How to Build a Retaining Wall

Pools often require a retaining wall, especially if you have some areas that are higher elevation than the pool. Today I’m going to share how to build a retaining wall that is affordable, beautiful, and will protect your pool.

If you’ve been following along on Facebook or Instagram, than you may already know that Luke and I have been hard at work on the landscaping of the pool area. I shared part 1 last week here. Luke took 4th of July week off and we spent one day removing grass and overgrown weeds from the above bed and he spent a 93 degree day digging a trench.

This is the trench:

Digging the trench was back-breaking work as the ground was so hard from all the diggers and heavy equipment, a mattock was worth it’s weight in gold for this process.

When we put in a pool we knew that we were going to need a retaining wall for this portion of the yard. I really thought I wanted natural stone, as I love that look, BUT stone was three times the price AND it would have been very time consuming. We wanted something easy, that we could do ourselves, and finish in a weekend.

We built this wall in one day:

The wall itself is 50 feet in length and 18″ high.

Just to give you an idea.

Each block weighed 50 pounds, the corner pieces a bit more…

Luke was on a mission, and quite honestly, I can’t believe we finished it in a day.

Are you wondering what we built the wall with? We went up to see our friends at Plymouth Quarries. You may remember that we used some stone and fossilized material from them for our fireplace. I really love them up there and they are so honest with weighing the different materials and costs. We LOVED the stone BUT we didn’t have the budget and we really wanted a quick option so we can just enjoy this area as a family.

We decided to use Belgard’s Diamond 9D retaining wall blocks. There’s a lot of gray in our patio and pool interior so we decided on the sable blend, which has sandy and dark gray colors in it.

The rough-hewn distressed look and easy installation system of the Anchor Diamond 9D was why we chose this product.

How to Build a Retaining Wall

Materials

• Diamond 9D Wall Blocks in Sable – we ordered 118 (but have some left over)
• Diamond 9D Corner Blocks – we ordered 6
• Diamond 9D Caps – we ordered 46 (and have some left)
• 3/4″ Stone – we ordered 2 tons (we have some left that we’ll use in other areas of our yard)
• Polybind Gator Grid Fabric
• Premium Adhesive
• Soil to Back Fill
• Tamper

Method

Step 1 – Dig a trench. See the above photo for that, about 20″ wide, and 6″ deeper than the bottom of the wall

Step 2 – Line the trench with the Polybind Gator Grid Fabric. We secured our’s with yard pins.

Step 3 – Add a 6″ layer of stone on top of this.

Luke created a form with wood to make sure the stone layer was even across the base.

The stones were raked and tamped down. Our oldest was such a big help on this project, from helping with the crushed stone to helping me move the blocks. Conor, on the other hand, had a lemonade stand with his friend while we were building 😉

Step 4– The first layer is the hardest to put down because you need to make sure it’s precise and level. Luke double checked with a level.

Once that row was down, we filled the first layer with more crushed stone.

Step 5 – Stack the second row on top. This was easier than the first layer because there is a ridge on the back to hold the block in place. They essentially stack like lego. Super easy.

Step 6 – Continue like this for the 3rd row.

Step 7 – Secure the corners and the caps with adhesive and allow to dry.

Step 8 – Line the back of the wall with fabric.

Step 9 – Fill behind the wall with top soil. We used about 12 yards of soil, but that also filled the beds.

Step 10 – Fill in extra gravel in front of the wall for added drainage.

Over this past weekend we dug dirt and planted plants. It felt so good to cross one item off our “to do” list.

After we finished it all, we sat here sipped some cocktails and swam with the kids.

While this area isn’t “done” yet it’s starting to really look how I was picturing it would. The wall really makes a statement and is a beautiful backdrop for our furniture. I plan on writing a full reveal post but we got most of the outdoor furniture at Ikea as it was well-made and affordable.

The ornamental grasses and limelight hydrangeas are new, as well. We plan on adding crushed shells to this bed and the one next to the pool, but we’re waiting on our electrician for some wiring over on the right-hand side.

Working on this space with Luke, reminds me of when I was little and my dad landscaped our entire pool area, it’s so much work, but I know it will mean even more to us that we created it.

Above is a little peek of the full pool area from the deep end.

What do you think of our pool so far? If you’d like to see the pool progress from back in March, click here.

Do you think you’ll try to build a retaining wall like our’s at your house?