Best retaining wall installation pros near Paris, ID

To maintain the integrity of your landscape, a retaining wall must be installed if the slope of the angle exceeds 35 degrees. The lean of the wall must be 1 inch per 12 inches in height to disperse the weight of the soil uniformly and guarantee the correct drainage of the soil.

Generally, a railroad tie retaining wall consisting of a single line of ties should be between 3 and 4 feet tall—and the height often tops out at around 6 feet. You can go taller, but you may need additional footings and reinforcements, including a second layer of railroad ties to support the added weight of the soil it’s holding back.

The lifespan of a retaining wall varies based on its material, installation quality, maintenance, and local climate, with an average range of 20 to 100 years. Retaining walls made from durable materials like concrete, stone, and brick generally last a minimum of 50 years. Concrete walls typically last between 50 and 100 years, while brick can last for over a century in ideal conditions. Timber retaining walls can last from 20 to 40 years, depending on the wood quality, and pressure-treated wood walls average around 30 years. It is important to note that a retaining wall can fail prematurely if it was poorly constructed, for example, with inefficient footings or without necessary rebar reinforcements.

Small retaining walls still require a foundation of some kind, typically a concrete footing. This helps to ensure the wall is structurally sound and prevents the ground from shifting over time, especially during those winter freeze/thaw cycles. The footing helps spread the weight of the wall and the load it carries over a larger area of the ground, thus assisting with stability. This is true of small retaining walls, larger rock garden walls, and the like.