Ways a Retaining Wall Improves a Sloping Home Property

If your property is on a hillside, you may not be able to access all areas, which effectively reduces its usable dimensions. Sloping gardens can offer other challenges as well. However, many of these can be overcome by constructing a retaining wall. Here are several ways one of these structures will improve your place.

Healthier Garden

The soil will be healthier if you level out your garden into tiers with the help of retaining walls. The problem with hills is that the rain flows downwards and doesn't have a chance to soak into the ground. Thus, the soil on the slope is often dry and undernourished, while the earth at the bottom of the incline is waterlogged. Another problem is that the rain tends to drag off the nutritious topsoil. If you construct tiers of flat ground, the rain will have a chance to soak in where it falls.

Protect Buildings

Boggy, rain-soaked soil at the bottom of a hill can also threaten the foundations of nearby buildings. A house or shed often sits on a concrete slab in the earth. This foundation is only as stable as the soil it rests upon. If the ground is waterlogged, the concrete slab can become unstable and uneven, which can cause structural issues for buildings. Whether this is relevant to your home depends on the placement of the house on the property. If it's situated at the bottom, it could experience problems. Even if your dwelling is safe, other structures such as the fence line might be at risk of needing expensive repairs.

Decorative

Retaining walls are also decorative, and they add visual appeal to a garden. You can choose from materials such as stone, brick, concrete blocks and timber railway sleepers. Concrete is a highly versatile material, and it can be treated with colour and texture to mimic many natural substances. For example, concrete can emulate sandstone blocks and wood planks. You can also construct a rustic wall with boulders. If you want to create a fascinating industrial look on your property, why not build a gabion wall? These structures consist of wire cages filled with rocks.

You can also be creative with the wall contour, building a straight-line wall or a perfect circle. You can give the wall a sense of ebb and flow by winding it naturally across the property. The builders will enlist the help of a structural engineer who'll assess the wall and how much soil it can restrain. Thus, you can be assured that it's safe.

For more information on a retaining wall, contact a company near you.


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