Man, your attention to detail is impressive. You are so right, it’s your name on this work, you’re the one having to deal with the stresses of everything, and you are trying to build your business to become more successful. You seem to have a good crew but like most owners you probably wish you had two people that were just like you on job detail and dedication. The wall looks great, you do fantastic work. Keep it up and wishing you much success.
Good question. Sometimes these jobs are approved with conceptual plans, which in my opinion is a huge mistake because the contractor will use his judgement rather than an engineers education. Had plans been drawn by an engineer (not an architect) for this retaining wall, it would have illustrated at least 4 layers of geo-grid at 6' horizontal depth from face of wall. I was only able to see 2 layers of geo-grid installed within the top layers of this wall and the horizontal depth of geo-grid looked like 4', (I hope that it was bi-directional). I was surprised at the beginning of this video that more excavation wasn't done for the installation of geo-grid. There is a misconception that the weight of these Segmental Retaining Walls is enough to hold back the earth that it is supporting it. In fact, the soil far outweighs the blocks. Good choice using the Versa-lok Standard block for this wall because they are quite heavy (123 lbs per sq ft) compared to Versa_lok square foot blocks that only weigh 84 lbs. Something else an engineer will consider with this particular job site is the additional load bearing slope and parking lot above the top of this wall.This will be considered when determining the proper length of geo-grid. I have witnessed retaining walls that were improperly built and they are still standing years later. I suppose that long term success of an improperly built retaining wall has to do with the type of soil and how much runoff might get behind the wall. It all comes down to pressure. What will help in the success of this wall is the choice of block and that the contractor used far more than enough crushed stone for back fill.
Great work, bud. I'm new in the business and look forward to starting up very soon. What advice do you have for truck type and trailer size for a new business owner for a starting point?
There was no room for it as they didnt excavate far enough back. with a 2/1 slope like what's in the video the wall needs 6 foot wide geogrid the full length of the wall. He is on the right page about getting clean stone in there but using a chip base for a wall this size is asking for it to wash out your base over time.
You can use smaller sizes of geogrid we have don’t that were the space is constricted so using smaller sizes of it works also, don’t have to use the full size, until you get more room.
They way you work bro don’t go to commercial work. You are a danger to this business. So many red flags on this video. You don’t want to have a failure in a commercial job Not Cheap at all.
I have never seen a retaining wall built on blocks on gravel and not cemented in on a 2 ft deep concrete footing with supporting pillars or offset corners making a zig zag effect.
Great Video! New subscriber and want to say keep it up. Company sure is growing in the last 2 years it looks like keep it up. I know you did say about putting in the geogrid and i'm sure you did just wish could have seen that part =) Cant wait for better weather to see more great work.
I don't know anything about construction/retaining walls, but how are the blocks secure enough to hold back that much weight if there's any sort of ground water or additional load being put on the inside face of that retaining wall? Also, is it enough that the bricks are put on a footing of packed down stone? Usually I see footings which are concrete going much deeper than this. Anyway, just curious and trying to learn! Thanks for the video.
The blocks are held together with 2 plastic pins in each block. The hillside is being held back by the weight of the blocks. The blocks are pitched towards the hillside and the aggregate/tubing behind the wall controls mass water flow. These Versa - Lok block also wick water so you'll actually never see any water come out of those drain outlets. If you do its a problem, haha! Regards to the footing you could use concrete for a faster basing experience but in my area all of the contractors use aggregate. That's NCMA standards as well as how the block manufacture tells us to. Hope I answered your questions. I'll go more into depth in a future video. Thanks for watching! Take care.
You would never lay this style of wall with a concrete footing. You could do it if it's like 100 feet high, but you would still need the base to be aggregate on top of a concrete footing. Concrete is entirely unnecessary for this type of job. The blocks pitch backwards. They don't stand vertical, so it is pretty much impossible for the hillside to push them over unless there is a solid earthquake.
This wall violates code and basic retaining wall design principals. Your wall certainly is 4 feet or greater ( I count 10 exposed 6" blocks above lower grade) but moreover has a significant surcharge with the sloping slope and road above the wall. This REQUIRES a structural design and not simply one row of geogrid it appears you placed near the top. For this wall, at a minimum there should have been 4 layers of geogrid placed extending 5-6 feet back into the stone fill (18"behind the wall) and earth. That meant starting you base at least another 4 feet out from that excavation and in lifts adding the clear stone and structural back fill compacted and lightly compacted (within 2' of wall). And yes I am an engineer. Moreover did you even take into consideration the soil structure of the embankment. Pittsburgh has significant freeze/thaw and if that embankment is high in water retaining clay, additional margins are needed. You also have a parking lot/road above the embankment that could cause a excessive water discharge into the wall, yet there is no drainage pipe at the retaining wall base or anywhere. I would expect this wall to gradually "fail" over the next few years. You seem like a intelligent contractor but when it comes to this type of commercial work I would make sure you work with an engineer and simply not rely on a general contractors word to minimize any future liability.
