Retaining Walls in Eaton Socon

Eaton Socon has many older homes and long-established gardens, and some of the walls in them have been holding back soil for a very long time. Part of the village falls within a conservation area, and older walls there are often built in soft brick or stone with lime mortar. They can be repaired well, but they need a different approach from a modern block wall.

Walls on older plots sometimes do more than hold back soil. A garden wall may form part of a boundary with a lane, or support a raised bed that has been there for generations. Before taking anything down, we photograph the face and number any special pieces such as copings or shaped bricks so they go back where they came from.

Lime mortar is softer than cement and lets the wall breathe and flex a little. When an old wall has been patched with hard cement mortar, the brick or stone around the patch can start to crumble, because moisture is trapped and the wall can no longer move as it was built to. That is something we look for when assessing an older wall.

Signs that an older retaining wall needs attention include:

• A visible lean or bulge, especially in the middle of a long run.
• Bricks or stones that are crumbling at the face or where cement patches meet them.
• Water seeping through the wall after rain, leaving stains or green growth.
• Roots from trees or hedges at the top pushing the coping out of line.

Whether we are repairing or building new, the principles behind a lasting wall do not change: a solid footing on firm ground, drainage behind the wall with free draining backfill, and weep holes or gaps so water can get out. On an old wall, adding drainage during a rebuild often solves the problem that caused it to move in the first place.