Choosing a Retaining Wall Contractor Atlanta Homeowners Trust
Retaining wall contractor
Atlanta yards can be deceptively tricky. A property can look flat from the street, then drop off sharply in the back. After a few heavy storms, a small crack in a retaining wall can turn into a lean, a bulge, or a section that starts to separate. That is when homeowners look for retaining wall repair in Atlanta.
Many contractors install retaining walls, but fewer handle structural repairs. Heide Contracting treats retaining walls like construction projects. The team focuses on strength, drainage, and long-term stability, with engineering support when needed.
What causes retaining wall problems in Atlanta
Atlanta’s clay soil holds water and expands. When the soil behind a wall remains saturated, hydrostatic pressure builds, pushing the wall outward. That pressure can crack mortar joints, shift block courses, and cause a wall to bow forward. Even well-built walls can fail if drainage is missing, clogged, or installed incorrectly.
Rainfall patterns also matter. A few inches of rain in a short window can overwhelm poorly planned drainage. Downspouts near the wall, poor yard grading, and clogged drains can all accelerate a retaining wall's failure. Many “mystery” wall problems stem from water management, not the wall itself.
The difference between landscape walls and structural retaining walls
Some retaining walls are decorative. Others hold back a large volume of soil and protect a driveway, patio, pool deck, or foundation line. Atlanta homeowners should treat taller walls, walls near buildings, and walls on slopes as structural. These walls often need proper footings, reinforcement, and drainage beyond basic hardscape work.
Heide Contracting often sees walls that look fine on the outside but have water problems behind them.
The wall can still lean even when it looks fine. A trusted contractor will explain the forces at play and recommend a fix that addresses the cause, not just the symptoms.
What to look for when comparing retaining wall contractors in Atlanta
A homeowner does not need to be an engineer to vet a contractor, but the right questions make a difference. The best companies explain drainage, soil pressure, and structural support clearly. They also outline excavation, base work, backfill, and water control before talking about finishes..
Clear scope that explains excavation depth, footing type, drainage plan, and backfill material.
Material details that match the wall's job, such as CMU block, reinforced concrete, or stone with proper support.
Drainage strategy that includes gravel backfill, filter fabric, and a reliable outlet path for water.
Engineering support when wall height, slope load, or site conditions call for stamped plans.
Workmanship accountability with a written warranty and a realistic timeline for the job.
Competitors often highlight “free estimates” and fast scheduling. Those items matter, but the real trust factor is whether the contractor can explain why a wall failed and how the repair prevents a repeat problem.
Repair or replacement depends on the wall's failure pattern
Atlanta homeowners often ask whether a retaining wall can be repaired or must be replaced. The answer depends on what is failing. A small crack in a stable wall can sometimes be repaired, especially if the drainage problem is corrected and the structure is not moving. A wall that is bowing, leaning, or separating usually needs a more serious solution.
Replacement is often needed when the base moves, the wall shifts, or the footing is missing. Small surface repairs may hide the problem, but pressure behind the wall keeps growing. A trusted contractor explains this early and avoids short-term fixes.
Drainage is not an add-on, it is part of the structure
When homeowners compare bids, drainage details are often the first thing cut to lower the price. That decision usually costs more later. A wall needs a path for water to exit. That often includes gravel backfill, a drain system, and outlet locations that stay clear. Filter fabric can prevent fines from clogging the drainage layer. Proper grading helps keep surface water away from the backfill zone.
Heide Contracting treats drainage as part of the build, not an extra line item.That approach matters in Atlanta areas with hills, small lots, and old drainage.
Permits, HOA rules, and why experienced contractors plan
Many Atlanta-area communities have HOA requirements for exterior construction. Retaining wall height and placement may require permits when they affect grading, drainage, or safety. A trusted contractor should address these realities early. That planning reduces delays and helps avoid redesigns after the project starts.
For complex walls, engineering can protect both the homeowner and the contractor. Stamped drawings provide clarity on reinforcement, footing dimensions, and drainage requirements. They also create a paper trail that helps during resale or inspection conversations.
Why homeowners choose Heide Contracting for retaining wall work
Heide Contracting brings a structural renovation perspective to retaining walls. The company repairs foundation walls, masonry, porches, and decks. This experience helps the team understand soil pressure and long-term stability. That experience matters when a retaining wall is protecting more than landscaping.
For homeowners searching for retaining wall contractors Atlanta GA, a site visit is often the smartest next step. Heide Contracting evaluates the wall, slope, drainage, and soil to determine whether the wall should be repaired, reinforced, or replaced.
When it is time to schedule an inspection
If a wall is leaning, cracking in multiple locations, or showing bulges after heavy rain, waiting rarely improves the outcome. Early evaluation often expands the range of options and can reduce total cost. Homeowners who want a retaining wall done right can contact Heide Contracting to schedule a consultation.
Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near-vertical or vertical slope). They are used to bound soils between two different elevations often in areas of inconveniently steep terrain in areas where the landscape needs to be shaped severely and engineered for more specific purposes like hillside farming or roadway overpasses. A retaining wall that retains soil on the backside and water on the frontside is called a seawall or a bulkhead.
