I’m looking at the feasibility (i.e. how many ££££’s) of cutting into a steep lawn to create a drive and using those wire gabions as a retaining wall, with a strong emphasis on keeping the house in its rightful place. (i.e. not sliding down the hill and encroaching on the all important parking area) The house is about 5 metres back from where the gabions would go.

Has anyone used them? I think I would need roughly ten, in two tiers with a small step back, making a 2 metre retaining wall. Idea would be to face with something vaguely presentable and then fill with hardcore. I think the topsoil is likely to be quite thin, mostly virgin chalk underneath so can that be used as backfill in the gabions or is it too crumbly? If I have to pay for it to be removed and then pay for hardcore to replace it that could be a bit painfull.

I think I would be hiring someone to do the digging and DIY the gabions…

Any good websites on the basics of gabion building? Thanks guys 🙂

P.S Don’t suppose anyone knows how a DIY gabion wall would compare in cost to a retaining blockwork wall? Hopefully considerably cheaper…

Bloody hell? what’s a gabion?

Yes. Away from pc at the moment. Pics and post later

A gabion is those stone filled wire boxes, you used to just see them shoring up bridges and motorway embankments but now popular for urban landscaping etc. When faced with nice stone they can look pretty good.

Thanks Stoner. If all goes to plan over the coming weeks we are moving from a mid terrace to a bungalow on a steep plot so lots of exciting things to think about 🙂 The rear garden already has a small drop off and then a run of steps down to the road, then 200m of tarmac before finding yourself on the South Downs 🙂

I often see them holding earth back and always wonder what will happen when the metal cage decays/degrades…

When (if) they do degrade at least I can reuse all the stone in the new ones 🙂

If you sketch a line from the base of your dig for the gabion founds to approximately where the base of your house founds are, and it’s less than 30 degrees from the horizontal you’ll be safe as, err, houses. The design life of decent gabion wire can be 50 to 100 years depending upon type as they need to get Highways/Network Rail approval.

Websites that might give you a bit of help are:

http://www.phigroup.co.uk/technical-library%5D
http://www.maccaferri.co.uk/PAGES00281.html%5D
http://intermesh.co.uk/product/gabions%5D

I have a fair bit of involvement in this type of thing with my day job, so let me know if you want any more info/help.

Thanks Honeybadger…will have to do some proper measurements when we have moved in, but 30 degrees might be doable…

If its going to cost megabucks then it will be cheaper to pay for offsite trailer storage and a new clutch on the van every couple of years from reversing it up the existing steep/narrow drive 🙂

P.S All those links are dud!

Doing them properly/neatly isn’t just a case of tipping stones in, nor is it a quick job.

I realise that, but from what I’ve read it is suitable for DIY as the basics are relatively easy to grasp. Its not like teaching myself to build a block wall and trusting it to hold up the garden.

To be honest they may be a bit OTT if there is only 12 inches of topsoil and then virgin chalk underneath.

Hmm not sure what happened with the links, but if you go to the main websites you’ll find the technical info sections easy enough.

we are using 22 2x1m gabion baskets on a job at the mo, sick of them already, hard work. 1 week of diggering and dumping, 2 weeks of basket filling, like has been said before you cant just chuck stuff in, its got to be laid almost as well as a dry stone wall. here in yorkshire there are many huge dry stone walls that have been up for 100+ years, some must be 30 foot high and near vertical and not moved, makes me wonder how long these gabions are going to be there. sorry, down on gabions at the moment

I’ve made them at work and as posted above to make them look nice is not just a case of tipping the granite in. Even if you’re covering them up you still want them to be decent to do their job right.

Its not like teaching myself to build a block wall and trusting it to hold up the garden.

[panic] runs off and checks on block wall I built by Google which I trust to hold up the garden and garage [/panic]

Maybe get a structural/civil engineer to do some drawings etc to show any future buyers and to know you’ve got it right?

Nah, you want a geotechnical engineer. <Waves>.

Not something I’d do without being able to fall back on an engineer’s PI insurance to be honest!!!

Have you considered hardwood railway sleepers? I considered gabions and I am a civil engineer so gan get the baskets and rocks to fill at a reasonable price, but the sleepers worked out much cheaper. Filling the gabions is also a skilled task as has been mentioned I believe.

