As the name implies, retaining walls are walls that hold or contain soil and are made from materials that range from rock and block to timber, concrete, and boulders, and while each has varying life spans, all materials used to build a retaining wall are reliable and capable at retaining the weight that large sums of soil can be but what is a retaining wall, and how are they used and made? Let us take a closer glance.
Retaining walls hold back and retain soil, and given the pressure applied to them by soil, knowledge, and experience, is good to have when building a retaining wall as even well-made ones can suffer over time if it does not have an adequate drainage system in place that can keep the water pressure at low levels.
How is a Retaining Wall Used?
Retaining walls are highly popular in commercial and residential landscaping as they not only let you add beautiful and stylized stonework but let you transform your yard or landscape into tiers around gardens and flowerbeds, and they protect your yard by keeping rain flow water out, which prevents soil erosion.
Often used in places where more support is needed to prevent dirt or soil from moving downhill due to erosion, retaining walls battle gravity as their lateral force offsets the slope on which it is built, and from adding more usable land and seating to managing rain flow into yards, there are many perks of adding a retaining wall to a yard or garden.
Types of Retaining Walls
Knowing the types of retaining walls will help you pick the best one for your goals, here are the options:
Gravity Retaining Wall
As the most basic of the four options, gravity retaining walls rely on mass and weight to keep soil at bay, and since they are weight-based solutions, there is a wide range of materials to pick from when building a gravity retaining wall for your yard, and it is one of the most affordable retaining walls you can build.
Ranging from bricks to pavers to unmortared and dry-stacked stone (a popular choice), there are tons of materials you can pick for your retaining wall, but keep in mind, while a short-length wall may not need added reinforcement, it may need a small trench for it to be dug into and a concrete footer to support it.
Cantilevered Retaining Wall
Also known as a reinforced retaining wall (due to steel bars that pass through the concrete or masonry retaining wall), cantilevered retaining walls are affixed to an L-shaped slab and foundation that is placed under the soil it supports, this is done as the weight and pressure of the soil keeps the slab in place and prevents the wall from tipping forward.
This style of wall is favored in commercial projects for its strength and resilience, and some buttressed and counter-fort retaining walls have added vertical wings that give even more strength and rigidness to the foundation, consider building a cantilevered retaining wall for a strong solution you can depend on.
Sheet Piling Retaining Wall
A basic but space-effective option, sheet piling retaining walls are thin, often used when spacing is an issue, and are made of steel, vinyl, or wood that is directly driven into the soil, they often have vertical, corrugated structures (for added reinforcement) and work best in softer soils.
If you opt for this option and choose to build a sheet piling retaining wall, be sure to have a third of the sheet piling in the ground for every two-thirds that are above it, and keep in mind, if you build a larger wall, it may need added anchoring, in which case, consider an anchored retaining wall (covered below).
Anchored Retaining Wall
Anchored retaining walls support a range of retaining wall fronts that get support from anchors that are driven into the ground and attached using strips or cables, these anchors are often put into the ground using mechanical force with their ends often expanded using machinery and pressurized concrete.
As a good option for giving added support to any of the walls shared in this guide, anchored retaining walls are reliable but are often used for thin walls or for walls that need to support large loads of weight.
Reasons to Use a Retaining Wall
There are many reasons to use a retaining wall, you may need to if:
You need a reliable way to control downhill erosion, if tons of erosion materials are clogging essential areas of your property, adding a retaining wall will help you reduce erosion as it will decrease the angle of the slope and as a result, can more effectively hold and retain soil.
Your home is near soil fault lines, any qualified landscape contractor will tell you erosion can threaten your home under the right conditions even if it has yet to as, in an earthquake, land can slide away from its fault line and cause damage, though a retaining wall can minimize damage and give peace of mind.
Your foundation is at risk due to a sliding hill, erosion no doubt threatens the foundation of your home, and if the soil around your foundation is slowly washing away, or if erosion due to a slope is compacting an uphill foundation, adding a retaining wall will help and is one of the best solutions you can deploy.
No matter the wall or design you pick, it is best to hire an experienced engineer or landscaper to ensure your wall does not break and become a catastrophe as ones that are poorly made can swiftly break and unleash a flood of mud and stone, and given the fact they contribute to the stability and foundation of your home, never take short cuts and hire a professional if you can.
If you came here asking what is a retaining wall, we are glad to have given you the insight you need to know what they are so you can set one for your yard and landscaping goals, we wish your yard the best!
