Natural Stone Retaining Walls

Retaining walls are usually built to prevent / control soil erosion, manage downfall of water or just for landscaping. Retaining walls can be made from different materials, like, natural stones, concrete blocks or boulders. Basically retaining walls are used for structural purposes, like, leveling or giving height to a slope, preserving the grade of soil around a tree or improving the outdoor landscape. There are various ideas for retaining walls, like, anchoring, gravity, cantilevered, soil nailing and many more. The article Types of Retaining Walls will guide you more on retaining walls.

Natural Stone Retaining Walls
Natural stone retaining walls give the outdoor landscape a natural, classic and timeless look. They are constructed from stones that are cut in proper shapes and are placed without using any adhesives to hold the stones together. The wall stands with the stones stacked upon each other in a specific pattern. This method is called the dry wall or dry stack stone retaining wall. Natural stones fit into any type of yard or garden. There is a wide variety of natural stones and hence they always make a better option for retaining walls. How to build a natural stone retaining wall is discussed below.

Building Stone Retaining Walls
Building a natural stone retaining wall is quite a laborious job and requires engineering skills. The wall requires a lot of time to build if the area to be covered is large. For larger walls , one should always hire a professional. You can follow the steps given below if you want to build a small natural stone retaining wall.

Step # 1: Before you start constructing a natural stone retaining wall, check out the local construction codes. Usually retaining walls of height 3 feet or less is allowed to be built. This is to ensure that you do not break any of the construction laws.

Step # 2: Figure out the area where you want to install the retaining wall. Then order the number of stones and other retaining wall materials required, by measuring the length, width and height of the area. Remember the width of the retaining wall should be half of its height and there is no use of any adhesives in this construction. As mentioned earlier the height of the retaining wall should be less than or equal to 3 feet.

Step # 3: Selection of stones to be used is an important job. Choose the stones that have two flat surfaces. These flat surfaces are used as base and top when placed in the wall. Use heavier stones for a good strength of retaining wall.

Step # 4: Once you have selected the stones and decided the area for your retaining wall, start digging the area. Dig the area in a trench form and see that the width of the trench is a bit more than the width of the stones or half the height of the wall. The depth of the trench should be about 10 inches, such that the first layer of the wall occupies this area. The trench area should be uniform in level.

Step # 5: Start laying the first layer of stones in the trench. This will act as the foundation of the natural stone retaining wall. Tap the stones with the help of a hammer to ensure that all the stones of first layer are at a uniform level. See that you use larger stones for this layer of the retaining wall.

Step # 6: Lay the remaining layers of stones to make a retaining wall. To maintain the stability of the natural stone retaining wall, it is necessary that the rows counter balance each other. Ensure that the stones interlock each other while placing them in rows. Check for the level after placing each stone. Continue the laying of the stones until you obtain the desired height.

Step # 7: Once you are done with the laying of all the rows of retaining wall stones, its time to fill the rear end of the wall with soil. Backfill is necessary to increase the strength of the natural stone retaining wall and it also provides safety. Level the backfill properly.

Retaining wall construction with natural stones can be DIY job with help from an expert. Natural stone retaining walls not only give an elegant and praiseworthy beauty to your outdoors but also helps you to deal with geographical conditions.