Why You Should Consider A Residential Retaining Wall

A retaining wall is a specially designed structure that holds soil on one side and is free-standing on the other. They help to accommodate changes in grade in a landscape with uneven topography. These walls often allow steeper cuts to a slope to yield more usable space on a cut-and-fill hillside lot. Hard-working retaining walls can be key to creating a level sports lawn or driveway too.

Pro Tip: Walls are a long term investment. You can change planting every ten years, but walls are forever.”

Retaining walls are also used on level ground to raise living spaces above the surrounding ground plain. A well designed retaining wall can elevate planting areas for improved drainage while at the same time creating a seat wall. There is no end to the benefits of these heavy barriers, but they can be costly and must be strictly constructed to prevent failure.

Retaining walls carry incredible loads

What makes retaining walls so challenging is their strength, which is best illustrated by the incredible loads they carry, known as lateral earth pressure. This is created by more than just the weight of soil. Water behind the wall causes a buildup of hydrostatic pressure which is the reason for most wall failures. Only through adequately designed drainage structures and waterproofing can the best-designed wall survive over time.

Retaining walls are divided into two types divided by their height. Walls under four feet are designed and built by your contractor or per a landscape architect’s drawing. Retaining walls over four feet require much larger footings due to the increased lateral earth pressure. It must be designed by an engineer who will specify the size and extent of footings and the amount of steel reinforcement required according to strict loading calculations.

Concrete block retaining wall systems.

Building permits often require these structural calculations due to the damage caused by retaining wall failures. This not only destroys your investment, but it can also cause significant damage to people and property, which puts the homeowner at serious liability. This is particularly important where slopes are unstable and the climate suffers periods of heavy rains that can lead to supersaturated soils.

The time tested veneer wall is the landscape architect’s choice for high-end landscaping. With its functional concrete masonry unit (CMU) core, there is no end to the options for swanky stone or brick veneer. This choice offers the designer unlimited options for making each retaining wall unique to a home site and allowing it to lend style to outdoor living spaces.

Retaining walls are a powerful structure that must function as designed

Always remember that however beautiful these residential retaining walls may ultimately be, they are a powerful structure that must function as designed. This can only happen when they are composed of the proper materials and constructed by quality contractors. Get these things right and you’ll be able to count on your financial investment maintaining both beauty and integrity for many decades to come. For more information  check out other articles we have shared on retaining walls.

In addition to landscape design, hardscaping and artificial turf, we also do conventional seeding and are suppliers of landscape supply products. We sell all types of turfgrass seed, native grass seed and low maintenance grass seed products.

Our professional Trusted Regina hydroseeding and landscaping team offers innovative re-vegetation, grass seeding, dust control, reclamation, landscaping and erosion control solutions and hydroseeding for all types of residential, commercial, government, industrial and oilfield projects.