Dry Stacked Block Wall

[caslin]

Evening all, looking for some advice regarding my plan for a raised garden plantar.

Looking to build a garden plantar from hollow dense blocks 215mm. It’ll be approx 3 courses high and 3 metres long maximum length by 1 metre. (Bedded on footings).

Question is can this by laid dry with rebar inserted into every other cell and filled with concrete. With every other cell filled with stone etc? Last row may need too have mortar joints to achieve level. But as I’m planning too render it all, was hoping this method “might” work.

Thanks for everyone’s help.

 

[^woody^]

How would you first lay the blocks plumb and inline, and then keep it so when concrete is poured inside?

I suspect you will get pattern cracking through the render.

 

[caslin]

I’d bed the 1st course in as a normal to achieve plum. Then dry stack from there correcting with mortar on the last row to achieve level.

I imagine wall would be pretty stable, so hopefully avoid render cracking.

I know this technique has been used to build block ponds. But has anyone done similar for a garden wall/plantar?

 

[^woody^]

Materials move from heat and moisture content, and different materials move differently. That is the risk. Ponds have flexible linings.

If you think that you can build the wall plumb and in line for rendering that's fine. But then you need to be sure it won't all crack after it's all been built and rendered/ painted and gone through a few seasons.

You're bedding the bottom and top courses, so it's odd that the two courses in between would not be - there's no logic to it.