I hope I can get a little input here from those with more specific expertise. I am actually a Landscape Designer (recent Landscape Architecture graduate but I haven't taken the professional licensing exams yet). This means I have a lot of 'book knowledge' about how to design this project but book knowledge is no match for real world experience- which is why I am asking.
A landscape client of mine would like to have a low brick wall edging the flower beds around the house with a 2' wide brick pathway in front of it. We are in the SLC, Utah area so freeze/thaw is a concern. I can some up with a couple ways to design the wall but I don't want to 'overdesign' or 'underdesign' it.
She wants this wall after seeing one that a neighbor did DIY (this is the part where you all cringe). That little wall is just a concrete footing (I hesitate to call it that as it is only 6" deep) then 2 rows of house brick with a paver brick on top. I think the sample wall she had me look at is under-engineered as evidenced by the spaulding of the bricks on the bottom course due to water seepage and I think there's been some frost heave in a few places. There should not be too much weight on this wall as it is more decorative than retaining but I'd like it to be able to withstand some pressure- if they add too much soil after the fact I don't want to have a problem. My biggest concern is water getting to the back of the bricks.
Would it be better to do a poured concrete wall then face it with 1/2 veneer bricks and put a paver course on top? Or, should the facing brick still be the standard 2 1/2 inch deep residential brick? I assume that given our climate that even a small wall like this should have a footing below the frost line? Any tips on how I should design it so it won't be overkill or underkill?
A landscape client of mine would like to have a low brick wall edging the flower beds around the house with a 2' wide brick pathway in front of it. We are in the SLC, Utah area so freeze/thaw is a concern. I can some up with a couple ways to design the wall but I don't want to 'overdesign' or 'underdesign' it.
She wants this wall after seeing one that a neighbor did DIY (this is the part where you all cringe). That little wall is just a concrete footing (I hesitate to call it that as it is only 6" deep) then 2 rows of house brick with a paver brick on top. I think the sample wall she had me look at is under-engineered as evidenced by the spaulding of the bricks on the bottom course due to water seepage and I think there's been some frost heave in a few places. There should not be too much weight on this wall as it is more decorative than retaining but I'd like it to be able to withstand some pressure- if they add too much soil after the fact I don't want to have a problem. My biggest concern is water getting to the back of the bricks.
Would it be better to do a poured concrete wall then face it with 1/2 veneer bricks and put a paver course on top? Or, should the facing brick still be the standard 2 1/2 inch deep residential brick? I assume that given our climate that even a small wall like this should have a footing below the frost line? Any tips on how I should design it so it won't be overkill or underkill?