Retaining Walls in Kents Hill

Kents Hill grew from the late 1980s onwards, and many of its gardens were shaped by the original builders with banks at the back or side, often held by timber edging, low walls or simply a grassed slope. After thirty years or so, a lot of that is reaching the end of its life. Timber rots at ground level, low walls tilt, and banks that were never meant to be walked on start to slip.

The aim in most Kents Hill gardens is to turn an awkward bank into flat, usable ground. Common jobs include:

• Replacing rotted timber edging with a permanent block or brick retaining wall.
• Cutting back a rear bank to widen a lawn or make space for a patio.
• Building a wall where two neighbouring gardens sit at different levels.
• Holding back soil beside a garage or a side path that has started to creep.

Ground on these estates can be a mix of clay and made up material from when the houses were built, and it does not always drain quickly. That makes drainage behind any new wall essential. The footing is poured on undisturbed ground below any made up layer, then free draining backfill goes in behind the wall with weep holes near the base so water does not sit there.

If an existing wall is leaning, bulging or has water staining across its face after rain, it is usually showing the effect of trapped water or a footing that was too light. We explain what we find before suggesting whether it can be repaired or needs replacing.

Where the water ends up is part of the job. On estate plots the bottom of a bank often meets a fence, a neighbour's garden or a path, so a perforated pipe behind the wall needs a sensible place to discharge, such as an existing gully or a soakaway dug into the lower lawn. Pushing water under the fence is not a fix, so we settle the outlet before the footing goes in.