My home's driveway is bordered by original mortared barnstone walls from the 1940s... I want to extend the wall 4' on one end to 2' on the other end, ~10 feet in length. When I dug out the edge of the existing wall, I was surprised to find that wall was built as a stone face stting ontop of and in front of a brick support wall. The stone wall has a few 'zippers' that have opened but it is otherwise stable and retains a 1:10 ratio. The original section is 6' on one end to 3' on the other and runs ~20'.
I bought some barnstones that are are mostly 10-18" long, 4-6" high and 6-8" deep. I will mortar the wall to match the existing wall. I had planned to just use barnstone and alternate the stones using the long face and then the short face to bury half of the stones into the wall length-wise. I was building on a ~6" base of #2B limestone with half a row of stones below level. Planning for ~6" of gravel backfill behind the wall. I'm in Pennsylvania with heavy clay soil... it doesn't move and the existing area was more excavated than backfilled.
Questions:
Should I stack this on the limestone base that I mention, or should I pour a concrete footer?
Should I construct the wall as a facade over a rebar reinforced block wall? This seems to be overkill.
I bought some barnstones that are are mostly 10-18" long, 4-6" high and 6-8" deep. I will mortar the wall to match the existing wall. I had planned to just use barnstone and alternate the stones using the long face and then the short face to bury half of the stones into the wall length-wise. I was building on a ~6" base of #2B limestone with half a row of stones below level. Planning for ~6" of gravel backfill behind the wall. I'm in Pennsylvania with heavy clay soil... it doesn't move and the existing area was more excavated than backfilled.
Questions:
Should I stack this on the limestone base that I mention, or should I pour a concrete footer?
Should I construct the wall as a facade over a rebar reinforced block wall? This seems to be overkill.