How to Build a Retaining Wall With Blocks From Home Depot

Use a retaining walls to prevent hill erosion.

Heavy rains after a drought may cause the hill to crumble and collapse, or mud slides to occur. To protect the landscape, you need to set in place a barrier needs to catch any dirt runoff. A retaining wall is a stone or wood structure that sits against the hill area and catches soil as it falls. Home Depot sells a wide variety of bricks for building retaining walls. For this project, use blocks with 1/2-inch predrilled holes. This allows you to pound pins into the block, securing the wall without the need for mortar.

Step 1

Stretch a mason's line along the wall area to give you a straight line to work along.

Step 2

Dig a hole that is 4 to 6 inches deep and 24 to 28 inches wide. Flatten the soil using a tamper.

Step 3

Fill the trench with builder's sand and tamper it again. Flatten out the sand using a straight board to make it smooth.

Step 4

Set the first row of blocks on the sand. Place a 4-foot level on top of the blocks. Tap the blocks with a rubber mallet to make them level.

Step 5

Pound pins into the holes in the landscape blocks into the sand to hold them in place.

Step 6

Place a perforated pipe behind the first row of blocks with the open ends facing towards the end of the wall. Angle the pipe so that the middle is the highest point, and the two ends are the lowest to help the water flow out of the pipe.

Step 7

Lay the second course on top of the first with the stones staggered. Pound pins into the second course of blocks through the holes into the first set of blocks. Continue stacking and inserting pins until the wall is at the correct height.

Step 8

Apply mason's glue to the cap stones and set them on top. Cap stones are decorative blocks also available from Home Depot that hide any holes in the blocks beneath. Back fill behind the wall with dirt.

Things You Will Need

Mason's line
Shovel
Tamper
Sand
Lumber
Blocks
Cap stones
Pins
Rubber mallet
Perforated pipe
Mason's glue
Soil