Capping a garden wall

Dec 17, 2003 2 Replies

I've just finished building a garden wall to level what was previously a slope, any suggestions on what to cap it with? The total length is over 22m. Previously I've used capping stones (?) but after a while they tend to come lose because the kids walk on them. I wondered about using gripfill rather than mortar but don't know whether it would last. Also wondering about using decking boards rather than "stone" (artificial). Any experiences or opinions?



Dave S


My last wall had a line of old peg tiles in the penultimate course, to match the ancient local walls. It may be worth exploring the various mortar additives to give your capping stones greater longevity.

"Dave" wrote on 17/12/2003 :-

When I built our brick BBQ twenty years ago, I added some thin steel (1/8") rod along the top, before flaunching it with mortar. In the summer we decided to demolish it after buying a gas BBQ. Believe me, it was one hell of a job to move that top row of bricks which had been re-inforced with steel rod... It took a lot of work with a sledge hammer, before they would finally move.

Could I suggest laying some galvanised steel mesh in the mortar on top of the top row of bricks, then adding a galvanised wire tie rising between the mortar where the vertical joints are in the capping stones?

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