Good video brotha💪🏾 just realized your in Pittsburgh I’m in Pittsburgh also I got heavy equipment , land development & residential experience if your looking for any more help got a resume & portfolio 🤝🏾
Man, your attention to detail is impressive. You are so right, it’s your name on this work, you’re the one having to deal with the stresses of everything, and you are trying to build your business to become more successful. You seem to have a good crew but like most owners you probably wish you had two people that were just like you on job detail and dedication. The wall looks great, you do fantastic work. Keep it up and wishing you much success.
Just be patient with your channel, will start booming soon 👍👍👍👍👍 God bless you
Thank you. God Bless!
Cool to see stuff built up in the community!
Good work! Thank you for the videos.
Thanks man!
Quality work. Professional men great leader and great equipment. 👍🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺😁😁
Thank you Jerry!
Nice work. Looks good too.
Thank you!
Good Video!! Very informative. Looking forward to some more. Hope you have a great season!!
Thank you!!
Mckeesport here. ❤️ good work!
Awesome work! Nice to see the versatility in commercial and residential.
Thank you!
Impressive focus on quality and doing the right thing! Keep it going!
Thank you for watching!
Hello from Wheeling wv , what part of Pittsburgh are you in ? Glad I found your page like it and informative also! Keep them coming ?
Great video and work.
thank you!
Was there any engineered drawings from the GC or did they have you design it?
Good question. Sometimes these jobs are approved with conceptual plans, which in my opinion is a huge mistake because the contractor will use his judgement rather than an engineers education. Had plans been drawn by an engineer (not an architect) for this retaining wall, it would have illustrated at least 4 layers of geo-grid at 6' horizontal depth from face of wall. I was only able to see 2 layers of geo-grid installed within the top layers of this wall and the horizontal depth of geo-grid looked like 4', (I hope that it was bi-directional). I was surprised at the beginning of this video that more excavation wasn't done for the installation of geo-grid. There is a misconception that the weight of these Segmental Retaining Walls is enough to hold back the earth that it is supporting it. In fact, the soil far outweighs the blocks. Good choice using the Versa-lok Standard block for this wall because they are quite heavy (123 lbs per sq ft) compared to Versa_lok square foot blocks that only weigh 84 lbs. Something else an engineer will consider with this particular job site is the additional load bearing slope and parking lot above the top of this wall.This will be considered when determining the proper length of geo-grid. I have witnessed retaining walls that were improperly built and they are still standing years later. I suppose that long term success of an improperly built retaining wall has to do with the type of soil and how much runoff might get behind the wall. It all comes down to pressure. What will help in the success of this wall is the choice of block and that the contractor used far more than enough crushed stone for back fill.
New subscriber... Excavator Guy based in Lindon, Utah. Enjoyed the video.
Thank you!!
Have you ever tried line dogs to hold your line in place?
Great work, bud. I'm new in the business and look forward to starting up very soon. What advice do you have for truck type and trailer size for a new business owner for a starting point?
Great job! You guys killed it. How are you charging roughly per sq ft?
Isn't there already set depth for retaining walls depending how high it will be?
Did you put in geogrid and compact behind the wall?
U did the right thing putting they first layer all brick. Especially with kids playing out there. When do u start using the geogrid? Towards the top?
We applied geogrid at our 30” benchmark which was a little before halfway. Thank you for watching!
Saw the drainage. But where's your geogrid?
27:49 mark
There was no room for it as they didnt excavate far enough back. with a 2/1 slope like what's in the video the wall needs 6 foot wide geogrid the full length of the wall.
He is on the right page about getting clean stone in there but using a chip base for a wall this size is asking for it to wash out your base over time.
You can use smaller sizes of geogrid we have don’t that were the space is constricted so using smaller sizes of it works also, don’t have to use the full size, until you get more room.
They way you work bro don’t go to commercial work. You are a danger to this business. So many red flags on this video. You don’t want to have a failure in a commercial job Not Cheap at all.
Two years and then the wall will be moving, must use geo grid in lifts.
geo grid was applied, thank you for watching.
