Full-time weekend worrier here (now that I’m retired, my weekends are seven days long – funny thing is, there seem to be seven days/week worth of projects).
The front of our property has a low retaining wall, roughly 2 feet high, poured concrete 5-6″ thick. As with the other concrete work we found here, I’ve never seen any evidence of reinforcing metal, and the wall is cracked vertically in several places. We’re getting ready to put a course of brick atop it, to keep the mulch from spilling over onto the sidewalk and (we hope) to somewhat discourage teenagers from sitting on it and passersby from letting their dogs jump up on it to relieve themselves.
I’d like to tie the cracks together before we put the brick on, and was thinking of drilling an angled hole from the top of the wall at 45 degrees or so through the crack, then installing rebar. To get good reinforcement, I guess I’d have to drill a deepish hole, 16-18″ or so; what is then the best way to “cement” the rebar in? Note that, since there will be brick on top after, appearance of the hole at the top is not a concern.
This being a low wall, and the cracks having been there for years without the wall falling over, “best” has a big component of “least hassle.” I’ve got Simpson’s anchor epoxy gun and about half a tube left over from our kitchen project, and am leaning toward this; but advice is appreciated.
Replies
I think I would bend some square u-shaped rebar pieces, then drill vertically either side of the crack and put them in with epoxy or even mortar
Bending those could be a problem for them. Most likely she could have them fabricated at a concrete material supply house for a few bucks each.
What do you think? 12" on the bottom of the U and 16-18" legs, or more narrow on the top?
You could use a masonry wall "star" fix that is used to tie back walls that bow. Masonry supply house should be able to help here. I would drill thru the crack ,put star over the crack with the bolt thru the hole.Then you need a deadman buried two feet deep and back far enough to use a chainfall or comealong. You may be able to just use a turnbuckle and galvanized wire cable if the crack does not have a significant bow.
The stars are steel and do not look bad, there are different size stars depending on the size of the crack. It is not intended to hide the crack but to pull the bow to straight.
The term "star " is my own, I do not know of a technical name.The steel plate is shaped like a star.
mike
<<I'd like to tie the cracks together before we put the brick on,>>
Why?
If the width of the cracks does not exceed about 3/16 of an inch and they have not opened up in the past few years, it's hard to see what the problem would be other than appearance.
Vertical cracks that have not moved in a few years are not usually a structural problem in any concrete wall, especially in a wall 2' high and 6 inches thick.
<<I guess I'd have to drill a deepish hole, 16-18" or so; >>
That is not as easy as it sounds -- an awful lot of work for questionable to negligible result.
<<"best" has a big component of "least hassle.">>
Why not stucco the wall? It is a very simple matter to nail metal lathe onto a wall, and there are some excellent pre-mixed stucco formulas, just add water and stir.
If you put the brick coping on first and leave yourself about a 5/8 inch overhang you could get a most attractive result and you'd never see those cracks again.
I can't see all of what you have there, but based on description, I think you are likely to do more harm than good by drilling and inserting rods. You probably need nothing since it is not moving, but the most I would do is epoxy injected into the cracks.
But even for that, I would study to see if water is now draining thru those cracks. If you then damn it up, the retained water could freeze and push on the wall harder. You probably have a situation where it ain't broke so don't fix it.
Going beyond that, I don't really understand the overall problem and goal. How is laying a course of brick going to stop somebody from sittin on it to keep a dog out? Another 2-5/8" or even 4" is not going to disuade me from sitting on a convenient wall, though signs that a dog has been squatting there or lifting his leg on it might keep my butt moving along.
;)
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Thanks, all.Maybe I don't need to worry about them. The cracks run all the way through the wall, and I guess I was feeling that if it was all one piece, it might be less likely to shift. Freezing water's not a big issue on our part of the California North Coast (we get below freezing, but only three-four days a year get cold enough to begin to affect groundwater, and rarely are those days sequential, nor would the frost line go deeper than an inch or so). Of course, as the climate changes, I may regret having said that.The first reason to put the brick on is to retain mulch. Piffin's probably right that it won't do much for the teenagers, dogs, and (more importantly) idiot owners of dogs. Maybe we should put the bricks at 45 degrees so they're pointy, or run a line of razor wire along the top (I'm picturing mortaring in barb wire with the barbs sticking out; then I'm imagining the phone call from our homeowner's insurance agent after someone's teenage tush or little doggie gets hurt).Bill Houghton
Second vote for 'poxy. IF it's a clean crack, simply running a strip of tape down the front of the wall (keeping the bottom tight to avoid leaks) to cover the crack and pouring the 'poxy in from the top until full works well. But the crack has to be clean. Then parge the wall.