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Desperate Landscape: A Battle of Walls Jason Cameron helps turn a desperate landscape into a neighborhood jewel, replacing old railroad-ties with a stone retaining wall, then adding lots of plants. From "Desperate Landscapes" episode DDSL-104

Jeff Moffitt and Julie Cowens

Burdsall Avenue is a neighborhood known for being family-friendly — and for its attractive retaining walls. New-to-the-neighborhood, Jeff Moffitt and Julie Cowens just don't fit in.

Neighbors think Jeff and Julie are great, but their railroad-tie retaining wall and sealed garage door have got to go!

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	Before
	Before
	After
	After

Landscaping pro Jason Cameron brings out the sledge hammer, the stone and plenty of plants to turn a desperate landscape into a jewel of the neighborhood.

The basic steps in this landscape rescue, as seen in episode 101 of DIY's Desperate Landscapes, are summarized below. The photos at right show the "before" and "after"-effect of the Desperate Landscape makeover.

Garage Wall Removal

Jeff and Julie's garage was sealed off by a previous owner in 1967. It's now considered the eyesore of the neighborhood. Jeff and Jason tear down the wall using sledge hammers.

Important: Always check the framing before starting demolition. When you knock out wall sections, you want to hit out, not in.

Safety tips:

• Heavy footwear and leather gloves are recommended for this type of demolition project.

• If there is any power running to the wall, turn it off before knocking down the wall.

• Use a sledge hammer to break big pieces and a pry bar to pull off any stubborn pieces.

Garage Door Installation

Because of the number of projects involved at Jeff and Julie's home, we opted to go with a professionally installed garage door. We chose the 'Renaissance V12' from Overhead Door.

Before

After

Retaining Wall

Jeff and Julie's old railroad tie retaining wall is considered somewhat of an eyesore in the neighborhood. The railroad ties come down to be replaced by a block wall. Once again, Jason uses a sledge hammer to take down the wall (figures A and B).

Figure A

Figure B

	Original wall removed
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E

For the new retaining wall, we used Allan block. Here are the basic steps followed for installing the new retaining wall using concrete blocks, cap stones and crushed limestone (figures C, D and E).

• Decide how tall the wall will be. This will determine the foundation requirements.

• For the foundation, start with a 6 inch base of 304 crushed limestone.

• Additionally for every block high, the base block should be sunken one inch in the ground.

  Example: A four block high wall would need six inches in base of limestone sunken four inches in the ground. The foundation would need to be 10 inches in the ground.

• Make sure to install the first row (course) of blocks level. Otherwise, problems will continue for each succeeding row.

• Backfill (inside the blocks) every other course with washed, crushed limestone.

• Cap the top layer with cap stones.

• Cost of retaining wall materials:
  $1617
  

  Before

  After

  
  

The edge of Jeff and Julie's steps is broken and not very attractive (figure F). To help conceal the edge and create a more natural transition to the landscape, Jason uses limestone (figure G).

Figure F

Figure G

• Use a chisel or a concrete saw to eliminate pieces of concrete that stick out into the landscape (figures H and I).

• Note: always wear safety glasses when using a chisel.

  Figure H

  Figure I

  
  

  
  
  
  

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  ALSO IN THIS EPISODE:
  	Desperate Landscape: A Battle of Walls