Retaining wall fun

It was a hard slog, backfilling and core filling the rear retaining walls, but the girls helped out on the weekend and we finished it! There is a couple of 'end' and corner blocks missing, due to not having a saw, but they will b cut this week, as the landscaper is back to do the footings and steps for the next wall(800high on edge of concrete path 2 metres from house)

So here are some pics of the rear wall 'no fines concrete' backfill.

I did not get home tonight until after dark, so the next pictures are a bit dull. Ill update tomorrow in the sunlight. This is the next retaining wall prep, which will have steps built in to get to the yard

You can see where the steps are located in this one.

Some have asked me why the steps are located where they are. Wouldn't they be better  coming straight from the alfresco? The answer is no. The reason is 'future proofing'. We still have plans to have a pool, so having the steps in any other location would limit our choices. :)

Stacking Blocks Day 2

Stacked all of the blocks for the rear wall and started the backfill/corefill. Still a way to go though..

Left corner. Transitions from 600mm to 400mm

Need to cut some blocks in half, so the ends are not yet finished. Unfortunately I don't have a masonry saw

No fines concrete backfill. A bit of overkill on a 600mm wall, but I'd rather 'over engineer' than have it fall down. 

Rear wall stacking day 1

Found a spare hour to start stacking the blocks! Not really much to tell here other than show some pics. :)

Not a lot of time to get much more done today. Tomorrow I will get stuck in to it. Hopefully get started on the core and backfill!

Rear retaining wall started!

So, we have 2 retaining walls to build out the back. One that is on the edge of the path 2 metres from the house which will have steps leading up to the yard. The other is on the boundary. We started the boundary wall today. I should have them stacked on the weekend, and hopefully make a start with the core fill and back fill...