So you and 7 others don’t pay attention or listen. He literally said in the beginning. “GEOGRID”
@@scottdonbrosky5968how did he install geo grid if it should have been dug back more
I have never seen a retaining wall built on blocks on gravel and not cemented in on a 2 ft deep concrete footing with supporting pillars or offset corners making a zig zag effect.
I didn't see any geo grid during the time lapse? did I miss it ? At that height i would have had about 3 layers ...Best, Steve
27:49 , thanks for watching Steve!
You are some real husterler.... props you all could of just flaten out the Lil Hill make more Space and save the cosutumer all the money.....
Great Video! New subscriber and want to say keep it up. Company sure is growing in the last 2 years it looks like keep it up. I know you did say about putting in the geogrid and i'm sure you did just wish could have seen that part =) Cant wait for better weather to see more great work.
Thank you for watching and for the sub! I’ll go more in depth about the geo grid next time for sure!
I don't know anything about construction/retaining walls, but how are the blocks secure enough to hold back that much weight if there's any sort of ground water or additional load being put on the inside face of that retaining wall? Also, is it enough that the bricks are put on a footing of packed down stone? Usually I see footings which are concrete going much deeper than this. Anyway, just curious and trying to learn! Thanks for the video.
The blocks are held together with 2 plastic pins in each block. The hillside is being held back by the weight of the blocks. The blocks are pitched towards the hillside and the aggregate/tubing behind the wall controls mass water flow. These Versa - Lok block also wick water so you'll actually never see any water come out of those drain outlets. If you do its a problem, haha!
Regards to the footing you could use concrete for a faster basing experience but in my area all of the contractors use aggregate. That's NCMA standards as well as how the block manufacture tells us to.
Hope I answered your questions. I'll go more into depth in a future video. Thanks for watching! Take care.
You would never lay this style of wall with a concrete footing. You could do it if it's like 100 feet high, but you would still need the base to be aggregate on top of a concrete footing. Concrete is entirely unnecessary for this type of job. The blocks pitch backwards. They don't stand vertical, so it is pretty much impossible for the hillside to push them over unless there is a solid earthquake.
E42 new purchase? Did you keep the little one?
Yes, it’s a new purchase! We got rid of our e32. Thank you for watching.
This wall violates code and basic retaining wall design principals. Your wall certainly is 4 feet or greater ( I count 10 exposed 6" blocks above lower grade) but moreover has a significant surcharge with the sloping slope and road above the wall. This REQUIRES a structural design and not simply one row of geogrid it appears you placed near the top. For this wall, at a minimum there should have been 4 layers of geogrid placed extending 5-6 feet back into the stone fill (18"behind the wall) and earth. That meant starting you base at least another 4 feet out from that excavation and in lifts adding the clear stone and structural back fill compacted and lightly compacted (within 2' of wall). And yes I am an engineer. Moreover did you even take into consideration the soil structure of the embankment. Pittsburgh has significant freeze/thaw and if that embankment is high in water retaining clay, additional margins are needed. You also have a parking lot/road above the embankment that could cause a excessive water discharge into the wall, yet there is no drainage pipe at the retaining wall base or anywhere. I would expect this wall to gradually "fail" over the next few years. You seem like a intelligent contractor but when it comes to this type of commercial work I would make sure you work with an engineer and simply not rely on a general contractors word to minimize any future liability.
Nice job! I enjoyed watching this process. Any update on the finished product with playground and all?
EASY MONEY… who else uses that phrase in the concrete world??? I’ve heard it before
Did you really only put one layer of geo grid near the top? 😳 😳
geo grid was placed at the 30” benchmark. we flipped the geo grid up to backfill the wall. thank you for watching.
Where do you buy your block from?
Lincoln Way Supply in Pittsburgh, PA.
Nice work. Suggestion; start the time lapse sooner and less talking with better editing so that we can see the finished product.
Good video brotha💪🏾 just realized your in Pittsburgh I’m in Pittsburgh also I got heavy equipment , land development & residential experience if your looking for any more help got a resume & portfolio 🤝🏾
Appreciate the support man! Email me your information we're always looking for new family members. cody@allenconstructionco.com
@@allenconstruction I sent a email over to you & the resume came in separate
I am a geodesic dome builder in ca. Love your work.
That’s sound awesome man! Thank you for watching.
Очень интересно , только я не понимаю , что вы говорите 😅
Thanks for watching!
Hello from Germany...you work in sweatpants? I think its not ok Hans
Shorts would be good too if it’s hotter
Can't think of anything original to say gotta steal"Easy Money" from Victory outdoor service.
This was not engineered and inspected and stop using easy money in your videos no one does it victory style but ryan.