Seattle Retaining Walls
Here at Salmon Bay Landscaping we pride ourselves on our ability to design and install all types of segmental retaining walls. We specialize in creating functional yet beautiful walls for outdoor living spaces or areas that are in need of superior slope stabilization.
A Little Background On Seattle Retaining Walls…
Seattle retaining walls are the largest area of commercial and civic retaining walls in the United States. They are made in order to prevent landslides and erosion. They have to be sturdy in order to do their job of redistributing lateral pressure caused by sloping. Seattle retaining walls are very important to keeping the soil running over into the streets and homes in Seattle.
Seattle retaining walls keep Seattle from eroding. These concrete barriers hold the ground in place. They can hold water, dirt, sand, rocks, and all other ground materials that may become displaced. There are around 600 Seattle retaining walls that SDOT maintains. Most of the public walls are around 6 feet tall.
Making The Retaining Walls Last
The Roadway Structures Division of SDOT keeps a program going that inspects and maintains the retaining walls that deteriorate or that are damaged by floods, landslides, and other natural disasters. Every ten years retaining walls are inspected.
If these walls are maintained regularly they can last for a few decades. They are very necessary in Seattle because there are so many hills located there. Seattle also gets a lot of heavy rain and landslides in many parts. They have to protect streets and public buildings from any erosion. Having retaining walls is a huge demand in the Seattle area.
On average 1 to 3 large retaining walls are built each year in Seattle that falls under SDOT jurisdiction. These walls are usually built by developers and then turned over for maintenance to SDOT. This number of walls built each year can increase if their is more of a need for them. If there are a lot of landslides in any particular year then a lot more retaining walls will be built.
What Homeowners Do With Seattle Retaining Walls?
Homeowners often place Seattle retaining walls in their yards to create level space for recreation and outdoor living. These walls can be beautiful if built correctly. They will hold back soil from the home. Seattle retaining walls are usually more than 3 feet tall. The wall in your basement is also a type of retaining wall. The Seattle Residential Code allows you to build a retaining wall of up to 4 feet high if you don’t have a building permit.
There are different kinds of Seattle retaining walls. You have anchored walls, cantilevered walls, gravity walls, and many more different kinds of walls that are used to prevent erosion. These walls are also made of different materials such as bricks, stones, concrete, wood, vinyl, metal, and any thing else that can be used.
What’s The Best Material For Building A Retaining Wall?
It is probably best to have a wall built out of stones. Building Seattle retaining walls out of stones is the cheapest way to have a retaining wall built. You don’t have to pay extra money to have it placed on a foundation like you would a concrete wall or any other kind of wall. They also look more natural adding to the natural beauty of your landscape.
You also don’t have to worry about taking the whole wall down and rebuilding it when it gets a crack in it. If some of the stones fall out or break then you can just add some more. This is not the case if you have a concrete wall. You will most likely have to rebuild the entire wall if it is concrete. Stone made Seattle retaining walls are far more environmentally friendly as well.
Seattle retaining walls will always be a necessity. Call Salmon Bay Landscaping today for a free design consultation and estimate for your retaining wall and to find out more information about Seattle retaining walls.
No comments yet. You should be kind and add one!
The comments are closed.