The Great Wall of 2026

Part 4

572! That’s how many blocks I would need to complete the 125‘ wall. 64! That’s what each block weighed. Early in May, I couldn’t make a decision on the block order. I had decided to order from Menards, but just couldn’t press the BUY button. Then one morning, I checked the website and amazingly, the very block I wanted was on sale for almost a dollar off each block. I placed the order immediately.

572 was exactly 16 pallets. The delivery charge for the load was $425.00 but that seemed worth it. I would have them deliver eight pallets and space them out along the length of the wall. Once I used up those blocks, I’d call for the second delivery.

In the previous post I explained the packed CA-6 footings. While this provides a good base, it is difficult to grade, plus it doesn’t drain very well. I needed some small rock that would be easy to smooth out and would also fill the blocks to lock them in place. Of course pea gravel would have been a good choice but I couldn’t use that 15 ton pile up the hill. The gravel had too much dirt mixed in. That would limit the drainage and would not be good for maintaining a level base. So I opted for 14 ton of 3/8 white rock.

*—Just like that, I had no excuse not to start—*

I started at the lowest point of the grade. The previous wall was snuggled right up against the flagstone wall along our front entrance. The new wall would start there as well.

*—The first few blocks were set. I had to check each block to make sure the edges matched and were level—*

*—I also had to level the blocks front to rear. If I didn’t make every effort to keep the blocks level, by the time I got the six courses stacked, it would be very obvious—*

—Not having proper drainage can lead to all kinds of issues with a wall. To minimize bad things from happening, I placed 3″ tile behind the wall. The plastic was perforated to allow the water to drain into the soil until it is too wet; then, the tile will take the water where ever you want it to go. In this case I wanted it out from behind the wall and heading to the ditch—

*—You’ll notice the landscape fabric behind the wall. That will help keep the backfill of rock separated from the dirt. This hopefully will improve drainage—*

–*–Filling the blocks with the gravel adds a little weight but more importantly, locks the blocks together while allowing for drainage—*

*—From this perspective, you can see the number of step-ups the wall is requiring. You can only stack these blocks 5-6 courses high so the step break is needed—*

—I borrowed the laser transit level to help me keep the wall level. I’m not sure how I could have done without it. I still used the regular levels but setting the grade change each time was easy with the beep of the measuring rod—

*—At last, the final base course is done. 125′!!—*

I’d used up almost all of the first load of block so a message to Menards delivery and the next load was on the way.

Placing the second load of blocks went pretty quickly. The only slowdown was making sure I had gravel behind the wall separated by landscape fabric. Plus I had to fill the blocks with the gravel. I ended up using a lot more of the gravel than I first thought, so I had another 8 ton delivered.

—I leveled the mounds of dirt from the excavation using it for backfill against the wall. Clearly I will need some fill dirt to level and smooth out the grade. I’ll do that this fall—

A week later, the wall was essentially done. It was time for the cap. I would need just over one-hundred 16″ wide caps. I started placing the caps at the lower end. As hard as I tried, some of the blocks were not as even and level as I would have liked. So I used the cap to level out the wall and to hide most of the imperfections. If the cap is good, you might not notice other parts of the wall.

On some sections, I used colored mortar to secure the caps. Where the block was more even, I used construction adhesive. In either case, I use plastic shims to tweak the cap to get it as level as possible. It actually went pretty quickly.

*—Short step-ups were easy. The longer runs were a little tricky—*

*—I’ve still got some clean-up but that’s pretty much it—*

—As of this post, I’ve still got some finish details. I’m using some cobblestone at the ends of the wall for accent and to help with drainage. I’ll use the left over gravel on my next three projects—

What’s the next ‘step’. To be continued with my next project

Part 4

1 thought on “The Great Wall of 2026”

Leave a Reply Cancel reply