Lay and Level the First Course of Blocks

because it's more difficult to work with. So, I want to actually demonstrate something here real quick. When we go to lay a block, we have to get this block perfectly level. We should probably base a block. Thinking we need to base the block. Do we got our basing material? Our our level here, Blaine. Thank Dan. You're not supposed to base blocks between the walls. You're supposed to base them on the walls. Hey Elliot, I mean Xander. All right. So, the reason I don't prefer class 5 is it doesn't have any give. Once it's compacted, you can't change anything. So, I the material that I use is that as the um 3/4 clear because there is enough give, but once it's locked in place, it's solid. But, let me show you some of the criteria we use for basing a block. So, this block is obviously not Wow, that's actually pretty damn close. All right, come on over here and check this out. So when we when we base a block, you got to have your your bubble perfectly in the middle under most situations. Now, it's okay. Now, in this case, if you look, the bubble leans towards the front. That's actually okay, guys. This is kind of odd that this block is actually that perfectly level or I'm just that damn good, which I'm actually not. So, um, a little bit of the bubble leading toward the front means that the block, if this is the face of the block, leans just slightly, just a titch inward. And the reason you want it to lay a titch inward is to compensate for the geog grid that goes on the back side of this block. So, as you lay that geogrid fabric right here, what happens is that typically tends to lift up the next course, kicks the tail end over. So, if you've got a four or an 8ft tall wall and you've got multiple layers of geog grid in there, you need to compensate at the bottom for how much of a forward elevation that geog grid's going to give it. Now, as you lay this block down, this one's going to be off. Okay, so come here. We had our We're perfectly level this way, but now side to side. This is where a lot of guys go wrong. You can see how far this is off. This block needs to come up. This side needs to come up this much to get to level. To do that, we take this is an eight lb dead blow hammer. Is this an eightb bla? I think he went to the gas station. See what happens. Yeah, there he is. Right there. There he is. There's Blaine. There's Blaine. It's an eight pounder. All right. So, to do it, now here's the thing. You don't you can't use a steel mallet on this because if I…