If you own a newer home. Chances are you live on a sloped piece of property. Either your property drops off from your home or you have a small mountain looming as soon as you look out. Every one is in need of some sort of outdoor flat space. The sod lawn for the kids to play on. A larger patio for enjoying the Pacific Northwest’s great late spring, summer and fall weather. Retaining walls are the answer for that flat space.
There are many types of retaining walls. The most popular are natural rock or boulders walls and segmented concrete units. Boulder walls usually take up a lot of lateral space. For a 3′ wall you can usually count on about 3-5′ of flat space taken up by the wall itself. Segmented concrete units will take up about 75% less space a they are built more vertically. Drainage is critical both both types of walls. A well designed drainage system is a must.
Another type of wall is a CMU block wall. This is a wall with a concrete subslab with parallel rebar, CMU units built up that are built with mortar and concrete filled. In many cases these types of walls are the same price range as a segmented concrete wall. You can install CMU that is textured on one side or face with cultured stone or natural stone. You may be surprised to learn that the cost of faced walls like CMU are not much more than top of the line segmented concrete unit walls. The best thing about these kind of wall is the ability to really hold back the soil and the fact that they can be built totally vertical. Two years ago we built a 12′ high CMU block wall, that held back the rear patio. Below the wall a sports court wall built. We won a distintion award from WALP in 2009 on that project.
Flat space in your back or front yard is a common theme we run into when we bid the landscaping for new homes, Builders forget that that 10by10 concrete patio really doesn’t cut it.
For your retaining wall needs in the Portland Metro area and Vancouver Clark County, give Woody’s a call. One half of our employees are certified for wall and paver patio and walkway construction.
www.woodyscustomlandscaping.com or 360-687-1882
