Okay, so this is a project that I have been needing to do for a while now, but I need some help figuring out the best way to tackle this.I purchased my home in 2014, and over the course of the past few years, I have a couple of major projects. The main one I'm still working on has been my deck. The original deck was in horrible condition, and needed to be completely replaced. The main issue was that a tree was allowed to grow entirely too close to the house, and it was pushing on the deck, making it very unstable. The old deck was a large 2-story setup, with a staircase in between the two levels. Fast-forward to today, I have built a completely new deck, but I have designed it as an upstairs-only balcony. The lower level is still open. I am currently trying to figure out the best way to build out the lower level as a patio. The large tree that was once there has been removed, and the stump has been ground down. So all of that is out of the way. What I'm left with is an open area that I have partially filled with a lot of the rocks that were in my back yard, as well as some other random paver stones that were around the property, and all of the leftover grindings from the stump that was once there.Here is what I'm working with right nowWhat I'm thinking of doing, is building a retaining wall around the lower area out of cinder blocks, and reinforcing it with rebar and concrete. After which, I will get the rest of the area filled in with gravel. Now, one problem that I've noticed is that since my house is on a slope, there is definitely a potential for it moving down the hill, and I'm fairly certain it has already done so in the past. What I have been considering doing is getting rebar to drive into the ground and act as sort of an anchor to ensure the house stays in one place. I am in Northern Alabama, near Tennessee, and the soil here is fairly soft. However, we have a very large amount of limestone in the area. So, while it's not the worlds greatest foundation, I'm not sitting on mudslide-prone land. So, I figure using this to make sure the house doesn't go anywhere won't be a terrible idea.Where I'm really needing advice is on how to build the retaining wall (how deep should I dig)? How should I go about filling this lower area with concrete once I've got the area mostly filled in? How deep should I make the slab? As well as any other advice that you may have for this project.And, for reference, this is what the deck looked like when I bought the house via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2pPpQN6