There are some great examples of sleeper retaining walls, I think they come up with a Google search.

I wasn’t sure if sleepers would hold it all back, had visions of them just slumping over! Will take another look.

Regarding the filling, from the brief stuff I read earlier the companys that make the baskets described the filling of the gabions as suitable for unskilled labour. I wasn’t aware that you have to stack the stone neatly throughout the cage, I assumed you just stacked the face for aesthetic reasons. Does sound like it takes ages though!

sorry, i thought you said rock filled gibbons. can’t help on the gabions.

spooky – I used some gabions to give what was a boring flat field and is now our garden a bit of relief. So not for any structural purpose.

I went for a mid priced cage, and even they are not really very substantial. I cross wired them at two levels and with four wires front to back and side to side (i.e. 8x cross wires) which has held them together OK< but theyve still sagged and bulged a bit in places. If I were to do it again Id spend the money on some railway grade ones. From what Id heard/read you dont need to lay up the stone inside it too fastidiously – more a “backfill”. I didnt bother with a face stone as a) Malvern Stone is hard to come buy these days since they stopped quarrying the hills, and b) Cant be dry stone laid due to it’s shape and c) any other stone would look out of place and d) we’re growing stuff up it any way to make a “green wall”.

I used a specific local stone product for gabions – I think it’s 70-100mm/200mm? grid – peterpoddy might know more, he’s a quarryman. Unfortunately its a very friable stone really and hasnt held up well. There’s a risk that these wont survive for 10s of years. But it wont be too much hassle to dismantle and replace as they arent actually retaining any vertical mass, only giving me something to pile some clay spoil against.

So Id recommend buying the best cages you can afford, using a lining stone that lends itself to dry walling and back filling with a solid stone – crushed concrete (not type 1 sized) would even do it nice and cheaply I reckon.

The top level also has deck cap now. Its a nice effect. Nice place to sit in the evening too.

You only need to face the front (or visible) aspect of the basket the rest is just Gabion stone chucked in. Always use helicoils for making the baskets up and connecting them as they make a much better job and are much much quicker!
Always put in the restraints at 1/3 and 2/3 or you’ll end up with bulging baskets!!

Note to Spooky, local stone will not be suitable! 😀
Sleepers rot (even concrete ones)!

Always use helicoils for making the baskets up and connecting them as they make a much better job and are much much quicker!

very true. I used wire twist. My thumbs barely recovered 😀

Hardwood pressure treated sleepers last a lifetime and have been used to support train rails in saturated conditions under heavy loads for decades, no problem structurally or for longevity. As long as you construct a decent mass foundation for the vertical supports the sleepers will deliver an attractive ( accept this is a personal view) and cost effective retaining structure. I have built a number with excellent results.

I do love gabions also though. 🙂

Or you could use old lorry tyres and fill them with soil?

Stoner, can I come and live with you? that’s my dream house I think.

I’d be very quiet (looks for emoticon with fluttery eyelashes) 😀

As an alternative have a look at timber crib walls, look a lot nicer IMO.

So two trains of thought…

Build a dry stone wall inside the gabions over several weeks.

Face the front and after pouring in each wheelbarrow of rock, give them a shuffle about to make sure they are densely packed. The manufacturers seem to err towards this method.

I like the idea of sleepers but I think once I sorted out the foundations etc it wouldn’t be much easier than gabions. Truck tyres, like that idea but the neighbours might not. I could also go for the ‘urban’ look and just sink big concrete fence posts and use those concrete panels that slide in…

I wonder if the rear half could be lined with heavy plastic allowing chalk to be used? There would be plenty of it, especially seeing as they recommended sloping the higher ground away from the base at 45 degrees and then filling the wedge with gravel or similar.

Thanks everyone. May be resurrecting this thread in 6 – 9 months time 🙂

P.S Looking at timber crib now 🙂

I used gabions, dead easy, look fab.
You can chuck in any old bricks then face with nice stone.
I’ve put a decking top on mine as they are stepped back to give extra seating.
I also put weed membrane against the soil side to stop soil getting into it.
I got from a place in Cheltenham and collected from depot in Malvern.
You can route lighting inside them easily.
Defo get extra helix coils.
Get the stone direct from a quarry, not a garden centre.