How To Build A DIY Retaining Wall | Complete Step-By-Step Guide

I just completed a massive retaining wall project in my backyard to get ready for a shed build. I documented every step along the way in addition to making a complete downloaded Free build guide to help you on your own retaining wall project.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:20 Laying Out The Location of Your Retaining Wall
2:49 Digging The Trench
5:00 What Type of Retaining Wall Blocks To Use
7:40 Getting Down To Grade And Laying Foundation Gravel
8:33 Starting To Lay the First Retaining Wall Blocks
10:26 Drainage Outlet For Retaining Walls
12:03 Laying Retaining Wall Block Going Up The Grade (Fewer Courses)
16:06 Backfilling with 3/4"Gravel and Fill Dirt
21:24 Cutting Top Cap Around Curved Corners
22:40 How Much Did I Save and Spend on Materials

DISCLAIMER: This video and description contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission.

[chipandputt]

I build retaining walls for a living. Fantastic job for a DIY wall, although you should have detailed the squaring process for your viewers. (getting the side walls 90 degrees to your front wall). A few things I do differently ... after trenching, I compact the trench thoroughly, then put a very heavy duty landscape fabric in the trench to prevent base material from sinking into the soil. It's a 6 ft wide roll and it goes up the back to wrap the drain pipe. I use only clean 3/4 for my base ... the fines in your base can and will wash out and can cause the wall to dip slightly here and there over time. The 3/4 cleans lock together and won't wash out. I use adhesive between every block as well. on smaller walls I will use the back lip style blocks, but on larger walls I prefer blocks with alignment pins that provide significantly more shear strength than the back lip. I measure my cap cuts differently, but that has no impact on the walls' structural integrity. Lastly ... 40 to 55 dollars per face foot? That includes materials. Standard installation costs about 12 to 15 per face foot plus materials. Even then, you should be looking at around 30 to 35 total per face foot, including labor and materials from a pro. unless of course, you are using much higher end materials. I also recommend geogrid for any wall, regardless of height. it's expensive, but not nearly as expensive as a failed wall.

[deepghetto]

Thanks for being transparent about the costs. A lot of "save money by DIY" videos tend to gloss over what true costs would be if you didn't already possess the tools needed. This gave me a lot of information to use when I eventually get around to building my own retaining wall.

[stenapproved]

This is the clearest retaining wall video I've seen. Thank you sir!

[beantrader]

I did 88ft x4ft high one with a 6ft cedar fenc on top. Saved $25, 000. That was 8 years ago. Still looks beautiful. It did take me about a year to do.

[ThePackDad]

Very impressive and outstanding wall and pad. Looks beautiful. I'm 51, done DIY since I was a kid, but injured myself a few years ago. Want to do a wall myself, but it would take 2-3 years at my current pace to get the 30 feet completed. I know how much work it takes and anyone doing it deserves to be paid well, but wow I miss saving that money and doing things myself. Enjoy doing it while you can, but be safe. 🙂

[Sanbo]

I’m tired just watching this. Good work !!!!

[codyhuber]

A 5 pound dead blow hammer is a great tool to use to set the base blocks! Using it to really set and level the base blocks firmly into the gravel base will insure they don’t settle or shift at all. Takes more time but will insure no movement.

[StevenBurnham]

I am looking at buying a house and the retaining wall in place is leaning. New to your channel going to go looking for how to repair as soon as I am done with this video. However I wanted to say thank you for what you are doing!

[garethgoodchild]

Wow, I’m impressed by how much work you have done by hand😮. I’m feeling bushed just watching! Well done. I have no need for a wall but found it interesting just watching. I’m sure it will be very useful to a lot of people.

[feuby]

Thank you. I planned to do something this summer, and I may need to do a retaining wall. Nothing that size, probably only around 4 to 8 feet long maximum, but the fact you put this here gives me confidence, and probably the basics to do a decent job.

[zooklm]

Base depth and backfill is based on soil type. For clay soils, most structural block manufacturers say to have 12 to 18 inches of 57 gravel backfill. It looks like you might have 4 inches for your first row of block. They also recommend a minimum depth of 6 inches of the block on your first row be below grade. It looks like you are using crusher run for your base, which is too fine. Should be 68 or 57. They also recommend using a vibrating plate compactor on your base and the block in fill and back fill to lock the blocks in. I also line the dug out area with nonwoven fabric to separate the gravel from native soil/soil backfill to reduce soil washing into the gravel and reducing drainage.

[jakemarlow]

I threw out my back just watching this! But seriously, amazing job!

[Jakereviewsall]

I need to do several retaining walls and probably figure out terraced gardens as my property is on a hillside. Might be a bit of work for me.

[hjc]

First time to this channel. Really appreciate the clarity of this video. Great job and your explanation is awesome. Well done from UK.

[ATG]

Looks great. I’ve built a lot of wall in that same style. The only suggestion I’d make is the caps look better if you stagger them to the top row like the rest of the wall. Also, I f your wall steps down or ends above ground, you can cut a small groove all around a cap and then break it to get the split face texture on the end.

[barbara]

You post really useful videos. Thank you. My husband wants to build rock walls around the front perimeter of our home.

[MonkeyPunchZPoker]

The French Drain guy has some kind of beef with the Apple Drains guy. It's wild, it's like the classic east coast west coast rap feuds. YouTube is crazy.

[shay]

Awesome job. When I built my walls I overlapped the capstones over the top course joints per the manufacturer (Unilock). On your long run it looks like you centered the cap over each stone instead of the joint.

[aaroncook]

Great video, this has given me the confidence to try this myself

[ClubhouseGardens]

The hardest part for me when it comes to DIY is knowing when to hire someone vs when to do it myself and how many other projects I have to do...