How do I build a footing for a block wall on a property that slopes?

Question

I assume I will need a series of steps but how should I go about building the footing and how often should i make those steps? Any pictoral or descriptive websites i could look at?

Answer 1

In my part of the world, these footings are usually a minimum of 20" wide and the bottom of the footings must be at least 30" below grade. Your local building inspector can advise you of requirements in your area. The excavated trench acts as a form for the concrete and no additional forms are usually needed. The tricky part is to make sure the elevation changes between the "steps" are correct. If you are using 8" high block, the difference in the elevation of the top of the footings should be at some multiple of 8 inches. Otherwise, you will have to spend a lot of time and money to cut odd height block.

There is a lot of information available on the internet. A Yahoo search for "how to lay concrete block" (include the quotation marks in the Yahoo search box) yields 860 results. If you do the same search, and are willing to spend a little time exploring, I'm sure that you will quickly find lots of useful and interesting information.

Good luck with your search.

Answer 2

You do not need to build any steps just make the down hill side of the form taller than the up hill side but both should be even at the tops. The forms should be about 1 foot apart or wide