Replacing Rotting Timbers

Building a Concrete Block Wall

Hard work pays off for this Atlanta, Georgia homeowner whose 1940's home, like so many others across the country was in need of a face lift. The owners had purchased the property with the intent of cleaning up the home inside and out, by adding additional rooms, a swimming pool and an outdoor retreat.

The biggest obstacle this project faced was the replacement of an existing concrete block retaining wall that had been constructed when the house was built. After spending months looking at design options, the contractor, Classic Pools & Spa's, recommended using Allan Block as the perfect solution to replace the failing concrete wall, support the new deck, and add the elegant look of natural stone to the poolside area.

The Allan Block sales representative for Lafarge, worked closely with the homeowners and the contractor and found exactly what they were looking for - the AB Collection with an AB Ashlar Blend Pattern. Once the style and color was determined, structure and stability needed to be addressed. The AB sales rep recommended that an engineer be brought in to address the slope conditions and drainage issues of the site.

Now that the plan and the design were complete, it was time to build. However, before construction could begin, the existing concrete wall needed to be demolished.

This wall had been installed using rebar and soil ties to reinforce the structure. The entire demolition took the 5 man crew 2 weeks to complete due to the location and amount of work it took to clear the site.

Once the site was clear it only took two weeks for the contractor, who had never installed an AB Ashlar pattern before, to complete the work. To their surprise the pattern did not add much time to the retaining wallinstallation process simply because of the repeating pattern of the AB Ashlar Blend^™.

Once the wall was completed, the pool and deck were added and the homeowners couldn't be happier with the new and improved outdoor living space.