Masonry Wall Advice

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Any masonry wall contractors here?
HO who have built their own?
HO who have paid someone else to build them one?

I'm going to need one tall and wide.

Several years ago I was McMansioned by a "builder/developer" who decided to build a monument to his own ego right next door. Being in the county, he was unhindered by city restrictions. He poured his driveway right on the property line. My private "side-yard" is no more. Now I look up to a second story with some windows....everyday.

Not only is it an invasion of my privacy, re-grading the land has caused large amounts of storm water runoff onto my property. No efforts were made to handle any imperveous cover drainage. Another problem: The driveway alone is larger than the foundation of my house!!

Read that again....

I've thought long & hard about a solution to address all issues. BIG MASONRY seems to be the answer. I'm thinking of starting with a reinforced concrete foundation/base/curb/footer about a foot wide or so for the block to sit on and about a foot high. This will keep all storm runoff from entering my property, flooding his yard, rather than mine. The block will sit on top of the concrete where it won't soak in water. The reason a high fence won't work here is due to acoustics. The wall needs to be high enough and long enough to block/reflect/redirect all noise coming from his side.....back to his side.

Masonary, acoustical walls are regularly and routinely used to keep traffic/freeway noise out of neighborhoods. The reason they're so high is to minimize diffraction and to reflect the sound energy skyward. I'll need a smaller version of this.

The masonary part of the wall will need to be about 50' long and about 14-16' high. To block all views of his 2nd story windows from my back porch will mean a visual barrier of about 18'. It would be much easier and less expensive if there were no acoustical considerations, just a visual screening, however noise is a big issue. And to block noise requires mass. Big Mass.

http://blalockcompanies.com/sites/default/files/000_0092-scaled.jpg
(Not sure why that didn't work.....)

I've already solved the problems of how to landscape my side and make it attractive.

What type of contractors do I need to talk to for a residential project like this?

(P.S. In the end, the narcissistic/egomaniac "B/D" was forced to sell "his personal monument" due to a divorce + cash flow problems. The new owners regularly complain of how poorly many things were done. Ironic that....a monument that in reality is a House of Cards!
 
Check your local building codes. I am thinking that for a wall that high your footing will need to be much bigger.
 
I'd contact the local highway administration. There may be a pre-poured option that could be installed in an afternoon....on the right foundation of course. There might also be a law concerning the runoff.

Driveway bigger footprint than your house......fuuuuuuuuuuuu
 
There are laws concerning run-off. If he is delivering storm water from new construction that is not kosher. It's his responsibility. Check with County about their Storm Water Program and learn the in's an out's .. You may have a claim against him ... You would here in Cali.

18' high will involve a massive footing. Prolly 3'x3' (crossection) and soil testing and seismic and ... That'll be an engineered structure and it won't be cheap. Will the County even permit it?
 
Your neighbor is far too common in the modern world.

I agree with above posts on footer size.

Can you build masonry in the lower 10' and another lighter weight material for the remaining top height?
 
The footer size is important especially for the height you are planning. I have such a wall. It's 7 ' at its lowest height and 14' max height. We used 3'x3' footings for the posts which were poured. The blocks were set in between the posts. Rebar for the posts is the standard square frame with rings. We ran vertical rebar every block and a horizontal every third course. The horizontals tie in to the verticals wherever they intersect and they also tie into the post rebar as well.

Consider a canal or gutter on the McMansion side. Easily done with block. You can then divert the water to a proper drain if one is available on the street. I have 6"x6" canals on mine. Without the canal the water will go under the wall.

The idea of having a different type of material/structure is a good one. If you might be affected by strong winds from tornado or hurricane I would think about it. A wall that size is a huge sail area.

My wall survived a 7.2 earthquake in 2013. No cracks or leaning. Disclosure; I am not a contractor, just a homeowner.
 
It's true redirecting storm water run-off onto an adjacent property is illegal in Tx. I found the law. Also talked to several lawyers about this. Problem was upfronting the money to begin trial, then going through the long process, while water continued to "pour over".

I removed my fence, blocked off the lower slats of his to prevent water intrusion. I'm not the only guy he'd pi**d off. I did manage to get my taxes lowered by presenting a convincing case to the appraisal board. They were rather stunned at the photos.

Quote:
Can you build masonry in the lower 10' and another lighter weight material for the remaining top height
10' a bit low for acoustical reasons: diffraction. 14' might work. A proper base/footing will need to be built. No frost here and very little "top-soil". I'm thinking continuous rebar will be necessary to anchor the wall to the footing.

While browsing over my Tauton book on Landscaping Hard-scape, I ran across some of my earlier calculations. The numbers are rather alarming:

The sqr ftg of his driveway is about 1,824 sqr ft. or 262,656 in^2.
1 gal of water occupies 231 in^3.
Therefore for every inch of rain that lands on this area, about 1,137 gallons of water run off. As water weighs about 8.33 #/gal., that's a moving, flowing mass of 9,471 pounds. Totally unaccounted for in this case. This is why concrete is called for.

I've spoken with the new(er) neighbors, however no joy from them. The time for talk is over. The time for action (by me) is now.

The first step is to dig, then pour the footing and lower wall. That will forever put to rest the water run-off issue. Next step will be to erect the wall, maybe in stages. I need to measure a standard block, then figure on the # req'd. I also need to draw it all up to scale in AutoCad or SketchUp.

