5 Tips to Build a Strong Retaining Wall – Camosse Masonry Supply

Creating a retaining wall is not only aesthetically pleasing and can add great curb appeal to your home, but it also helps keep your landscape orderly and preserved. The retaining wall allows roots and soil to stay in place, even during harsh rains or extreme exposure to moisture.

Retaining walls can come in various designs, using different materials. Moneypit.com has 5 important tips you should keep in mind when building your retaining wall.

A well-built retaining wall has many benefits: structures are protected from soil eroding either away from or toward their foundations, the integrity and features of the landscape are preserved, and new outdoor rooms for leisure and recreation are created.

The style, materials and construction you choose for building aretaining wallwill depend on the terrain youre dealing with, but the basic ingredients and considerations stand solid across most types of retaining walls.

Heres where to begin:

Scale.The higher and broader theretaining wall, the more complex the construction and planning of the retaining wall will be, so consider hiring a pro to help with anything over three feet set in a complicated soil situation. The retaining walls cap-to-foundation dimensions will also depend on the climate you live in. Frost is one element that has a real knack for making retaining walls buckle and pop, so if your retaining wall will experience harsh winters, youll need to excavate and anchor the retaining wall well past the typical point of underground freezing.

Codes.If youre building a retaining wall project on your own, do some research before you start digging. Local building codes may require permits and other documentation for any structure over a yard tall, and some pretty important utility lines could be running right through your retaining wall project area. So be sure to get your retaining wall plans approved and the utilities literally staked out.

Materials.Several retaining wall material options are available to you and your property, depending on the considerations above.

Reinforcement.Any retaining wall you build should lean into the earth its retaining at the rate of one inch for every foot of height. The retaining wall should be further reinforced and stabilized by ties and anchors that reach deep into the earth behind the wall, the style and size of which will vary according to wall materials used. A timber retaining wall over four feet high, for example, calls for 6-foot-long, T-shaped anchors for excellent reinforcement; other systems have anchors integrated into their construction.

Draininage.When building a retaining wall, proper drainage around the retaining wall keeps soil and sediment from clogging up the works and allows water to escape in such a way that the retaining walls integrity remains intact. Start by lining the cavity behind the wall with landscape fabric, and replace part of the native soil youve removed with gravel. Then lay in a system of perforated PVC pipe, and cover with well-tamped gravel and topsoil. This method will keep your retaining wall properly drained.

While a DIY project might save you some labor costs, it is important to seek professional help. If not done properly, a retaining wall can fail during harsh rains and cause damage to your landscape.Hiring professional masonry services will help to ensure that your retaining wall is installed successfully.

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5 Tips to Build a Strong Retaining Wall - Camosse Masonry Supply