Retaining Walls

Building Retaining Walls

Building retaining walls can be a rewarding experience though there is a bit of learning involved first. Even if you are going to hire a contractor for building your retaining walls, you will want to make sure that you understand the purpose of a retaining wall, how it works and where and for what you will have your walls built. There is much involved in the design and many materials from which to choose that can alter the cost greatly.

When you are planning on building retaining walls, consider first why you are having them built. If they are for the garden, to delineate it from the rest of your back yard, and if there is basically flat land, then consider that when it is a far easier project. The other kind of retaining walls are for actually retaining soil, to prevent erosion of slopes, so that you keep your yard from falling off of a cliff, as an extreme example.

When the wall is retaining soil, it needs somewhere for water to go. This is why there is drainage. Drainage is another aspect of building retaining walls that does factor into the cost, but is essential to having the retaining walls standing solidly for years to come. It is amazing to know that heavy duty products like concrete-blocks, natural stone wall, timbers and even interlocking wall block all can crumble and fall because of water.

The process involves knowing what kind of look you want, and what kind of building blocks you want when building retaining walls. There is stone, concrete, interlocking wall block and timbers. Each can complement the surrounding landscape and existing buildings. In addition to the look of the material, there are very different costs involved with each.

The Material Costs

A contractor will help you determine which materials are right for you, how tall you will be building retaining walls and will explain the process to you. Building with most traditional materials (not interlocking block systems) involves mortar to keep stones, concrete-blocks and bricks in place. Timbers are kept in place with iron bars the anchor them in place.

Stones can be particularly expensive because it takes time to take irregular materials (stones) and fit them together so that they interlock well enough to keep the wall standing tall and holding soil and water out. The concrete-block walls involve mortar as well. The only exception are building block systems that interlock rather than relying on mortar to keep them together. These blocks have a lip that avoids the need for mortar.

Contractors and Engineers

If you are building retaining walls higher than four feet tall, then you probably will need to hire an engineer to sign off on your project. The contractor will take care of this aspect of the project for you, though it is an additional aspect of the project for which you need to be aware. It is just a requirement for most codes. If you will be building retaining walls for a driveway, regardless of height of the walls, then you will most likely also need to hire an engineer to sign off on the project. The contractor will also take care of this too, though it is good to know so that you are not surprised when they mention an additional cost or step in the process.

Once you and your contractor and engineer have determined where you will be building retaining walls, how tall they will be and from what material, there are other things to consider. When the materials arrive, they will probably have them delivered near the site, so that they do not have to carry the materials far. The materials tend to be heavy.

They will have a trench dug, where building will happen. The drainage then goes in next. There is netting that will embrace the wall. They will put gravel and sand in to re-direct water around the wall. There will most likely be weep holes in your wall to drain out water also. Some contractors prefer to have drainage piping that takes the water away from the wall and drops it off at several points. The only drawback to piping is that it can clog, and it is not necessarily easy to fix.

Building retaining walls is an excellent project that can add to the beauty of your landscape. Building this kind of wall can also play a role to drain water, to prevent erosion of your property. When you are considering this kind of construction, make sure you find a great contractor who can build your wall so it holds up to years of use. The costs can vary greatly, and the time it takes to build from each different kind of wall material can also differ to different degrees.

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