Concrete Block Knee Wall

The terms knee wall and pony wall are commonly used as if they were synonymous and both terms are often used to refer to the same types of wall structures.

Concrete block knee wall. When you apply a lateral load to these two walls you will achieve similar results. The poured concrete wall has more mass or interlocking cement paste. In our example a standard concrete block wall may only be half as strong as the poured concrete wall when a gravity load is applied to it. Learn how to build a low wall from concrete breezeblocks.

Prepare the concrete footing where the cinder block wall will sit. Start the concrete footing by digging the area of the wall a few inches below the frost line the maximum depth in the ground below which the soil does not freeze during the winter consult a structural engineer to design the footing including where to install the vertical reinforcement which usually is placed. However some types of walls such as pony walls that rest on a building s foundation or an attic knee wall cannot be properly referred to by both names. Getting ride of any dirt or dust on the blocks will help the primer and the paint adhere better to the concrete blocks.

For example if your cinder blocks are 8x8 in 20x20 cm and you want to use 2 blocks to make up the wall s width your total wall width would be 16 in 40 cm. To determine the width of your future wall decide how many cinder blocks you want to use for the wall width then calculate the width using the block s measurements. Step 3 snap a chalk line on each side of the block wall as a reference line. 3 625 in x 7 625 in x 15 625 in.

Step 4 mix mortar. Build the wall photo by kolin smith. Remember to check out the full diy construction video on our website. But for safety s sake you should glue down at least every other course and certainly the capstones with construction adhesive made for stonework.

Most cast concrete stones are heavy enough to stay upright without help. A comfortable sitting height for a wall is 18 to 24 inches including capstones. Lay out the block making sure to leave a 3 8 inch gap between the blocks to allow for the vertical mortar joints i e a typical 8x8x16 block is actually 15 5 8 inches long and 7 5 8 inches high to accommodate the mortar joint. The cinder blocks are very porous and the use of an acrylic primer will fill the pores of the wall and give you a smoother finish.

Cinder blocks don t vary much in cost regardless of the type. 4 in x 8 in x 16 in. This is due to the hollow voids within the wall.