If you live in a sloppy area, as a homeowner you will have to install a retaining wall in your yard. The cool thing is that it’s easy to do it as all you need to do is hire a retaining wall contractors to help you out.

Functions of retaining walls

The most common reason why most homeowners install a retaining wall is that they want to battle gravity, but there are many other reasons why you can install the unit. These other reasons include:

Provision of arable land: You can work with your contractor and install the retaining walls in such a way that you create terraces of usable land on the sloppy area. You can plant anything on the land from flowers to grass.

Manage water runoff: If you live close to a river or any other water body, you can protect your lawn and garden from the dirty runoff water by installing a retaining wall. For ideal results with the unit, install a fence that is water thirsty so that it can take up some of the excess water. You also should consider incorporating a rain garden in the design.

Extra seating: Depending on the location of the wall, you can use it as an additional seating area, especially when you are working in the yard.

When you need a retaining wall

While some homeowners can’t do without retaining walls, other homeowners don’t have to think about them. To help you out, here are situations when you may have to install the units:

You want to control soil erosion: If the water is carrying a lot of soil downhill, you should have a sitting with your masonry contractor and design a unit that will hold up the soil. To decrease soil erosion, the walls work by reducing the angle of the slope.

Your home is located from soil fault lines: To give you peace of mind that the soil uphill can’t flow downwards into your home and hurt you and your loved ones, you should install a retaining wall that will provide added stability.

The foundation is weak: Soil erosion tends to weaken a home’s foundation. If this is the case with your home, you should install a retaining wall that will hold the soil and also add more stability.

Conclusion

This is what you need to know about retaining walls. When installing the walls, work closely with a landscaping company that will help you in installing the unit at the right place.