Building the Right Water Retaining Walls

Most people that live near the beach, near levies or lakes should consider building water retaining walls around their homes. These walls are built in such a way so that the water flows away from the walls and away from the home, and wont cause water damage during a storm or an elevation of water levels.

When you plan on building water retaining walls, its probably a good idea you learn a little bit about how water retaining walls work and what you need to do to make sure they don’t move, shift and are efficient at doing their job.

Retaining walls are very dependent on the foundation of the entire construction.  The method you use to construct the retaining walls will depend on the area you live in. In some areas you can build the water retaining walls right on the ground, but in some areas you have to have a concrete footing installed first. For instance, if the ground you are building on moves easily or compacts easily, you need to install a footing to keep the retaining walls in place, and avoiding having them sink.

Drainage

No matter what type of water retaining wall you build, you need to think about drainage and some sort of drainage has to be installed preferably on the inside base of the wall. The kind you need depends on the soil of the area. For instance if the soil has a lot of water in it, it will be heavier than dry soil. You need to see which way the water moves as all water looks for an exit. When water saturates the soil it places lots of pressure on a retaining wall so you need make allowances for that.

You can use perforated drainage pipe that runs alongside the wall, this way the water that normally goes into the dirt will find the pipe and flow away from your water retaining walls. The idea is to help the water find a way out. When you do install a perforated drainage pipe, place crushed stone around the pipe. This way the pipe will not become clogged with more wet dirt, and keep the flow of water constant.