What is a retaining wall used for?

Retaining walls are used to hold back any type of materials, such as dirt, sand, and rock from sliding or eroding down a slope. Retaining walls can be designed with stone, concrete blocks, wood, or even vegetation to form a barrier that prevents any upslope material from eroding downslope. Retaining walls are commonly found at residential home and commercial sites where they help keep soil in place for larger construction and landscaping projects like gardens and lawns.

Although retaining walls can be made of wood, brick, concrete block, stone, sandbags and so on, the most common type of retaining wall is called a mass wall built with stacked stone or other heavy cement materials. Purposefully sunk piles of earth are often used to stabilize shallow slopes instead of using extensive artificial engineering methods for slope maintenance.

Retaining walls are commonly used to shore up a slope for building purposes. One type of retaining wall is often called an earth berm and it’s made from loose soil that has been compacted into place with heavy machinery or manually by construction crews. When using concrete blocks, retaining walls can be more expensive, but are sturdy enough to hold back the weight of a roof on top of them and will last for many years into the future.

Often, homeowners use retaining walls as decorative features in their landscaping because they add dimension and visual interest to the landscape design. They typically come in either red brick or stone masonry designs so you’ll need access to these materials if your plan is this route instead of dirt, sand, and rock.