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Dressing up a block wall

 
gardener
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I'm building a raised bed of dry stacked block, 3 courses high.
It's coming out pretty well, and it's almost done, so I'm thinking about how I could finish it.
I rarely consider how something looks, but I'm now trying to improve atmosphere of our backyard.
I was thinking I could tile the front and top of the wall, using either thinset or construction adhesive.
I've also considered just parging it with surface bonding cement.
I'm open to and seeking other ideas.
 
pollinator
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Tough call  William, I would park some motorcycles in front and nobody will notice the wall!
 
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Tough call  William, I would park some motorcycles in front and nobody will notice the wall!


Haha

I wonder if you could plant something that vines on the edges? Then it would hang down and hide it some.
 
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If they're dry stacked and you have frost (which I'm pretty sure you do), I think the surface bonding cement would be the best option to keep them together.  The tile and thinset would likely crack off.  Construction adhesive may stay together or may not.

Or you could merely paint them with flowers or a mini mural?  Or plant hanging plants like petunias in the holes of the blocks so they hang down and cover the block.  Or other "trailing hanging" plants.
 
William Bronson
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I think I will try the surface bonding cement.
I've wanted to to try it anyway, and it could be a base for anything else I decided to do.
I'm unsure of how to fill in and finish the top of the wall.
Tile would look nice and help tie the wall together, while  also being easily reversed.
A weird thing, the ability to un-build is a virtue to me.
I have a cheap source of tile, and a tile saw.
I would try the construction adhesive, since I have that, and only buy thinset if that doesn't work.

I usually reinforce block walls by driving stakes through the openings and shimming around that with ruble.
I might actually pay for some gravel this time , just to make my job easier!
 
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