Just a little four page document that sums up what we feel is some of the more important things you will need to know about retaining walls.  The Hardscape Handbook shows actual designs of structural walls as well as 3-D renderings of Stairs and radii.  There is also a step by step process of how to build both a residential non-load bearing wall as well as a commercial load bearing wall.  We encourage you to click the link above to download and view before taking on your retaining wall project.

This is simplest way to make just about any angled corner.  It does help to have a concrete saw and block splitter on site.

Standard and Landscape Corner Block Detail. Check availability of corners with local manufacturer.

Base course of straight stairs with radial wing walls.

Base course of radial stairs with straight wing walls.

3D Stair Detail

Diameter / Radius

This document was created with the exact block dimensions in a virtual environment.  The document was 108 in x 108 in (9 ft x 9 ft) before being scaled down to fit on the typical web browser.

What if I don't have enough room to use geogrids?

In this particular case we had to place a GeoStone wall in front of an existing concrete wall.  Demolition of the existing wall was not an option as it still functioned in retaining the structures behind it.  We chose to anchor the grids into the wall using brackets and concrete screws.