FOUNDATIONS AND RETAINING WALLS

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Get cost estimates for foundations and retaining walls from qualified contractors.

• Concrete Foundation - Install Install or replace vertical concrete structures.
• Concrete Foundation - Repair or Raise
• Foundation Drainage - Install or Replace Exterior drain pipes buried at base of foundation.
• Foundation or Basement - Waterproofing

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Retaining Walls

In days gone past retaining walls were built from flat stones or, in the case of large projects, interlocking timbers. The latter were made by building a log cabin-type box against the burden and then filling it with rocks for weight. This provided a two-action support where the rocks, acting from gravity, was a one-dimensional wall. However, after time timbers in the ground rotted away.

The invention of creosote immersion, the kind that was used for railway ties and telephone poles, added many years to the life of a timber retaining wall. Even today pressure-treated wood is used for making very sturdy support systems without the toxic leaching of the creosote.

Today, the most widely-used material for retaining walls is pre-cast, concrete blocks. The blocks segments are approximately 7 1/2" x 17 1/8" x 10 1/2" and they are stacked in courses in a dry-mounted brick fashion, each block alternating with the next.

The blocks have hollow centers to be filled with crushed rock or gravel. This makes it easy for water to pass through and adds weight to the wall. Water is the enemy of retaining walls as it adds a tremendous force like the water pressure behind a real dam The moisture filters through the crushed rock and is directed to a 4" perforated PVC pipe beside the first course of the wall.

To build this system is almost as easy as putting a child's building blocks together. The blocks are dry-stacked and then a 1" lip makes sure that the wall angles back an inch with every 7 1/2" rise. This helps alleviate the back-pressure from the ground on the top part of the wall. The addition of landscape fabric behind and over the gravel makes it easy to grow grass and flowers without the topsoil getting into the drainage system and clogging it up.