Review

Curved Feature Garden Wall

Job description

Brick Fences & Garden Walls

Palmerston North

Concept: The owners wish to build a curved feature garden wall approximately 9m long and 1.9m - 2.0m tall with a 7m radius. The wall will be at the centre of a one-acre property and therefore not have legal constraints in terms of neighbours etc. Bricks: The owners will provide the used, smooth, terracotta bricks required for the project. These bricks are clean i.e. free of mortar. However, it is inescapable that some of the bricks are damaged. From the owners’ perspective, this is not a problem as this will add to the ‘rustic’ wall appearance. - Question: Is the bricklayer prepared to work with imperfect second-hand bricks? Foundations: The owners require guidance on the design of the wall (e.g. pillars etc) as well as the foundations design required for such a wall. Preparation of the foundations is to be negotiated between the owners and the bricklayer. Notwithstanding, the owners need guidance on the minimum foundation requirements for a wall of the described dimensions. We gather, from reading the NZ Concrete Masonry Manual: 6.2 Garden Walls, that there are two broad types of footings: - Strip type footings - Post-hole type footings and a; - Combination of the two types. The ground on which the wall is to be built consists of: - a 20 – 30 cm soil layer - a deep clay pan which goes down several meters. The clay is rock hard in summer but turns to soft mud in the winter. This being the case, the footings will need to support the wall and prevent slumping / leaning irrespective of how wet the soil / clay becomes. - Question: What type of footings would be suitable for a wall such as described above? A full description of the proposed wall can be provided on request.