Retaining Walls and Footings

Retaining Walls and Footings in Cincinnati, OH

Retaining walls fail from water far more often than from weight. Saturated soil behind a wall can more than double the pressure it was designed for, and a wall built without drainage behind it is holding back a load nobody calculated. That is why almost every leaning, bulging or toppled wall we are called to replace had no drainage.

River City Restoration builds poured concrete, block and segmental retaining walls with a proper footing below frost depth, the reinforcement the height requires, and drainage that actually relieves the pressure: washed stone, filter fabric and a perforated drain line with somewhere to go.

The Cincinnati hillsides make this a common need and an unforgiving one. Anything over four feet, anything with a surcharge such as a driveway or structure above it, and anything on a slope needs engineering, and we bring an engineer in rather than guess.

Walls, footings and foundations we build

• Poured concrete retaining walls
• Segmental block and modular walls
• Hillside and terraced wall systems
• Footings, piers and grade beams
• Foundation walls for additions and garages
• Deck and porch footings
• Failed retaining wall replacement
• Wall drainage and tieback systems
• Underpinning and foundation extensions

Footing below frost, steel where it is needed, drainage behind every wall

The footing decides everything above it. We excavate below the local frost depth to undisturbed bearing soil, widen the footing for the wall height and the soil's capacity, and place reinforcement with dowels set to tie the wall to the footing. A wall poured onto a shallow or undersized footing will move the first time the ground freezes.

Reinforcement in the wall is sized for the height and the load behind it, including any surcharge from a driveway, a slope or a structure above. Where the geometry or the surcharge warrants it, we build to an engineer's design rather than to a rule of thumb.

Then the part nobody sees: behind the wall goes a column of washed drainage stone wrapped in filter fabric, with a perforated drain line at the base that daylights or ties into a storm system. Weep holes are placed through the wall where appropriate. The fabric keeps the fines out of the stone so the drainage does not silt up and quietly stop working in five years. Backfill is placed and compacted in lifts, and only after the wall has cured enough to take the load.

Frequently asked about retaining walls and footings