12/2015 – Satisfied customers in Perth, Australia
Nothing makes us happier than feedback from satisfied customers, especially when we receive photos and installation descriptions with it. Recently two Terraforce block users contacted us with images of their retaining wall projects, and the results are remarkable!
Terraforce would also like to wish you all a happy and safe holiday from all of us at Terraforce!


Says Simone Elwell, Perth, Western Australia: “My husband has created an amazing wall with your Terraforce blocks. We live on a slant and we have built a retaining wall and built up from the bottom of the slant to the house level and have created an amazing pool area with views out over the area. “
Andrew Brooke, Elwell’s husband, describes the installation process: “The blocks are sitting on a concrete footing that runs the full length of the wall (13m long, 1.8m wide and 30cm deep) and containing a rebar mesh made up of 12mm bar at 30cm spacing.
There is additional 16mm rebar bent into right angles coming up through the top face of the footing. These were spaced out at 400mm to allow rebar in every block. Once the first two rows of blocks were laid and prior to filling, I strapped 2.2m lengths of rebar to the existing 16mm rebar already protruding up from the footing, this meant threading the remaining blocks over the bars into place.


“It was only possible to lay 2-3 full rows at a time and then concrete had to be mixed and poured, any more than three blocks high and there were issues with blockage when pouring the concrete. Air pockets would mean a weak spot. Each row of blocks is set back 5mm from the block below it, resulting in the wall leaning back about 50mm over its full height, providing extra strength.
Once the wall was completed, a 9inch grinder was used to grind a channel – all the way along the centre of the top row of blocks. Then some channeling, 100mm high and 50mm wide, was sat in the channel and filled in around the outside with concrete. Finally, glass panels were propped into the channeling and filled with grouting.
To finish off, we paved up to the inside face of the glass and are still going to put bull nosing on the outside lip. We basically have used the Terraforce wall to build up and pop the pool into. Thanks for such an awesome product!”


Another happy client from Perth, Katherine James, also used the Terraforce blocks around a pool at her home. After consulting with Fred Laker from Terrasafe, Terraforce’s design service, James decided on a double skin wall up to 600mm high, with blue metal infill in the blocks: “Just last weekend we built some stairs in the wall with the blocks, as we love them so much – it looks great! We plan to glue the caps onto the blocks for safety.
“It’s not completely done but nearly there — we now have the pool in and the 1m wall is doing well – we love, love, love Terraforce!“
Katherine James

