Retaining Wall Calculator

If your garden needs a retaining wall, and you have no idea how to set about getting it done, fear not — the retaining wall calculator is here to help! Whether you're building your retaining wall for aesthetic reasons or to even out the landscape, this calculator will help you plan and carry out the construction process.

Save time you would otherwise spend meticulously calculating the number of retaining wall blocks on paper, and kill two birds with one stone by having your retaining wall cost estimated simultaneously.

On top of that, the retaining wall calculator will show you how much gravel you will need for backfill, so there's no need to worry about that either! Use this time-saving tool, and your retaining wall project will be as easy as pie!

The retaining wall calculator may seem complicated at first, but don't worry! Just follow this simple set of instructions, and you will get your calculations done in no time.

1. Calculating the number of retaining wall blocks:

• Start by deciding whether your retaining wall will have a cap row (pick "Yes" or "No" at the very top of the calculator). A cap row is the topmost row of the retaining wall, reaching higher than the wall's actual height, which is often used for decoration.

• Input the height and length of the retaining wall.

• Input the height and length of one of your chosen blocks.

• You will be given the total number of retaining wall blocks needed. If you've chosen to have a cap row, the number of blocks required for the cap will show as well.

2. Calculating gravel for backfill:

Backfill is something that cannot be forgotten when building a retaining wall. It is crucial for keeping the wall steady, as well as making sure it does not get eroded by water. It is recommended to use a granular material such as gravel, which is what we chose for the retaining wall calculator.

• Declare the backfill area's height, length and thickness. Height and length typically correspond to the wall's height and length. As for the thickness, it should be at least $12\ \mathrm{in}$ ($30\ \mathrm{cm}$) to assure proper drainage, as you can learn at our french drain calculator.

• The calculator will return both the volume and weight of gravel you should buy.

3. Calculating the costs:

Our retaining wall calculator also allows you to calculate retaining wall costs. To do so, all you need to do is:

• Input the price of a single retaining wall block (and that of a cap block, if you chose that option at the top of the calculator)
• Input the price of gravel per unit weight — any unit will do.
• The calculator will provide you with your total retaining wall cost.

Additionally, we recommend that you buy an additional $10\%$-$15\%$ of all the materials needed to account for any mistakes that may occur, as well as any unexpected repairs. Better safe than sorry — why waste gasoline driving to and from the store when you can be prepared in advance? Feel free to use our percentage calculator to figure out exactly how much more you ought to buy.

The beauty of our retaining wall calculator is the fact that it does all the work for you. We understand, however, that you might be in the mood to do the maths yourself, and we hereby present you with all the necessary equations!

The number of retaining wall blocks is calculated using the following formulas:

And:

Both quantities get rounded up if they are not full numbers. In these equations, we found the following quantities:

• $h_{\mathrm{wall}}$ and $h_{\mathrm{block}}$ — The heights of wall and block;
• $l_{\mathrm{wall}}$ and $l_{\mathrm{block}}$ — The length of wall and block; and
• $n_{\mathrm{rows}}$ and $n_{\mathrm{columns}}$ — The number of rows and columns in the retaining wall.

If there isn't a cap row, the number of blocks equals the number of columns times the number of rows, so you would use the number of columns formula to calculate it.

If there is a cap row, the formula is almost the same, with the exception that you subtract one row:

To calculate the volume of gravel needed for the backfill, we use the following equation:

To convert the gravel's volume into a particular weight of gravel, we need the following formula:

where:

• $w_{\mathrm{BF}}$ — The weight of the backfill;
• $D_{\mathrm{gravel}}$ — The density of gravel; and
• $V_{\mathrm{BF}}$ — The volume of the backfill.

To calculate the retaining wall cost, you need to multiply the results of the previous calculations by the price of that material.

Let's say we're building a retaining wall that:

• Has no cap row;
• Is $30$ feet long;
• Is $10$ feet high;
• Is made out of $10\ \mathrm{in} \times 15\ \mathrm{in}$ blocks; and
• Has a standard $12\ \mathrm{in}$ thick backfill.

Let's say the prices in our area are:

• $\text{\textdollar}5$ per a retaining wall block; and
• $\text{\textdollar}2$ per a pound of gravel.

In our example, the calculations go as follows. First, we found the number of rows of the wall.

Then the number of columns:

The number of blocks in our retaining wall is:

The total cost of the blocks is:

The volume of the backfill is:

The weight of the backfill gravel is:

The cost of the backfill gravel is:

We hope that this example helped make using our retaining wall calculator a little easier.