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Its not anywhere I know of. Here, a 5 foot retaining wall not physically connected to a dwelling requires no permit at all and no engineering sign off. For my part, I tied the reinforced wall into the footer with steel and probably spent $250 extra on it. It will never move.
Those engineered stones are expensive and temporary. I've seen them wavy and sagging after just a few years.
Last edited by Wilson513; 02-28-2012 at 05:29 PM..
Its not anywhere I know of. Here, a 5 foot retaining wall not physically connected to a dwelling requires no permit at all and no engineering sign off. For my part, I tied the reinforced wall into the footer with steel and probably spent $250 extra on it. It will never move.
Those engineered stones are expensive and temporary. I've seen them wavy and sagging after just a few years.
Everything is temporary- including poured concrete. Likewise I've seen a poured wall installed incorrectly and blow out or crack vertically in no time as well.
The engineered block, if installed correctly, will not move much if at all. Mine didn't move a bit. You have to have a compacted footer trench, first course almost buried and level as level is. You have to have a french drain and you have to backfill the wall with material that drains well, in my case it was crushed limestone called 'crush and run'. The hollow cavities of the block are filled with crush and run as well. Each block is fairly massive, then add the weight of the fill and it's pretty damned permanent. The blocks have a 1/4" set back each course, so you get the desired pitch when installed correctly.
Cheap block is not a solution for a project like this- you have to get the big stuff and do it right.
By the way there was a height threshold that would trigger an engineered wall. I don;t recall what it was, but I was under it.
Everything is temporary- including poured concrete. Likewise I've seen a poured wall installed incorrectly and blow out or crack vertically in no time as well.
The engineered block, if installed correctly, will not move much if at all. Mine didn't move a bit.
Portland is a city of weather extremes. One look at the rainfall chart will tell you why the OP will not use a stacked block wall. I am sure that being from Montana you know that the weather and earth movement, mud slides, highway closures from flooding etc. that Portland has every year won't happen once per 100 years in Billings for example. You could put up an unreinforced masonry wall in Montana and find it right where it was 100 years later. In Portland, when the winter rain starts, you might not find your car where you parked it the night before.
Its not anywhere I know of. Here, a 5 foot retaining wall not physically connected to a dwelling requires no permit at all and no engineering sign off. For my part, I tied the reinforced wall into the footer with steel and probably spent $250 extra on it. It will never move.
Those engineered stones are expensive and temporary. I've seen them wavy and sagging after just a few years.
Here's some random picks (just so you know I'm not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes)-
Minnesota Rules, Chapter 1300.0120, subp. 4, addresses work exempt from permit
requirements. The current language will remain unchanged when the 2007 Minnesota
State Building Code is adopted. This rule indicates “retaining walls that are not over four
feet (1,219 mm) in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall,
unless supporting a surcharge or impounding Class I, II, or III-A liquids.” Thus, retaining
walls less than four feet in height will remain exempt from building permits.
Portland is a city of weather extremes. One look at the rainfall chart will tell you why the OP will not use a stacked block wall. I am sure that being from Montana you know that the weather and earth movement, mud slides, highway closures from flooding etc. that Portland has every year won't happen once per 100 years in Billings for example. You could put up an unreinforced masonry wall in Montana and find it right where it was 100 years later. In Portland, when the winter rain starts, you might not find your car where you parked it the night before.
That wall I pictured was installed in my previous home in Eastern West Virginia. The average annual precipitation in Martinsburg WV is 39.4", Portland 43.1" (according to US climate data). Portland may have different soil types, but I'm sure it doesn't have the same freeze thaw cycles as Martinsburg, WV- yes?
No matter- if installed correctly soil types will have little to do with it. The wall will do it's job, IMO.
Footer and reinforced poured concrete, then stucco the visible side. 100 years from now someone will be grateful. And, it is by far the nicest and most natural looking choice. I'll put up some photos of mine (60 feet).
We are faced with same timber issue. Would love to see your photos.
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