Merrillville Indiana Retaining Walls for Wet Yards

A low wall holds soil and water off the house when a Merrillville yard has settled toward the foundation. Retaining Walls in Merrillville do that work on lots that look flat until you watch where the water goes. After a thaw or a hard rain, the wet line shows along the foundation. So people call us with one problem. Water from the yard is running at the house, and they want that water moved.

A lot of Merrillville, Indiana lots don’t shed water on their own. When that built slope settles a few inches, meltwater and stormwater run at the basement or the slab. We’ve walked yards where the lawn looked level and the soil at the house stayed soft into spring. Because the old slope has dropped, the patio takes the same water. Then the slab edge stays dark and the joint filler works loose. People have called from ranch houses and split-levels where the original grade had years to settle.

Retaining Walls in Merrillville Hold the Yard Back

We cut a straight line in the slope and pour a low concrete wall. The lawn soil stays up on the yard side. We reshape the house side so water moves off the foundation and the patio. When water behind the wall has no exit, that soil stays wet and pushes on the concrete. So we place stone that drains behind the wall and we give that water a way out. A weep hole or a short drain is part of the pour from the start.

People call after mulch has washed onto the walk. We’ve pulled soil back from sliding doors where the yard had crept down. For example, a patio that sat a step below the lawn can settle until it sits lower. After that, rain runs at the house. We set the wall high enough to hold the lawn. We leave a mowing strip along the top. Our photo gallery shows similar grade breaks.

Grade Checks Before Retaining Walls in Merrillville

Before we form anything, we read the grade with a level and we watch where the downspouts land. A wall leaves a downspout problem in place if that spout still dumps at the foundation. So we move that water first, with an extension that carries it past the new grade break. Then we mark the wall line so it holds soil and still leaves room to walk. When the old slab is broken along that edge, we talk through a tear out and replace.

We can replace that broken section while we are already on the yard. A service walk that has cupped from the wet ground can join the same plan. But it has to sit on the water path for us to pull it in. Retaining Walls in Merrillville often land where an upper walk meets the patio. That walk has to pitch away from the house too.

We source the mix and the stone so we know what is going in the ground. Our staff have a wealth of experience in this kind of grade work. You can read about us for how the crew is set up. They will say so if a wall is the wrong fix. Some yards need fill and a swale along with the wall.

Patio Edges and Retaining Walls in Merrillville

On pour day we set forms to the line we marked. We check the fall again before the concrete goes in. After the wall is up, we put the yard soil back in layers. That keeps the soil from slumping on the new concrete. Then we shape the low side so water can reach the side yard or a drain. The ground freezes here in winter, so we keep standing water off the foundation.

The same visit can cover residential concrete tied to that grade. That includes a short concrete replacement at the patio edge. That work sits with the rest of our retaining walls work. We add that concrete when the water path runs past the wall. Cabe’s Concrete is family owned and operated, and we’ve been at this since our doors opened in 2006. We will work with you on the height and the line. We leave the forms on until the concrete can hold the soil we put back.