Part Two: Do It Yourself Guide To Building Your Own Retaining Wall In San Jose

In the first section, we covered some of the basic steps to building your own retaining wall. From prep time, supplies, and trenching—much of the initial grunt work is done and you should be gearing up to start your front border and wall base.

Building With The Proper Retaining Wall Supplies For Your San Jose Home

Again, before you start laying down the wall’s foundations, make sure you’ve selected the proper stones and structure that will work best for your San Jose home. Due to the climate and sloping hills around the San Jose valley in California, drainage and host of other micro-climate components can change drastically from home to home. So, be aware of this when you’re getting your wall’s stones.

Step 3: Build Your Wall Base And Front Border:

Depending on the thickness of your stones, you’ll either need to add or remove some of the sand you backfilled for a complete flush fit. After you’ve got your base stones flush with the ground or sidewalk, you’ll want to use a slap hammer to get the stones set into the correct position.

Step 4: Build The Front Of Your Retaining Wall

Before you start this step, know the supplies that’ll be needed. You will need to buy a diamond grade grinder to score down any stones that are too long for the project. Even if you’re buying semi-premeasured stones, you’ll still want to follow this step as a best practice for precision.  After you’ve ground all your stones to spec, break them with a chisel and hammer. Now, you’ll want to start setting a course to be checked with a level. If necessary, wedge stone shims into any gaps whenever necessary. Joints from the course you’re setting will need to be staggered to allow for stability. Note too, that you’ll want to backfill dirt on top of your berm because of the additional pressure that will be added to the wall as you continue. As you’re going along, make sure that every stone is completely wedged tight and stable. Do this for each stone laid until you’ve reached the desired height of your retaining wall.

Step 5: Finish Stage For Additional Patios & Walkways

After you’ve erected your retaining wall, you’ll want to continue to set borders along the perimeter of the wall (whether it’s a walk way or patio). If you’re setting a patio or walkway, fill it with sand and pack down the same as you did when building your wall’s foundation. Similarly follow the steps as recommended for the wall, and strategically place your walkway or patio stones and finish them to your particular spec.