"Owen Lowe" wrote in message
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Hi all. I need some concrete structural advice...

I'm looking to pour (or have poured) a short retaining wall along the
rear property line. I live on an urban lot, in an old neighborhood. My
goal is to build & plant some privacy and screening features since the
existing 4' chainlink fencing provides little and my neighbor's garage
and its windows are about 3' from the prop line.

The plan is to install a short (18" x 36" to 48") raised bed with stone
for the face - above that level would be cedar slat fencing to provide
screening until the plantings mature. Problem is that the back of the
raised bed would require some sort of retaining structure. My idea is to
pour a short concrete wall the full width along the fence line. I'd like
it to be as narrow as possible so as not to take up space I'd rather
retain for our yard, but recocnize the need for strength to resist the
force of the dirt, plants and water.

Does the following sound about right: 8" base, 4" top and set below
ground level 6"? Any other comments or suggestions?

Not sure which measurement is which. A 6" width at top is fine for an 18"
high wall. Base needs to be twice that if you are trying to hold back any
amount of dirt. Think of one of those dividers you see on the Intestate
construction site and slice it in half vertically. You need to get below the
frost line for the footer. Check out the enginneered blocks. I spent a lot
of time on this a couple of years ago and decided the dry laid blocks were
superior to croncrete where I was building a 36" above grade wall. The
cracks allow for mositure to pass through.