Precision Laying and Leveling of Base Blocks

2:10

24:16

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Building a retaining wall #2 - "How we Base walls"

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What happens here

Blane meticulously lays the first course of retaining wall blocks into the prepared 3/4 inch clear gravel base. He uses a small level to ensure each block is perfectly level, both individually and relative to the adjacent blocks. Blocks are initially placed slightly higher and then tapped down with a dead blow hammer to set them firmly. This precise method is vital for the wall's stability, avoiding issues caused by imperfect natural stone or shifting materials. The presenter warns against disturbing newly set blocks by stepping or sitting on them.

Goal: Establish a perfectly level and stable foundation for the retaining wall

Tools and materials

3/4 inch Clear Gravel N/A — The base material for the blocks
Dead Blow Hammer — Tapping blocks into final position for precise leveling
Kneeling Pad — Comfort and protection for knees during prolonged kneeling
Retaining Wall Blocks Versa — Building the base course of the wall
Small Level — Checking the level of individual blocks

What they say

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to walk through one of these right now okay so what blaine's doing is he has to level each and every black plane you want to just show them and we can just walk through this now so i get the base fairly close to being level before i put the block in um and i'll actually use the level two video was created a little bit just to get real close enjoy just drop the block in and it's level that way a little high in this corner but we're still above this block that means i can hit it in the position yep without having to and you want to hit it into position so when you initially place your block you want it just a titch higher because you want to settle it down into its resting place and then that has to be perfectly level not just with the block next to it but all on its own yep otherwise you could be going down exactly and then another thing to take into consideration is the height of your retaining wall so if you've got an eight foot tall retaining wall that means you're gonna have four layers of grit in there and that can lift the back of your block up but this is the face it can lift the back of your block up a little bit so sometimes we'll even compensate depending on the height of the wall with the batter or the bubble let's take a look at what i mean so blaine's got the batter of the bubble blaine you want to show more level is so you can see how he's lifting up that back so he's got this going in but not too aggressively in because we're only going five feet yeah and if you go too aggressively in you can lose everything on the bottom yep the bottom can shift out and i actually had this argument with one of my project foremans well before you where he liked to go super aggressive on it and i told him the exact same thing you and i are singing and it did i did it it did the bottom just we weren't even done building it the bottom just big big rain came and it washed around the end of it and the whole end of it came out and the rest of the wall stayed in place so you got to be super careful that you get that right and then towing them in as well as another big thing and then don't touch them see i'm sitting on the block right now but i'm sitting on two block i would never sit on a base block you never step on a base block too easy to move it around you gotta get them towed in you gotta get them towed in so that's the key level the block individually get it a titch higher than the blocks that are adjacent to it and then you level this block with its sister…

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