When it comes to retaining walls, homeowners often picture a decorative feature that adds curb appeal to their historic brick homes. While retaining walls do contribute to a property's overall aesthetic, their primary purpose is usually structural. They play a crucial role in supporting the earth behind them, maintaining the stability of your yard and protecting your home from issues like soil erosion and water damage. Understanding the importance of retaining walls and their construction can help safeguard your property while maintaining the aesthetic you desire.
The Structural Role of Retaining Walls
Retaining walls are built to hold back soil that would otherwise shift and erode. This is particularly important on properties with uneven or sloping landscapes. Soil’s natural inclination is to move downhill due to gravity – a phenomenon described by the angle of repose. This angle of repose is the steepest angle at which a material, such as soil, can remain stable without sliding. When this angle is exceeded, retaining walls become essential to prevent landslides or erosion.
By supporting the earth behind them, retaining walls protect your home's foundation, prevent erosion of landscaped areas, and manage the water flow in your yard. Without them, the soil can shift, leading to drainage problems, foundation cracks and other costly damage.
Importance of Proper Drainage
Ensuring proper drainage is one of the most critical elements in building or reconstructing a retaining wall. Water is a powerful force, and when trapped behind a retaining wall, it can exert extreme pressure on the structure. Without an appropriate drainage system in place, this water buildup, known as hydrostatic pressure, can cause the wall to bulge, crack or even collapse.
Despite this need to ensure proper drainage, many homeowners focus on aesthetic improvements. While repairs like tuckpointing are essential to aesthetics and longevity, addressing the need for proper drainage if you’re constructing or rebuilding a retaining wall is vital. Adding or repairing drainage systems, such as weep holes, gravel backfill, and perforated pipes, allows water to escape, ensuring the wall functions correctly and extending its lifespan.
Common Materials for Retaining Walls
When building or restoring a retaining wall, it’s important to choose materials that fit the wall's structural needs and blend with the surrounding architecture. In Washington, D.C.’s historic neighborhoods, brick homes often have retaining walls built from brick or stone in the front, but sometimes you find other types of masonry, like concrete blocks, in other areas of the property.
Matching the retaining wall's materials and design to the home's style is key to maintaining a stable property, as well as a visually pleasing landscape. Using brick will ensure the wall doesn’t look out of place in a neighborhood, but if stone is the predominant material in your area, it’s worth investigating if it is the right material for your needs.
In some cases, regulations or guidelines may dictate the types of materials and methods you can use when building or restoring retaining walls. Consulting with an expert who specializes in historic brick homes can help ensure your project fits seamlessly into the neighborhood, remains compliant with regulations, and looks great for decades to come.
If repairing or rebuilding the retaining wall on your historic property is on your to-do list, call Renaissance Development to arrange an appointment. Ask about our special Fall Promotion on tuckpointing services. We are experts in traditional tuckpointing methods for historic brick homes in the DC area.
