How Do You Clean A Concrete Block Retaining Wall?
How Do You Clean A Concrete Block Retaining Wall?
When it comes to retaining walls, there are a few things you need to know. First and foremost, you must ensure the wall is clean.
If the wall is not clean, it will not function as it should. Secondly, you need to make sure that the wall is properly sealed. If the wall is not properly sealed, water will seep in and cause damage.
There are a few ways to clean a concrete block retaining wall. One way is to use some ordinary dish soap in your garden sprayer.
Using a dish soap solution and a toothbrush, carefully scrub stained areas. Spray off the soap with a power sprayer, and let the wall dry.
Another way to clean a concrete block retaining wall is to use a pressure washer. First, mix some water with a powerful detergent.
Next, use the pressure washer to spray the detergent on the wall. Be sure to wear gloves and a protective suit.
After spraying the detergent, use a brush to scrub the stained areas. Finally, spray off the soap with a power sprayer, and let the wall dry.
Whichever way you choose to clean your retaining wall, make sure to seal it properly. A properly sealed wall will resist water damage and keep your property looking its best.
What Are The Types Of A Reinforced Concrete Retaining Walls?
The types of reinforced concrete retaining walls are as follows:
Retaining Wall with Cantilever
Cantilever retaining walls are the most popular and regularly utilized retaining wall form. The cantilever retaining wall is seen in the image below.
Vertical Stem
The cantilever retaining wall’s vertical stem resists earth pressure from the backfill side and bends like a cantilever. The thickness of the cantilever slab is greater at the base of the stem and progressively lowers higher as soil pressure diminishes with depth.
Base Slab
The base slab forms the retaining wall’s foundation. It is made up of a heel slab and a toe slab.
Under the combined effect of the weight of the retaining earth from the top and soil pressure from the soffit, the heel slab behaves like a horizontal cantilever.
Under the force of the soil pressure pressing upward, the toe slab also serves as a cantilever.
The wall’s stability is maintained by the weight of the earth fill and heel slab and the self-weight of the retaining wall’s structural parts. Cantilever retaining walls are appropriate for backfill depths of up to 5 m.
Counterfort Retaining Wall
When the height of the earth to be retained exceeds 5 m, the bending moment created in the stem, heel, and toe slabs is quite significant, resulting in enormous structural element thicknesses and becomes uneconomical.
For greater heights, a counterfort-style retaining wall is used. Counterfort retaining walls, like cantilever retaining walls, have a stem, toe slab, and heel slab.
However, it also has counterforts, which are regular intervals that split the stem. When combined with counterfort, the stem functions like a tee-beam of changing width.
Due to lateral earth pressure, the stem and heel slabs are effectively attached to counterforts, causing the stem to flex horizontally between the counterforts.
As a result of the reduced moment caused by the fixity of these slabs between counterforts, the thickness of the stem and heel slabs is significantly reduced.
How Do You Break Down A Concrete Retaining Wall?
Determine whether or not the wall is load-bearing before you begin. If it is supporting a roof, ceiling, or other structure above, you should consult a structural engineer to figure out how to sustain the roof and load above.
You can go to a standalone wall without any more communication. To minimize inadvertent injury, make sure that any power to electrical elements is switched off at the breaker box for both types of walls.
Work your way down from the top so that gravity can help you. Work in tiny squares, ranging from 2 to 4 feet in approximate measurements, for the greatest results.
To help in the removal procedure, you can utilize pneumatic or electric jackhammers and hammer chisels or a sledgehammer, hammer, pry bar, and chisels.
With your favorite instrument, break the concrete wall into small bits and let the debris fall to the ground as you work. Ignore any rebar you come over and simply break the concrete away as you work.
