Building a Retaining Wall: Day 8

Once the kickers are down we can tack the plywood forms in place making sure its level and plumb. Once tacked in place we can scribe the shape of the rock onto the plywood.

This is the line that was scribed onto the plywood, to fit securely on the rock the line must be followed carefully. To cut this out we will use a jigsaw to stay accurate. 

Here is the piece once it has been cut out, it may take a few adjustments and re scribes to get the fit you want. In this case the bottom of the concrete is not exposed so the fit is just to hold the concrete from pouring out the bottom. 

Once there is a good fit on the bottom of the plywood I was able mark out the heights and lay out the stairs that will be leading down to the pad in front of the mechanical room door. 

Here is the sheet of plywood laid out with the 2 steps. There is an 8" rise and a 3' run for the steps to properly fit over the bedrock.

The rest of the pieces are tacked and marked in a similar fashion. using the plumb side of the last sheet makes it easy to get the next one level.

Adding the 2x4 at the top of the forms allow us to keep them straight and to attach braces to the forms easily to keep them plum while pouring the concrete. 

After all the pieces are in on the right side of the walkway we can start to install the stair risers they to will have to be scribed as well. There is no need for any forms on the left hand side as the bedrock rises quickly and having the concrete die off into the bedrock will look cool.