G
grisu77-119 Mar 2010 14:17Last summer, we built a 60cm (24 inches) high garden wall. For this, we dug a small foundation and filled 2.5 of the total 3 rows of hollow concrete blocks with concrete. Additionally, every meter (yard), we hammered in a reinforcing steel bar to provide extra stability to the wall. The top row of the wall was filled with potting soil and planted accordingly.
This looked very good until this winter, when the middle row was completely damaged, stone by stone. I suspect this was caused by the cold and moisture in the concrete. What did we do wrong? The concrete was not mixed by hand but thoroughly mixed using a rented concrete mixer, and we always followed the correct mixing ratio. For mixing, we used sand, water, and ordinary building cement.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
This looked very good until this winter, when the middle row was completely damaged, stone by stone. I suspect this was caused by the cold and moisture in the concrete. What did we do wrong? The concrete was not mixed by hand but thoroughly mixed using a rented concrete mixer, and we always followed the correct mixing ratio. For mixing, we used sand, water, and ordinary building cement.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
M
MODERATOR19 Mar 2010 19:26Hello grisu77,
It’s difficult to assess this properly from a distance.
Technically speaking, the time from summer to winter was sufficient for the concrete to cure.
Since the top row of bricks was used as a flower trough and regularly watered, this water likely found its way into the row below—possibly through small cracks in the concrete. The water then froze, expanded, and caused the bricks to crack.
When you rebuild the wall, place a layer of bitumen membrane between the "flower bricks" and the row beneath to prevent water from penetrating. In other words, replace the damaged row, lay a strip of bitumen membrane on top, and then build the bricks for the flowers on that.
It’s difficult to assess this properly from a distance.
Technically speaking, the time from summer to winter was sufficient for the concrete to cure.
Since the top row of bricks was used as a flower trough and regularly watered, this water likely found its way into the row below—possibly through small cracks in the concrete. The water then froze, expanded, and caused the bricks to crack.
When you rebuild the wall, place a layer of bitumen membrane between the "flower bricks" and the row beneath to prevent water from penetrating. In other words, replace the damaged row, lay a strip of bitumen membrane on top, and then build the bricks for the flowers on that.
T
Tjostritter-120 Aug 2010 08:55I don’t know how much space you have, but I simply built a slightly thicker wall and then directly attached terracotta shells to it (yes, I know that’s not professional terminology). This actually works quite well and hasn’t caused any problems so far.
Similar topics