Concrete Bag Retaining Wall Update 2019 #1

PLEASE NOTE: When I made my wall, the bags of concrete were made of ONLY paper, but apparently they are now made with a plastic-like liner. That changes everything. Try to find bags with paper only or you will have problems!

The 2020 update is now up today - June 15, 2020
A 5.5 minute video update about my concrete bag retaining wall - it's a real nail biter!

I built this concrete bag retaining wall 6 years ago and I like it more each year.

[charlesmoman]

I found the video I made after planting the wall the first year - boy is the video not as sharp as what I can do now!

[SteveAddis]

Your wall looks really nice! Only the top bags cracked where the bags stretched when wet. Taping the top bags before applying water really helps. I made a video called concrete bag wall improvements and showed the difference it made. - Thank you for posting the update!

[Pallidus_Rider]

My hometown has some significant retaining walls made of burlap sacks filled with concrete

[judywalter]

I love this look, and have for years. I actually like the look of where you 'rocks' look like they are coming out of the ground— not sinking in. 😉

[snowbird]

WOW!, I have a place for this plan right now. I'm planning a metal carport in my back yard in an area that needs leveling, but have been dreading building a traditional wall. Your bag deal is perfect for me to do myself in my own way in my own time. Thanks!

[jeffdunkerson]

I love the idea...may try it soon. My soil wasn't great either, but I found a leaf mulch that worked wonders. Our county takes local leaves and makes mulch...it's a great soil revival system. I also always use natural mulch which wears down to improve the soil. I apply each on top of the garden....I wouldn't recommend taking out soil....Your soil is better than anything you'll of luck...Love the garden!

[carlosenriquez]

Stumbled on your video good job. This is a common technique for retaining walls I make these often to prevent erosion also we use re-bar driven through the bags and into the soil beneath. The oldest one I have built is 34 years old and is still holding the soil from wasi g into the creek.

[judywalter]

I used 80# years ago for steps and they've held up well after 10 years, i believe.

[millcreekmtnfarm]

I'm glad you had success. I had a very different result. I just built a three course short wall 2 weeks ago, each bag has 2 rebars running thru it into the ground. I soaked it every day for 5 or six days. This morning I ripped open part of the paper to inspect and I have some solid concrete but mostly powder or loose chunks. It appears my bags of high strength Quikrete have an inner layer of paper that may be impervious to water. In any case, never trust DIY videos that aren't from the manufacturer of the product.

[dl]

I was wondering about taking a paint sprayer and painting them? Also Im wondering about flipping them over or rolling them a few times on the ground before stacking if that would help mix things up a bit to get a more solid result?

[MrChangeordie]

If he only knew his grandkids broke off a piece of that concrete wall 🤣🤣🤣🤣 they will probably never confess up to that 😆...grandkids for ya 😄👍

[rhondalyn]

I've never heard of this....it looks great! I hope you'll do another video in awhile after the flowers are blooming. I bet it'll be beautiful...:-)

[gloriawallery]

Thanks for update. I did this too using 60 lb. Bags, Hope ours holds up.

[charlesmoman]

I will do that. It's dead looking now! : ) It always is beautiful.

[vanbusgeo]

Sweet video! I want to build a small house with earth bags

[CarrieJo]

Great idea! Please make a video after its planted out!

[CharlesCurran-mp]

Another YouTuber did a strength comparison between dry pour and wet mixed concrete and for slab the dry pour was only about half as strong.

[matthewmckee]

Cool I'm thinking about building one just because I like to be different also it doesn't have to be perfect and I do not possess any wall building skills, simply just roll with it and do not hurt your back.

[stauchistory]

Congrats on the fantastic project. I have some questions that I'm hoping you can help with. We started to make a "border" around an area we are using for family gatherings (it used to be where our swimming pool was located). We are using bags of Quikrete cement and plan to have 2 layers on top of each other when finished. I placed 8 bags in a row on the ground, poked holes in the top of them so the water soaked into them better, and began to spray them with the hose. I sprayed them multiple times the first day for 30+ minutes each time, and the second day I sprayed them one more time. It has been 3 days and I started to open the bags to see the results. There are cracks in the cement, plus there are still some areas where the cement didn't get wet and is still powdery. I partially opened all the bags and saturated them again with the hose.

In your opinion, what did I do wrong? Should I have soaked the bags in a tank of water before laying them in place, and then spray with the hose? I saw others do that while searching online. I don't want to continue the project until I have a proper procedure in place. Can you offer any advice?

[rchrdgrn]

Another video said the top course should be fiber-reinforced concrete so it won't crack so badly