid that comes in rolls – to tie the wall and the backfill together. One face is visible, the other face is buried under whatever the wall is holding back. Retaining walls: these are walls built to retain soil behind them. They interlock together, speeding up installation. Segmental Retaining Wall block (aka SRW block) : these are manufactured blocks, designed to fit together using pins, lips, or adhesives (or some combination of these three). Every catalog is jammed with walls, and I’m here to tell you that if you want a freestanding or seat wall built from segmental/interlocking block, I’m gonna talk you out of it. Now we dream of epic barbecues as we flip through the books, picturing all those thousands of square feet in our own yards. Vocal, but not coordinated, which is why this never showed up under the treeĪs adults, we’ve given up toy catalogs and our imaginations are fueled by paver catalogs. I’m guessing when my dad used the pages to light the fire Chirstmas morning, it was even more intoxicating for him. Pawing through the pages and imagining the epic GI Joe battles and Lego creations was intoxicating. I’m just old enough that I remember the Christmas Wish Book, that fat, glossy, full-color catalog – was it from Sears? – loaded with toys and other stuff to fuel my suburban childhood whining. ![]()
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