La Porte Indiana Retaining Walls for Shore Lots

A bad wall on a shore lot fails in plain view. The yard slumps toward the water. Mulch washes out. Steps tilt. We’ve pulled failed block on Pine Lake and Stone Lake lots. Soil pushed through a wall that had no drain behind it. Retaining Walls in La Porte start from that washout.

After a wet stretch, people call about a drop at the back of the lawn. The grass shows a crack along that drop. Then a section slides toward the lake. Because the lot sits on a slope, runoff carries soil downhill. We’ve seen timber walls rot at the ground line on older cottage lots. So the yard above them settles.

The flat yard is the strip between the house and the bank. When that strip loses soil, the usable lawn gets narrower. We’ve stood at that edge and felt the soil give under a boot.

Spring rain runs to the low corner, usually the path down to the water. After a hard rain, we’ve had to clear mud off the steps before we could see the old wall.

When Shore Lots Need Retaining Walls in La Porte

You need a wall where the yard meets a slope or the water. That line is where soil leaves the lot. When the drop is too tall for a planted bed to hold, the bank keeps sliding. For example, a walk down to a dock undercuts if the bank beside it moves. Then the walk cracks.

The drop shows up beside the steps more than in the middle of the yard. People call when a chair leg goes through the sod at that edge. We get those calls in spring and again after a wet fall. That is the spot we look at first.

Shore lots on Pine Lake and Stone Lake need a wall so the soil doesn’t wash out. We build that wall in concrete. We size it to the height of the cut and to whatever sits on the high side. So we ask what will rest on the wall before we form it.

Footings Under Retaining Walls in La Porte

We dig to solid ground before we set forms. Then we pour a footing that matches the wall height. After the concrete is hard enough to work on, we set the wall forms and pour. We leave a way for water to leave the back of the wall. Gravel goes in that space. A pipe carries water out at the low end.

We’ve opened leaning walls and found wet soil packed tight against the concrete. Water sat there with no path out. When that water freezes in a La Porte winter, it pushes on the wall. The wall leans. Caps crack. So we don’t skip the drain on a new pour.

Day-to-Day Work on Retaining Walls in La Porte

On a typical shore job we strip the failed wall first. We pull old timber and loose block. Broken concrete comes out too if an earlier pour failed. That work is concrete removal, and on a bad bank it turns into a tear out and replace. Then we haul the debris before we cut the new footing. Because the bank is open, we pour once the forms are ready. When a long rain hits an open cut, it sends more soil toward the lake.

We write the removal and the new pour on the quote line by line. The same visit can cover the walk beside the wall. Upper walks and service walks crack when the bank under them moves. So we pour those with the wall when the homeowner wants them replaced. A small shed pad is residential concrete, and it can go in while the truck is on the lot. When you want the wall face to match a patio, we can use colored concrete.

Retaining Walls in La Porte also take winter runoff from the drive. When salt washes off the drive, it can sit at the base of the wall. We’ve seen the face spall where that runoff stayed against the concrete. So we pitch the soil at the top away from the face when the lot allows it.

Stepped Sections for Retaining Walls in La Porte

People ask whether Retaining Walls in La Porte can step down where the bank changes height. We form the wall in steps along that kind of shore. Then each step gets its own footing. We’ve built them that way where the lot drops toward one end of the shore.

We keep the risers low enough to walk. We measure the riser on site before we form the cap. A tall step in the cap trips people walking down to the water.

The photo gallery shows finished step caps. The About Us page covers our family owned and operated crew. We’ve poured concrete since 2006. Our retaining wall pours page lists the pours we tie into a wall.

After the pour, backfill waits until the concrete can carry soil. Retaining Walls in La Porte take that wait on a thick pour when the weather stays cold. We’ve waited through cold weather here before we placed fill on a thick wall. Then we place gravel and soil in lifts. A single heavy dump against green concrete can bow a wall.