From sledding hill to elegant patio entertaining
1 Aug, 2005 By: Robert W. Dean Jr. Landscape ManagementA concrete company and a landscape contractor teamed up to create a retaining wall masterpiece in Colorado Springs
The family room in Mike and Sherry Pirk's handsome new home near Racine, WI, opened onto a backyard with a dramatic view. But the slope is so steep it severely limited their ability to use the yard. Friends joked it would make a great sledding hill.
 The Pirk home and its large patio are supported by four curved segmented retaining walls in a terraced effect that combines strength and stability with a less massive look important in large wall installations. The natural-stone look of the project created a more pleasing environment for relaxing and entertaining. |
The Pirks' house is sited near the highest point of a lot that drops 30 feet from the street to the back of the lot, with a 12:1 grade and a pronounced west-to-east side slope. Much of the subdivision drains to the nearby Root River, causing steep slopes in many yards.
The developer's original landscaping was minimal — a rough-seeded lawn and a few small trees. Near the house four small planting areas (two on each side of the house) were formed by retaining walls of 12- to 15-in. boulders.
The problem: rolling rocks give no stability
The walls looked nice, but the slope was so steep the boulders frequently rolled down to the bottom of the hill. Home owner Mike Pirk trudged to the bottom of the hill, lugged them back up and replaced them. Then, all too soon, he had to do it all over again.
The Pirks loved their house and wanted to relax and entertain in their backyard. Mike envisioned a large patio across the back of the house. Sherry wanted a smaller, more secluded area below for sunbathing and reading. Both wanted plenty of plantings for color, texture and privacy.
The solution: segmented retaining walls
One of the customers of Mike's trailer sales business, Scott Urban, owner of Urban Concrete in Racine suggested a collaborative relationship with Mike Dresen, owner of nine-year-old Dresen Landscape Contractors.
Dresen handled design and landscaping with Urban Concrete handling the extensive concrete work.
Dresen says the job was big and complex with plenty of structural and design challenges. The yard's steepness created complex excavating, drainage and construction issues, including slope stabilization, hydrostatic pressure and frost heaving.
Rainwater drainage and heavy outflows from several downspouts made it important to carry water away from the house, the patio and supporting retaining walls.
Dresen's plan revolved around four terraced segmental retaining walls (SRWs). Two supported a large, poured concrete patio. Two more supported a smaller patio and a planting bed. The lower walls served as terraces, creating an installation with a more pleasing scale and eliminating the need for tall, massive walls. At the same time they buttressed and strengthened the walls supporting the large patio.
Dresen favored SRWs over poured concrete walls. He figured an SRW would cost half as much, be more attractive and last longer. "They're easier and less expensive to build, and they retain their structural integrity longer," he says.
Dresen explains poured concrete walls are rigid and don't flex with hydrostatic pressure and frost. Once damage occurs (and it will occur eventually, Dresen says) repairs range from "very expensive to impossible."
He says SRWs are designed to flex with the soil's movement, and then return to their original shape, minimizing problems.
Dresen recommended the StoneWall SELECT SRW system from ICD Corp., Milwaukee. "Strength and stability always come first," he says. "Pretty, weak walls serve neither the contractor nor the homeowner." Other key factors included:
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