Hi,

I'm building a retaining garden wall out of 6" (140mm) hollow dense
concete blocks. I intend to render one side of the wall to a depth of
10-20mm. I'm looking for advice as to what size coping stone to adorn
the top of the wall i.e. how much overhang should I have on each side?

Wall + render will be approx 150mm wide + (2 x overhang) = ?

The standard options tend to be 180mm, 225mm, 280mm or 335mm. I think
that others may be availible but, I don't know what size to look for.

Any advice?

<M>

<M> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm building a retaining garden wall out of 6" (140mm) hollow dense
> concete blocks. I intend to render one side of the wall to a depth of
> 10-20mm. I'm looking for advice as to what size coping stone to adorn
> the top of the wall i.e. how much overhang should I have on each side?
>
> Wall + render will be approx 150mm wide + (2 x overhang) = ?
>
> The standard options tend to be 180mm, 225mm, 280mm or 335mm. I think
> that others may be availible but, I don't know what size to look for.
>
> Any advice?
>
> <M>

The 180mm ones are for a single wall.
the 225mm are for a double wall.
You have a single wall, so use the 180mm ones....it doesn't matter how much 
or how little overhang there is, as it's only there for decoration, but if 
it were mine, I would make sure there's about 30mm overlapping the front, 
where it is likely to be painted render - the back is irrelevant for a 
retaining wall.

On Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:30:35 GMT, "Phil L" 
wrote:

><M> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm building a retaining garden wall out of 6" (140mm) hollow dense
>> concete blocks. I intend to render one side of the wall to a depth of
>> 10-20mm. I'm looking for advice as to what size coping stone to adorn
>> the top of the wall i.e. how much overhang should I have on each side?
>>
>> Wall + render will be approx 150mm wide + (2 x overhang) = ?
>>
>> The standard options tend to be 180mm, 225mm, 280mm or 335mm. I think
>> that others may be availible but, I don't know what size to look for.
>>
>> Any advice?
>>
>> <M>
>
>The 180mm ones are for a single wall.
>the 225mm are for a double wall.
>You have a single wall, so use the 180mm ones....it doesn't matter how much 
>or how little overhang there is, as it's only there for decoration, but if 
>it were mine, I would make sure there's about 30mm overlapping the front, 
>where it is likely to be painted render - the back is irrelevant for a 
>retaining wall. 

I once did similar on a dwarf wall and went for wide coping stones
(probably 280mm) so the wall also became a comfortable seat. The seat
was used a lot as it turned out  ... so if your wall is a suitable
height and in a suitable location ...

Anna
--
Anna Kettle
Lime plaster repair and conservation
Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
Tel:    (+44)  01359 230642
Mob:  (+44)  07976 649862
Please look at my website for examples of my work at:
www.kettlenet.co.uk

On 6 Jul, 10:28, "<M>"  wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm building a retaining garden wall out of 6" (140mm) hollow dense
> concete blocks. I intend to render one side of the wall to a depth of
> 10-20mm. I'm looking for advice as to what size coping stone to adorn
> the top of the wall i.e. how much overhang should I have on each side?
>
> Wall + render will be approx 150mm wide + (2 x overhang) = ?
>
> The standard options tend to be 180mm, 225mm, 280mm or 335mm. I think
> that others may be availible but, I don't know what size to look for.
>
> Any advice?
>
> <M>

Dear M
(ex M15?) There is a BRE DAS guide on these dimensions - from memory
the key thing is to get the drip groove about 30 (?) mm from the wall
edge both sides other than that it does not appear to matter much as
the greater the overhang the greater the protection - subject of
course to the aesthetics!
Chris

Thanks to you all for your responses. I 'lost' the thread for a while
as I couldn't pick it up at work for some reason but have once again
found it. Phil's advice sounds perfectly reasonable, so all I have to
do now is source the stones!

Thanks for your time.

<M>