Hi, following on from my last (dull) post about concrete, I now need to source some Gabion baskets to make a retaining wall.
I was wondering:
1. where to get them - there seems to be huge differences in quality
2. I need to make a wall in a L-shape, 1m high, 0.5m deep and 4m long (with another metre at a right angle).
Is it better / stronger to use the longest gabion baskets I can find (2 ish metres) or will it be as strong with one metre length ones which are quite a bit cheaper.
thanks in advance
Dr Dull of South Dullshire
Depending on how tightly packed the material is, the longer basket could sag and distort sooner.
Are you looking for it to be decorative? If so, make sure it is all nicely finished on the sides that are visible and then you can pack the space not on show with anything to fill it and keep it solid.
Takes more time with the smaller baskets but they should retain shape. Take longer to fill.
I've only ever used small rectangular ones, but they need internal ties to stop bulging, so I'd imagine the 1m cubes are stronger because there is a full panel every metre rather than a 2m run relying on internal ties.
Try and get flat stone or very regular sized rounded cobbles to face them with (make sure bigger than the mesh holes). Facing them takes ages, and anything irregular takes an absolute eternity and is very frustrating. Any old stuff can go in the middle.
Thanks guys. There are most definitely not going to be decorative; they’re going to be filled with rubble from a broken up path and then the lawn back filled onto them (they’re basically going to prop up the corner of the garden)
I've built two fairly substantial walls.
One is two rows of 0.5x0.5m cages stacked (top row stepped back slightly) to hold up a metre high lawn.
The other is 3 rows, two 0.5x0.5 then space for a flower bed and a final 0.5m row to the lawn. A fair bit of this wall I got the grinder out and cut the cages down to about 0.3x0.3m as I didn't need the full height.
Mine are faced with Kentish Ragstone and rubble/bricks in the rest. I got 4mm size as they are a bit stronger and I can walk on them without bending them too much.
The 2m cages are the best (I don't remember mine being any more expensive than 1m but maybe I didn't notice!) The anti-bulge ties are easy but my 2m cages came with an 'extra end' in the middle as well to help keep them square. I was stingy so I was cutting out an end each time I butted two cages together otherwise you waste a panel,I used these later on for filling in gaps and fiddly bits.
Mine were from here and they have loads of guidance on the site. https://www.gabionbaskets.co.uk/
And this is my first wall, sending this in got me a discount on the second order!
When you join them the end of the first is also the end is the second. This makes the wall less like 'bricks' of baskets and more like a continuous line so I don't think there would be a strength benefit.
They are fairly easy to modify for of corners. I went around a circle, just needed to think about where the cuts would go. I faced in nice rock but the bulk was whatever bricks were had laying around.
I think I also used the company above.
spooky_b329 - lovely job!
Thanks.
soooo…. I was planning to use 1m high, 1m (or 2m) long and 0.5m deep gabions.
however, both the site above and google say that 1m high but 0.5m deep gabions aren’t recommended for structural applications (ie a retaining wall).
any thought? I’m basically trying to fill the gap where our retaining wall only covers 3/4’s of the garden on a slope.
(I think 1m cube gabions would look really odd and obvious in the corner of the garden, as they can’t be turfed over easily etc)
I don't really like the look of them at all. Why not just build a retaining wall?
Well, ours won’t be visible from our side and hidden behind a shed for the neighbours.
The main reason I’m using them is that I’ve dug up about 7 tons of rubble from garden and have no access other than through the house.
We need a retaining wall to level the garden so it seems to make sense?
If you recline them back a bit as expected a 1x0.5 basket would probably be ok, but it's a deep cage to fill and the bank would need to be self supporting to rest the cages against and not start to collapse whilst barrowing concrete to the edge.
Two rows of 0.5x0.5 is probably easier as you do one row, backfill behind, then the next level can be stepped back a bit to increase stability. Mine have mostly solid chalk behind them so there is not too much material that can move but you could anchor the cages in by concreting posts in the ground and then lowering the cages over the top.
Why not just build a retaining wall?
Where to start? Cost! Going to learn to do it or pay several thousand in labour. It's not exactly an easy project to learn on, I've laid a few courses but I wouldn't want to spend a month building a structural retaining wall only to find I didn't get the foundations/drainage/design correct and it starts cracking or subsiding. Plus you've got to get all the materials to site.
If you don't like gabions, a gravity retaining wall such an interlocking blocks would be a much more feasible DIY method. If the OP didn't have a huge pile of concrete with poor access to remove it (like I did) then I would have gone with an interlocking block wall, and for the wall at the front I could have just used a geogrid type thing to make a steep slope of wildflowers or grass that doesn't wash away before it is established.
I think 1m cube gabions would look really odd and obvious in the corner of the garden, as they can’t be turfed over easily etc
I don't follow you - you said they won't be obvious and the lawn was going over them?
1m high and 0.5m deep isn't going to be able to resist soil pressure over time, unless you can tie the top back into the ground under the lawn.
spooky mentions cutting the gabions to modifiy them - if you do that, make sure you put several coats of zinc rich paint on the cuts.
So the gabions are going to be sat in the corner of the lawn but from what I understand, even with a few inches of top soil on them, turf won’t grow properly.
if I use the 1m wide gabions I’m going to have a big 1m wide L shape of them next to the lawn.
Ps can I attach pictures somehow?
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b7BFxjJwv3cqe5uSnb_hJgmw
Photos are useful. I'm guessing you will want to continue the line of the blockwork retaining wall and the concrete post fence?
I would use gabions no higher than they are wide to get to a level 30cm below the finished lawn. So probably 0.7m x 0.7m if they exist. Plant your new fence posts below the base of the gabions and fit the gabions round them. Then put temporary boards outside the gabions and pour concrete around the posts to lock them into the gabions. Then a concrete base panel for the fence, on top of the gabions, so the top is at lawn level. Lay a layer of geotextile (Terram or equivalent, it's not expensive) over the gabions and against the base panel and top up with soil then turf.
The geotextile will stop the soil washing into the gabions and the depth of soil will be enough for the lawn. The weight of soil on top of the gabions will hold them firm and as the posts are locked into them the base panel will take the soil pressure.
Thanks Greybeard for the very comprehensive reply.
I’m undecided on whether to spend the time / effort putting in more concrete fence posts or whether to just span the gap with some fence panels on top of the gabions.
