Portage Indiana Retaining Walls for Sandy Slopes

After the ground thaws on a northern Portage lot, sand on a cut slope starts to move. Then a hard rain washes a fan of that sand onto the drive. So we plan Retaining Walls in Portage before the next wet week, while the slope is easy to read.

Northern Portage lots sit on old dune and beach-ridge sand. We hit that loose material as soon as a shovel goes in. People graded those lots so a house could sit level. The cut face often falls toward the driveway or the side yard. Because the bank is loose sand, a bare slope keeps shedding grains. We have dug out walks buried under washed sand.

The order of the season matters more than a date on the calendar. After the frost is out of the top of the bank, a small channel shows up in the face. Then the next storm moves more sand down that channel. By the time people have called us, the toe has usually reached the concrete. We stake the wall while the drop is still a clean cut.

When Retaining Walls in Portage Matter on a Cut Lot

The risky stretch is after thaw and before you plant or pave. Sand is loose then. Water runs to the low side of the lot and takes grains with it. When that low side is the driveway, the sand lands where you park.

We have walked lots where washed sand had covered a service walk. When we found a cracked walk under that sand, we tore it out while we graded for the wall. A sound walk can stay. We set the wall so new sand does not bury it again.

Lots cut into that old dune sand often drop toward the driveway or the side yard. A concrete retaining wall keeps that loose slope in place. Without it, you are raking sand off the concrete every time it rains hard. We have seen garage floors tracked full of it by midsummer.

How We Build Retaining Walls in Portage on Loose Sand

On sand, the footing gets the first hours of the day. After we open the trench, we check that the bottom is firm. Concrete stays out until that bottom is solid. Then we set forms so the face stays straight. Because the top should follow the grade you need, we measure the drop at several points along the lot. We size Retaining Walls in Portage on these lots to that measured drop.

Drainage behind the wall is on the same plan. So we leave room for stone against the back, and water can move down. Equipment packs parts of the cut, so that stone still has a job. After the forms come off, we backfill in layers so the new fill stays put. People have asked us about Retaining Walls in Portage after a driveway went in below an open bank. This backfill keeps that bank off the new concrete.

We haul off extra sand when the lot has no place for fill. Then we grade what stays so water moves away from the house. The wall also has to hold the side yard when the cut runs along the property line. Because the wall has to sit on your side of that line, we check it before we set forms. We mark the line with grade stakes while the bank is still open.

Flatwork Beside Retaining Walls in Portage

Cabe’s Concrete is a family owned and operated company, and we have poured walls and flatwork since 2006. We talk through the height and the face before any forms go up. When sand has buried a service walk, we tear it out and replace it on the same visit. Then we can pour an upper walk or a curb if those pieces are breaking up. But a garage floor full of tracked sand may only need a wash. A cracked slab can go in the same quote as concrete replacement.

Walls sit with the rest of our retaining wall work, next to replacement slabs and new walks. For example, the Photo Gallery shows finished walls with the forms already off. More about the company is on About Us.

We strip the forms once the concrete can hold its shape. Then we backfill so the open bank stays put beside the new wall.