Here Is How a Retaining Wall Can Be Both Functional and Attractive in Sunbury and Westerville, OH
Sometimes even the most beautiful and interesting landscapes can present a challenge when converting parts of them into an outdoor living space. The addition of a retaining wall can transform a landscape into a more usable space - surprisingly, even if your landscape is perfectly flat. Here is how a retaining wall can be both functional and attractive in Sunbury and Westerville, OH.
Related: THE 5 POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF A NEW RETAINING WALL IN POWELL AND WESTERVILLE, OH
Supporting the Landscape
A retaining wall will provide crucial support for any sloped landscape. It helps to prevent erosion and can divert water away from the home and outdoor living spaces. While most retaining walls are built without special engineering to a height of 4 feet, steeper slopes may need a taller wall (which requires engineering) and/or a series of terraces.
Placing a retaining wall on the upslope side of a driveway will help prevent water and debris from flowing across the pavement.
Showing Off the Beauty of Masonry
Masonry work has helped to make landscapes more beautiful for thousands of years. Features such as retaining walls, patios, walkways, outdoor kitchens, fire features, water features, and pillars are just some of the ways that masonry can be used to add beauty and practicality to the landscape. There’s an amazing opportunity for creative expression and to showcase the beauty of a masonry wall, whether a retaining wall uses stone blocks (the traditional method) or concrete blocks faced with a natural or manufactured stone veneer.
As a side note, rustic dry-stacked (mortarless) retaining walls aren’t true retaining walls since they’re not designed to withstand the pressures of soil, or even people sitting on them. Dry-stack walls should be used for decorative purposes only. You can, however, achieve the look by using thin flagstone set close together, and recessing the mortar to make it virtually invisible.
Facilitating Outdoor Living
When supporting a slope, a retaining wall will create new, level land that is usable for outdoor living.
The vertical plane of your retaining wall will not only show off the masonry beauty of the wall itself, but it can also provide a structure for various features including outdoor lighting fixtures embedded into the masonry; integrated seating; the back of an outdoor kitchen; a water feature; and the back of an outdoor fireplace.
Embedding outdoor lighting into the wall makes for a cleaner and less cluttered space while showing off the masonry. Stone seating can be integrated into a wall, creating a cozy space especially in front of a fire pit. Integrating the outdoor kitchen and/or outdoor fireplace into the wall creates a very comfortable indoor-like setting. And incorporating a water feature into the wall adds beauty and makes the wall an obviously intentional part of the space.
By installing a retaining wall, you can expand your patio, add a hot tub, add some raised masonry planters, or build a better driveway. With all the new space in your landscape, you’ll be inspired to add even more!
And what about flat properties? While a retaining wall won’t have the structural duties of holding back soil, a seat-height wall has many uses. It can be used to create definition of space, such as at the outer corners of your patio. It can be used along a front entry walkway to add elegance. And, it can be used along a driveway to give your home an estate feel.
Related: RETAINING WALL OR FENCING: WHICH STRUCTURE WORKS BEST FOR PRIVACY IN A POWELL, OH, BACKYARD?