Retaining Walls & Drainage: What Most Crews Skip

Nearly every failed retaining wall we're called to replace failed for the same reason: water had nowhere to go.

Soil behind a wall gets heavy when saturated, and that hydrostatic pressure is what pushes blocks out of alignment. The fix is drainage aggregate behind the wall face plus a perforated drain pipe daylighted to a safe outlet.

Base preparation is the second half of the equation. A leveling pad of compacted crushed stone, set below grade, keeps the first course dead level — and the first course determines every course above it.

Taller walls need geogrid reinforcement tied back into the retained soil at specified intervals. This is the step most commonly skipped because it's buried and invisible on the finished job.

Done properly, a segmental wall is a permanent piece of infrastructure that adds usable, level yard space — and it can be finished with caps, seat walls and lighting to look like it was always there.