Retaining wall for patio

Maffy52

Hello, am building some two retaining walls for a patio next to the house (see very rough sketch attached!).  The garden slopes away from the back of the house, so a patio needs retaining walls to support it (the retaining walls are green in the sketch). The aim is for 4 courses of brick on top of a concrete footing. One wall goes from the back of the house down the garden (about 5m long) and then a second wall parallel to the house (also about 5m long).

I thought it was going to fairly straightforward but now I've started, I appreciate it is trickier than I thought!
I have two questions I am 'stuck' on;
- Should I leave a small gap between the footing/retaining wall and the brickwork of the house (see red arrow)? I was going to leave about 1 cm. However, I see videos of guys building extensions and they just pour concrete right up to the house. Should I do the same?
- I am doing this alone, by hand. Its tough to mix and pour the  entire footing in one go. I was going to pour half the footing (from the house to the purple arrow), then do the next half a few days later. Then do the footing for the other retaining wall which is parallel to the house also in two parts. Is there any problem with doing this?

Really hope this and my sketch makes sense. Anybody done something similar?

Thanks.

Bob++

For definitive answers to all your questions go to this free website: DIY Patio Paving

twopenny

You might want to have your question moved to the DIY forum as it's more about building than gardening.
There is a lot of good building info there.
Sounds nice and worth the hard work.

One thing I'm immediate thing came to mind. Is there a wall above the edge?
It wasn't until I did mine plus steps and I watched people chatting and walking backwards 😲
I used plants at the edges of both and people then took care.
Thinking, a wall at the edge people would sit on and maybe fall. Seen it happen.

You need access down too.

Maffy52

twopenny said:

You might want to have your question moved to the DIY forum as it's more about building than gardening.
There is a lot of good building info there.
Sounds nice and worth the hard work.

One thing I'm immediate thing came to mind. Is there a wall above the edge?
It wasn't until I did mine plus steps and I watched people chatting and walking backwards 😲
I used plants at the edges of both and people then took care.
Thinking, a wall at the edge people would sit on and maybe fall. Seen it happen.

You need access down too.

Yes, you are right, just thought its in the garden, but I guess more about construction (landscaping?) really.
Also, you make good points about the edge, didn't think about that (too focused on building!).
I haven't yet decided on steps - external (easier) or internal (nicer but harder to do!).
The top doesn't need a wall as it is against the boundary fence which is a concrete base with wood panels slotted in!

thanks for your advice!