Not sure whether I would build a "wall" against the house or not. Have you looked into putting stone on the concrete part of the wall? Same effect, but it won't rely on the ground to hold it up, since it will be stuck to the wall.

Like this:

 

Did you put lots of gravel behind that wall so water will not be trapped up there.
Keep the top of the dirt and wall 6" away from the siding vertically and horizontally

 

Yes. Lots of sandy gravel behind the blocks, and I'll keep almost 12in below the siding, in my case. The good news is, our soil here in western Washington is extremely sandy, and permeates quite well. I see no reason not to backfill against the concrete, since the rest of the basement is backfilled already. I would assume the most important thing is to seal the concrete and add a plastic moisture barrier. Isn't that a common thing to do?

 

Yes. Lots of sandy gravel behind the blocks, and keep 12in below the siding. The good news is, our soil here in western Washington is extremely sandy, and permeates quite well. I see no reason not to backfill against the concrete, since the rest of the basement is backfilled already. I would assume the most important thing is to seal the concrete and add a plastic moisture barrier. Isn't that a common thing to do?

When you damp poof the concrete look for the ties that when thru to hold the forms.
They put some kind of caulk over them before doing the black stuff.
This is the normal here and hardest to find, they get broke off just back of the surface of the concrete.

There are many types.

 

Yes, mine were tons of the nail head type with like a flat washer on the surface holding the plywood form in place. The nails are still sticking out everywhere. I was going to just cut them off with my angle grinder, and paint a thick layer of liquid rubber over them. I was thinking of using this stuff.

Liquid Rubber Concrete Foundation and Basement Sealant - Indoor & Outdoor Waterproof Coating, Easy to Apply, Black, 1 Gallon - Amazon.com

Liquid Rubber Concrete Foundation and Basement Sealant - Indoor & Outdoor Waterproof Coating, Easy to Apply, Black, 1 Gallon - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

Yes, mine were tons of the nail head type with like a flat washer on the surface holding the plywood form in place. The nails are still sticking out everywhere. I was going to just cut them off with my angle grinder, and paint a thick layer of liquid rubber over them. I was thinking of using this stuff.

Liquid Rubber Concrete Foundation and Basement Sealant - Indoor & Outdoor Waterproof Coating, Easy to Apply, Black, 1 Gallon - Amazon.com

Liquid Rubber Concrete Foundation and Basement Sealant - Indoor & Outdoor Waterproof Coating, Easy to Apply, Black, 1 Gallon - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

The nails stick out was for when you intend to leave the wood in place to cover it with siding.
Or the rebar in the wall was hung from nails.
The ones you want to find are the ties that go right thru, if they rust they allow water to go right thru to the inside.
You don't need this inside.

 

My whole basement was full of those nail heads sticking out. I had to cut them all off and Drylok all the concrete walls for when I finished the basement. The same things are on the outside as well. I thought these were for the plywood forms they used. I'm currently using some of these for the ladder outside hanging on the wall. I don't see any of those other ties sticking out anywhere. If I do happen to find some, I will cover them with caulk.

So, shouldn't I cut these off and cover over them with a thick layer of liquid rubber? Or maybe a blob of some silicon caulk first?

 

My whole basement was full of those nail heads sticking out. I had to cut them all off and Drylok all the concrete walls for when I finished the basement. The same things are on the outside as well. I thought these were for the plywood forms they used. I'm currently using some of these for the ladder outside hanging on the wall. I don't see any of those other ties sticking out anywhere. If I do happen to find some, I will cover them with caulk.

So, shouldn't I cut these off and cover over them with a thick layer of liquid rubber? Or maybe a blob of some silicon caulk first?

View attachment 749819

Those are not nails they are a type of tie and any that are going to be below ground level need to be sealed.

Tie Hole Sealer - YouTube

I have never had to deal with it myself but it should have been done when the forms were stripped. Only on the outside, if water gets to the inside nothing in there will stop it.
I think it will be different for each type of tie.
Tie Hole Sealer - YouTube

 

Got it. I'll cut them, and make sure they are all heavily sealed ahead of time.

 

I watched an episode of Ask this old house last weekend. This was a topic. On the show, the form ties were already flush w/the outside wall. They used hydraulic cement to cover the metal.

HTH...Don.

 

First, I'll start by masking off where I want my concrete sealant to be. Then, cut off all form ties, and cover with hydraulic cement.

 

Next, paint on a good 3 coats of liquid rubber concrete sealant.

 

Taped up my plastic moisture barrier, overlapping the existing barrier by at least 6 inches.

Levelled my first row with sand and some gravel underneath, and start building the first tier.

 

I asked the local pit about using gravel against the house. He said the pit run they gave me is so permeable with no clay, just sand and filled with rock, I won't need it. I also asked the guy who's been doing my landscaping who brought the material, and he agreed. Normally, you would think gravel is needed, but not really in this case. Especially since the rest of my entire foundation/basement doesn't have it. Just a buried corrugated black drain skirt is all, and never had a problem.
Anyway, here's the load of sandy pit run, after I stripped most dry sod off the surface, and finished the first tier. Prepped the next tier, but left two rows of blocks exposed to fill with garden soil.

 

Finished the second tier, and need a little more pit run to back fill and leave 2 rows exposed to fill with garden soil. Eventually I'll trim off the extra plastic. My walking path is raked and troughed to allow for run off to stay centered and prevent further problems with erosion. A load of gravel with some binder on that path will be the final touch.

 

If you look carefully, you'll see how my top tier where the car is parked is perfectly level. Luckily there's no water retention issues, because it's super hard pack with gravel, and it runs away from the house around the wall to the walking path. However, because the new tiers will be for gardening, and will contain a good 10" of garden soil, I wanted to build in a slight grade away from the house. Not that it makes a huge difference, but figured why not. Never hurts to cover an extra base. Because of the slight grade, the end of the wall is a little lower than the bottom layer of upper tier blocks. So, I added a couple of extra blocks to the end of the middle tier where it meets to the upper wall, to help prevent water from running over the edge of the wall and flooding that 2nd tier. I probably could have just used a chunk of lawn edging or something cheap, but I have plenty of extra blocks.