Porter Indiana Retaining Walls on Sandy Slopes

After the thaw, the first hard rain shows what winter did to a dune-side lot. Snow sat on the slope for months. Then meltwater and rain cut little paths through the sand. So the high side of the yard drops a bit. The low side picks up a soft ridge against the fence or along the patio edge. This is the point in the year when a sloping yard in Porter, Indiana starts to move. Retaining Walls in Porter hold that grade once loose sand won’t stay on its own.

We have walked lots where the mower already tips on the high side. After a wet week, people call once the low corner has a new pile of sand. Because dune-side lots in Porter sit on loose sand, a steep cut doesn’t stay sharp. Builders cut that grade when the house went up. After a few seasons the cut face softens. Mulch slides. Then a gap opens at the bottom step. We’ve dug slopes where sand fell back into the trench before we could set forms.

Retaining Walls in Porter After Winter Wash

Water takes the low path and carries sand with it. When that happens year after year, the yard you thought was level starts to tilt. After a few wet seasons we have pulled timber walls with posts rotted at the ground line. On block walls, sand left the joints and the face stepped out of line. So we see that pattern on older dune-side lots in Porter.

For example, a downspout splash can carve a fan of sand across the side yard. After that, the fence at the low end sits in a drift. So we read that as a grade problem. Because nothing is holding the cut, the sand keeps moving. We pour a wall to hold that cut. While we’re on site we can pour a service walk off the new level. The old walk often ends up short once we cut the grade back.

Grade changes and loose sand on dune-side lots are why we get these calls. A concrete retaining wall is a practical part of holding a Porter yard. The house pad sits higher than the lot line. Loose sand slips on a steep face. So a wall has to hold the cut. We set Retaining Walls in Porter at that break, on the line where the yard drops.

We start with the cut. Then we dig a footing trench into the sand, wide enough for the wall we planned. Because sand caves, we don’t leave that trench open longer than we have to. When we can, forms go in the same day. Steel goes in the footing and up into the wall. After that we pour, and we stay with the truck until the concrete is in the forms.

How We Build Retaining Walls in Porter

On a dune-side lot the backfill carries the load after we pour the face. We place clean gravel against the wall. Then a drain runs to daylight or to a lower spot that can take the water. When someone skips the drain, pressure builds after a wet stretch. After a lean shows up, people have called us about walls another crew poured. So we run the drain on every wall we pour in this sand.

People have asked for color or a stamped pattern so the wall matches a patio. We do decorative concrete on walls and floors, and we’ll work with you on the look you want. Cabe’s Concrete is a family owned and operated company, and our doors opened back in 2006. Our about us page has the company background. Finished walls and flatwork sit in our photo gallery.

A wall job often picks up residential concrete while the forms and the truck are already coming. Retaining Walls in Porter often share the visit with an upper walk. Because the old path no longer meets the grade, a service walk comes up on these jobs. A curb along the drive can join the same visit when that edge has dropped. We have poured these walls during new construction, before anyone finished the yard. Our poured retaining walls cover the footing and the wall, along with the drain behind the gravel.

We stop the wall where the grade flattens, or we turn the end back into the slope. Then we strip the forms and backfill the front. We grade the sand so water runs off the top of the yard and away from the face. On Retaining Walls in Porter we shape that top with a slight fall. We rake extra sand off the face before we leave the site.