Retaining Walls Glastonbury

Do Retaining Walls Require A Permit In Glastonbury, CT?

In most of Hartford County (your municipality could be different) retaining walls that are under 3 feet in height generally do not require permits or design plans.  There are some specifics that may or may not apply to your situation.  If retaining walls are 3 feet in height or over than a permit is generally required.  Any retaining walls over 6 feet in height will require a permit and additionally an engineered design to ensure the structure is sound.  This information does not account for any covenants that might be on your property.

When we view your property we’ll be able to let you know any specific building codes that might apply to your circumstance depending on the height/length of your wall and what it’s specifically being installed for and whatever surcharges (weight) might be applied to the soil above and behind the wall.

Proper Drainage For Glastonbury Retaining Walls

We are often contacted by potential customers who have an existing retaining wall that has failed, it’s either falling down, bulging, or collapsing.  One of the most common reasons for retaining wall failure is that the original wall was built with poor drainage in place.

Retaining walls are designed to hold back earth from erosion.  This also makes them excellent at holding back water too.  The water that builds up behind a retaining wall is referred to in the industry as “hydrostatic pressure” and the external force of the soil or fill held behind your retaining wall coupled with the weight of the water held behind it is often enough to seriously compromise the integrity of your wall which can lead to failures such as bulging and even a total collapse.

Well-built retaining walls must incorporate good drainage if it’s going to last for many years.  Depending on the type of material being used to build your retaining wall there are a variety of ways to integrate sufficient drainage such as lateral drains, french drains, weeping drains, blanket drains and also the use of very granular soil or fill behind the wall can also work to disperse rather than hold the water.

Understanding What A Retaining Wall Surcharge Is And How It Affects Your Wall

Retaining wall surcharges are very important to understand as they affect the planning and actual construction of your wall.  A "surcharge" is the weight that is immediately on top of or behind the wall.  For example, if you're building a retaining wall to create a new parking area we need to consider the weight of what will be parked there and it's force on the retaining wall.

If your wall is going to have a surcharge, we need to know about it so the wall can be built to last.  This would also apply to tiered retaining walls or retaining walls with a fence on top or any other weight other than the earth behind it.

Geo-grid is often used to provide extra tensile strength to each course of your retaining wall so it's anchored into the ground behind it.  Proper use of geo-grid will ensure that your retaining wall will be built to last and won't collapse or buckle under the excess weight.

Failure to properly stabilize retaining walls is one of the most common failures we see in the field.

What Materials Do We Use For Retaining Walls In Glastonbury?

There are many different materials that we can build your retaining wall out of on your Glastonbury property.  Below are some of the more popular materials in our area because of their availability.

• Block retaining walls (Belgard, Techo-Bloc and Unilock)
• Natural stone retaining walls (drystack or boulder)
• Large boulder retaining walls (sourced from local quarries)

How Our Retaining Wall Construction Process Works

When building a retaining wall on your Glastonbury property that is designed to hold back soil and earth from erosion there is very little margin for error.  When required we work directly with engineers if your wall is over 6 feet in height.

There are many pre-engineered systems we can use as well that can eliminate the need for detailed building plans.

1. We start with our initial consultation.
2. We determine how many feet of retaining wall you need.
3. We determine the height of the wall and if a building permit or engineer will be required.
4. We take into account any surcharges (weight) the wall might be exposed to.
5. We consult with you on the materials you’d like your retaining built with.
6. We’ll provide you with an accurate written estimate for the work.

The amount of work required to build a retaining wall can vary widely from project to project.  The slope of your property, the amount of earth your retaining wall must hold back and the overall accessibility of your property will all contribute to the final cost.  We’ll be able to offer you an accurate estimate only after a site visit.