This is what I did this weekend.
About 6-8 weeks back we got a new concrete patio poured. We already have a covered back porch, but this is just another sort of "outdoor room" where we can do things. We weren't getting good use out of the space, so this seemed like a good upgrade.
The grade was such that I wound up with the outside corner of the patio hanging about 6 to 8 inches above the existing grade. Besides looking weird, it was kind of a nuisance and I was worried about the slab breaking off, since the gravel beneath was slipping out from below.
So I noticed that a Kmart that was changing to a Sears locally had retaining wall stones on super clearance, so I grabbed a load of them without doing much calculation beforehand (not the best approach). I wound up with 56 one-foot bricks, which is enough for a 28-foot wall two courses high, or an 18-foot wall three courses high.
I only needed two courses to account for my grade change around the patio, so I measured off a 28-foot length of garden hose and made a mark, then set out to see what kind of interesting shape I could make.
I wound up with this:
This covers up the outside corner, hiding the worst grade change, but leaves an area to step off the patio directly into the yard on both edges. Plus the radius is 3 foot, well within what the bricks can do. I liked the way the straight portion and the radiused parts helped to soften the corner of the patio.
So with the outline established, it was time to dig in, literally. I saved the sod I removed and used it elsewhere in my lawn. In doing so, I dug down quite a bit below the level you otherwise might. In order to keep the blocks on a level, well-drained surface, I backfilled beneath the first course with gravel, then topped it with sand. I leveled each individual brick both front-to-back and side-to-side. And I used a string line to keep the relative height with respect to the patio surface. I made a depth gauge out of a piece of PVC conduit scrap to take measurements quickly as I laid in the first course.
By the time I got to the straightaway portion, I had a pretty good technique developed that let me move quickly. I would empty a bag of sand into the trench on top of my base layer of gravel, then mound it up by hand to a height about an inch or two over the desired height of the bottom of the first course of bricks. This lets you set a brick and mash it down to the desired height, which is easier than shoring it up to the desired level.
So once the first course is set and leveled, it gets a lot easier. It's like working with 20 pound Legos.
Eagle eyes will spot the trapezoidal stone sitting upright on the patio. This is a third course that will sit atop the finished wall and bring the final height to just above the level of the patio. You'll also note that I haven't installed the half-brick at the far end of the first course, so the farthest brick in the second is sitting at a strange angle.
So a bit more work to do, but this project is mostly completed. Planting it out will be fun.
Author