That brick wall I did last fall looks night and day from the one I did 3 years ago

I went back to a house I worked on in 2021 and compared it to a retaining wall I finished in October. The older wall had some bad efflorescence and a couple loose bricks near the top, but the new one is still clean and tight. What changed in your guys' experience that makes the biggest difference for long term looks?

2 comments

2 Comments

davis.noah6d ago

The drainage is everything, in my experience. On that old wall I bet the base was just crushed concrete with no perforated pipe behind it, so water sat against the bricks all winter. My newer walls always have a solid 4 inch perforated pipe at the bottom running daylight, plus at least a foot of 3/4 clean stone behind the blocks. Also started backfilling with a geotextile fabric right behind the wall to keep fines from washing through. That efflorescence comes from water moving salts through the brick, so stop the water and you stop the white stains too. Your mileage may vary depending on your soil type though, clay is the worst for trapping moisture.

elizabethtaylor6d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, clay's really that bad for drainage?