How to Build a Concrete Block Wall?

Hi Buddy,

Coming from a civil engineering background, I can help you in understanding how to build a concrete block wall foundation. I have closely witnessed this in a project site where I was deployed with work. An official term for a type of concrete building material used extensively in residential and commercial construction is "concrete masonry unit" (CMU). These concrete hollow-core blocks can be produced using cement to bind conventional sand and gravel aggregate. 

Alternatively, they can use fly ash or coal cinders instead of the sand and gravel aggregate, in which case they are typically referred to as cinder block.

How to build a concrete block retaining wall:

• Create and Prepare Footing

Create the wall's layout, then dig the foot trench and slope. Construct the footing and place the rebar in the wet concrete at intervals that correspond to the block cores. Create the leads, spread the mortar, and prepare the footing before sliding the block over the rebar as necessary. This is the first and foremost step that one needs to follow while learning about how to build a wall using concrete blocks.

• Add weep holes

Weep holes (34-inch pipe) should be inserted into the mortar every third block as the second course of blocks is being laid. By removing a little portion of the block, you can create a mortar bed for the pipe that is slightly slanted toward the front. On the following block, carve a recess, butter the ears, and place the block.

• Scrape Any Extra Mortar Off

Occasionally pause to inspect the mortar. Scrape off the excess after it starts to somewhat harden up by swinging the trowel's edge upward. As you remove the mortar, avoid filling the weep holes with extra mortar.

• Put down landscape fabric

Spread landscape fabric on the soil behind the base of the wall once at least two courses have been installed, temporarily draping the extra over the slope's grass. For support, while working, place rocks on the fabric. Backfill the wall with gravel, levelling the perforated drainpipe with the top of the first course, and place it on the gravel bed between the back of the wall and the slope. Look down into the holes.

• Cover Drainpipe Spread additional gravel over the drainpipe 

Add extra gravel to the drainpipe with a shovel. As you add courses to the wall, replenish the area with more gravel. Backfill with soil after folding the landscaping cloth over the top of the gravel fill. Swap out the sod.

• Insert Mortar

When you have completed building a concrete block wall, fill the rebar-containing cores all the way to the top with mortar. Make the mortar a little bit more moist than you would for joints. With a trowel, level the top. To complete the wall, spread more mortar and add cap blocks.

I would like to conclude here about how to build a concrete block wall foundation. I hope this helps:)

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