Building a dry stacked block retaining wall on a concrete footer

[wildcherries]

I am planning to build a tall, fully grouted split face CMU retaining wall and I could use some honest opinions on my method. I am leaning toward plain gray split-face, but if I ever decide to change my mind later, has anyone here had any experience trying to use an acid stain to get a darker color on split-face block?

The wall will be anywhere from four to eight feet tall, lean back a bit, and include all the proper stuff like geogrid for reinforcement and rebar connecting it to a strong concrete footing. I want to lay the first course in mortar, but then I planned to dry stack the rest of the blocks before I pour the grout in all the cells. I am worried that stacking the blocks dry on top of each other will create tiny pressure points, especially near the bottom of the wall, and this might cause the lower blocks to crack later. I thought about trying to put a tiny, cushioning bead of something, maybe mortar from a caulk gun or some kind of construction adhesive, between the blocks to prevent those pressure points without creating a visible mortar joint.

 

[ChicagoDogz]

@wildcherries You're on the right track with a thin cushion, but forget the caulk gun. For tall, structural walls, the best compromise is often a technique called buttering the webs.
You lay the first course in a full bed of mortar, and then on the subsequent courses, you put a small amount of mortar on the block's cross webs before stacking.
This gives you that essential cushioned, continuous load transfer without creating a visible joint on the face.

 

[El VMX]

Afaik, the best option is to keep mortar between courses rather than dry stacking. Mortar helps spread the weight so the bottom blocks are less likely to crack. After the grout fills the cells the wall will be strong, but even a thin mortar joint gives some cushion and keeps the blocks lined up better than glue. If you want a tighter look, you might want to try building a small test section first to see how the blocks sit before doing the whole wall. Good luck!