Retaining Walls for Fancy Backyard Look

Well-planned backyards are a source of pride. Those with enough space love to have kitchen gardens or landscaped areas. Many may opt for raised gardens in the backyard. Whatever be the use, retaining walls can add a lot of charm to the backyard.

It is a-must -need if the backyard is thought to become a raised garden. It will prevent erosion and also give the backyard a fancy look.

Fancy Backyard LookRetaining walls are especially required when the backyard is sloped and pretty much of no practical use. A well-built retaining wall will not just look good but also create flat surfaces to be used as desired. This works when the slope is no more than 3’, but if it is bigger, multiple walls can be built to create terraced levels in the yard.

A wide range of materials are used to build retaining walls. They can be built of wood, old railway ties, concrete blocks, natural stone and others. If you were looking at a DIY project, pre cast concrete stones would be a good option.

These fabricated stones are made with interlocking lips at the backside to keep the blocks tightly together. The lip on one block will hold the block over it tightly.

They are also suitable for curved walls but they fall into the hard category, as they require digging a trench and carrying heavy stones. Still the task fits well within the skill sets of a DIY person.

Retaining walls can be built using different techniques. There are three basic styles of retaining walls: dry-stacked, battered and concrete block.

Dry stacked retaining walls do not use mortar. They are built using natural or fabricated stones. When using natural stones, a professional job would be preferred to make a strong wall. Fabricated stones are easy to use and are the preferred choice for a do-it-yourself project.

Battered or stepped retaining wall adds a lot of charm to the backyard and looks great no matter where you put it. The stepped retaining wall is built with stacked blocks, each row a little stepped back from the previous one.

The slope follows the thumb rule of an inch for a foot’s height of the wall. This looks especially good with natural stones but will need a professional job.

Definitely not the prettiest to look at, the concrete block retaining walls are made with hollow cinder blocks. They are put together on a poured concrete base. The reinforcement bars embedded in the base extend to the complete height of the wall. The blocks are cemented in place with the filled in concrete.

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