A really smart, responsible B/D would never do this, moving into an existing neighborhood. I've been around enough well-done large home construction (> 10,000 ft^2) where archy plans for run-off, views are taken into consideration, as well as preventing run-off onto neighbors. This guy was none of that. He's a dirt-bag. A pretender. A trained eye quickly spots red flags. Looking over this place would give one red-eye.
 
Contractor here. It’s critical that you hire an engineer to design the wall and footings.

The biggest issue is what another person referred to - the wind. You don’t want that wall to fall over and hurt someone.

I think you’ll end up with a footing at least 5 to 7 ft wide and then additional block on your side to laterally brace the wall, i.e. a 24x24 full height pilaster every 10 ft or so. Lots of rebar in the block and all of it filled with concrete.

You might want to give some thought to running some pvc elec conduit in the wall if there is a chance you would ever want some lighting mounted on the wall.....
 
PimTac & Bcossa...good stuff here. Thanks for weighing in. I'll respond with more, later.

Mr. Nice: A photo might be too obvious...after all gargoale is watching and vacuuming. Best to maintain a low-profile for now. Point being that's some shallow, hollow ego to build such a mess, yet it declare it so.

Guys with true custom, craftmans-ship experience can spot a fake in a milli-sec and go head-to-head (snickering) at any who would defend such a House-of-Cards.

You know it when you see it: Both the Real Thing and The Frauds.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
The footer size is important especially for the height you are planning. I have such a wall. It's 7 ' at its lowest height and 14' max height. We used 3'x3' footings for the posts which were poured. The blocks were set in between the posts. Rebar for the posts is the standard square frame with rings. We ran vertical rebar every block and a horizontal every third course. The horizontals tie in to the verticals wherever they intersect and they also tie into the post rebar as well.

Consider a canal or gutter on the McMansion side. Easily done with block. You can then divert the water to a proper drain if one is available on the street. I have 6"x6" canals on mine. Without the canal the water will go under the wall.

The idea of having a different type of material/structure is a good one. If you might be affected by strong winds from tornado or hurricane I would think about it. A wall that size is a huge sail area.

My wall survived a 7.2 earthquake in 2013. No cracks or leaning. Disclosure; I am not a contractor, just a homeowner.
Mine can vary in height as well. It only needs to be at max height around the noise sources. These are pool pump, rt. angle garage opening, boat storage, HVAC condensors (2), and backyard.

I'm thinking 1/2" rebar bent @ 90° angles, alternated & imbedded into the footer, on 2' or 3' centers. Then horizontal rebar as spec'd tied into the verticals.

McMansion never provided for a "proper drain" other than a 12" x 3" hole in the rear fence. Already lots of erosion there on the right-of-way due to outflow.

This wall would face SSW, with predominate S breezes from that direction. However, there are many large trees and other obstructions. Point being I'm not on a hill, with nothing to break the wind.

He had a few 'columuns' constructed. I'm thinking bore into them on my side; epoxy in rebar to my footing/lower concrete wall to tie it all together. Max water depth at worst point is maybe 3".

Fortunately, no siesmic amomolies here....
 
Originally Posted By: bcossa2001
Contractor here. It’s critical that you hire an engineer to design the wall and footings.

The biggest issue is what another person referred to - the wind. You don’t want that wall to fall over and hurt someone.

I think you’ll end up with a footing at least 5 to 7 ft wide and then additional block on your side to laterally brace the wall, i.e. a 24x24 full height pilaster every 10 ft or so. Lots of rebar in the block and all of it filled with concrete.

You might want to give some thought to running some pvc elec conduit in the wall if there is a chance you would ever want some lighting mounted on the wall.....
I'll need to measure the existing stone columns he erected. His wood fence is only a bit higher than mine.

Wind load won't be much of a problem due to location. No doubt needs to be taken into consideration though.

On my side, I'm thinking primer, then deep green to give it that forrest look. Then I'd build an arbor or pergola stained in white for contrast and to draw attention to the structure rather than the wall. Lighting would be on the structure rather than the wall. Though I love fountains, here they must be mosquito free as these #$%^ will even breed in 1/16" of water in the gutters....
 
A few photos to illustrate the problem:
Here's the driveway poured right on the property line. It's maybe 10" high here. The darker fence, straight ahead, is my old one. Camera angle is low to the ground, thus distorting the fence height, which is maybe 7' above the concrete curb.

At the end of the driveway, the pour butts into this masonry post. There are two small 'cuts' into the rear concrete to drain all of this water. They are both mostly blocked off now with junk/wire screen/mulch/dirt where the storm water runoff dumped it.

On the other side is a noisy pool pump + two HVAC condensor units. As the fence has obvious gaps, it's invisible to the noise which passes right through. Part of my fence is to the right.

This is now what I see from my driveway/walkway. Like how the fence contractor sliced the brace to 'slump' the fence! That's quality construction for you!

Adjacent property line fence is similar: No acoustical, nor sight barrier whatsoever. No water barrier either! The metal I installed at the bottom, along with an earth berm provides for a short-term solution.

Here's the ridiculous part. B/D thought this adequate to drain all the storm water runoff from 1,824 ft^2 of impervious cover. It's caused erosion of the easement the county owns. It's regularly blocked with leaves, mulch, dirt & balls that float when washed downhill.

Ideas? Suggestions?

I'm currently making some sketches from previous notes.
 
The sound doesn’t sound like a big deal to me. All houses have an a/c unit, here in Phoenix they’re on the roof. We can all hear each others a/c unit when outside, not a big deal. A garage door takes about 15 seconds to open.

I’d just put a 6”-12” curb right on the edge of the driveway, all the water can create a swimming pool in their driveway. With a reasonable fence on top.
 
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