HELP HELP HELP with retaining wall

[answan]

Hello,
We currently have builders in our back garden stepping our existing slope with two retaining walls. They have poured these with concrete and side walls also have breeze blocks. The builder asked us to purchase 'facing bricks' from the local builders merchants, but when we went to look, these were all quite deep and would mean the wall would be very thick when a layer was built up either side of the concrete wall. I have since been looking into it and have seen some stone cladding which would be a better thickness, but I am guessing that this would be very expensive and we can't get it from anywhere local. We thought we could maybe utilise paving stones in a similar way. They would be decorative. Does anyone know if this is plausible at all?
Thank you!!

 

[r896neo]

You can;t build with paving flags as they are far too thin relative to their size, you can build with paving kerb type bricks but they are no thinner than standard bricks.

Frankly this should have been agreed on/ sorted out before construction began.

Stone cladding is your best bet to keep it thin but for the sake of 2 inches it will be expensive. You could try and tile it but it would be very risky with a retaining wall.

Last option is to render it.

 

[^woody^]

The OP can use paving slabs on edge if attached and supported by the concrete blocks as a backing structure

 

[answan]

Thank you, we had thought we could mortar the slabs onto the concrete walls that have been poured as the retaining walls. So we wouldn't be building the retaining wall with the slabs, just finishing the look of the wall off. Does this make sense?

 

[r896neo]

Yes of course it is possible but why don't you volunteer to build it for them because it will be a bloody nightmare to do well with flags even for a good bricklayer no matter how many ties you put in.

 

[^woody^]

Thank you, we had thought we could mortar the slabs onto the concrete walls that have been poured ..... Does this make sense?

No not really

If a concrete wall is being poured, then it will be inside some shuttering - to give the concrete a 'wall' shape rather than a a 'blob of concrete' shape

If the walls are already up, then its just like cladding