A retaining wall is designed to hold in place a mass of earth or the like, such as the edge of a terrace or excavation. The structure is constructed to resist the lateral pressure of soil when there is a desired change in ground elevation that exceeds the angle of repose of the soil.[1]
A basement wall is thus one kind of retaining wall; however, the term usually refers to a cantilever retaining wall, which is a freestanding structure without lateral support at its top.[2] These are cantilevered from a footing and rise above the grade on one side to retain a higher level grade on the opposite side. The walls must resist the lateral pressures generated by loose soils or, in some cases, water pressures.[3]
Every retaining wall supports a "wedge" of soil. The wedge is defined as the soil which extends beyond the failure plane of the soil type present at the wall site, and can be calculated once the soil friction angle is known. As the setback of the wall increases, the size of the sliding wedge is reduced. This reduction lowers the pressure on the retaining wall.[4]
The most important consideration in proper design and installation of retaining walls is to recognize and counteract the tendency of the retained material to move downslope due to gravity. This creates lateral earth pressure behind the wall which depends on the angle of internal friction (phi) and the cohesive strength (c) of the retained material, as well as the direction and magnitude of movement the retaining structure undergoes.
Lateral earth pressures are zero at the top of the wall and – in homogeneous ground – increase proportionally to a maximum value at the lowest depth. Earth pressures will push the wall forward or overturn it if not properly addressed. Also, any groundwater behind the wall that is not dissipated by a drainage system causes hydrostatic pressure on the wall. The total pressure or thrust may be assumed to act at one-third from the lowest depth for lengthwise stretches of uniform height.[5]
It is important to have proper drainage behind the wall in order to limit the pressure to the wall's design value. Drainage materials will reduce or eliminate the hydrostatic pressure and improve the stability of the material behind the wall. Drystone retaining walls are normally self-draining.
As an example, the International Building Code requires retaining walls to be designed to ensure stability against overturning, sliding, excessive foundation pressure and water uplift; and that they be designed for a safety factor of 1.5 against lateral sliding and overturning.[6]
Construction types of gravity retaining wallsAn example of crib wall
Gravity walls depend on their mass (stone, concrete or other heavy material) to resist pressure from behind and may have a 'batter' setback to improve stability by leaning back toward the retained soil. For short landscaping walls, they are often made from mortarless stone or segmental concrete units (masonry units).[7] Dry-stacked gravity walls are somewhat flexible and do not require a rigid footing. They can be built to a low height without additional materials being inserted, and have concrete added for strength and stability. [8]
Earlier in the 20th century, taller retaining walls were often gravity walls made from large masses of concrete or stone. Today, taller retaining walls are increasingly built as composite gravity walls such as: geosynthetics such as geocell cellular confinement earth retention or with precast facing; gabions (stacked steel wire baskets filled with rocks); crib walls (cells built up log cabin style from precast concrete or timber and filled with granular material).[9]
Cantilevered retaining walls are made from an internal stem of steel-reinforced, cast-in-place concrete or mortared masonry (often in the shape of an inverted T). These walls cantilever loads (like a beam) to a large, structural footing, converting horizontal pressures from behind the wall to vertical pressures on the ground below. Sometimes cantilevered walls are buttressed on the front, or include a counterfort on the back, to improve their strength resisting high loads. Buttresses are short wing walls at right angles to the main trend of the wall. These walls require rigid concrete footings below seasonal frost depth. This type of wall uses much less material than a traditional gravity wall.
Diaphragm walls are a type of retaining walls that are very stiff and generally watertight. Diaphragm walls are expensive walls, but they save time and space, and hence are used in urban constructions.[10]
Sheet pile retaining walls are usually used in soft soil and tight spaces. Sheet pile walls are driven into the ground and are composed of a variety of material including steel, vinyl, aluminum, fiberglass or wood planks. For a quick estimate the material is usually driven 1/3 above ground, 2/3 below ground, but this may be altered depending on the environment. Taller sheet pile walls will need a tie-back anchor, or "dead-man" placed in the soil a distance behind the face of the wall, that is tied to the wall, usually by a cable or a rod. Anchors are then placed behind the potential failure plane in the soil.
Bored pile retaining walls are built by assembling a sequence of bored piles, followed by excavating away the excess soil. Depending on the project, the bored pile retaining wall may include a series of earth anchors, reinforcing beams, soil improvement operations and shotcrete reinforcement layer. This construction technique tends to be employed in scenarios where sheet piling is a valid construction solution, but where the vibration or noise levels generated by a pile driver are not acceptable.
An anchored retaining wall can be constructed in any of the aforementioned styles but also includes additional strength using cables or other stays anchored in the rock or soil behind it. Usually driven into the material with boring, anchors are then expanded at the end of the cable, either by mechanical means or often by injecting pressurized concrete, which expands to form a bulb in the soil. Technically complex, this method is very useful where high loads are expected, or where the wall itself has to be slender and would otherwise be too weak.
Soil nailing is a technique in which soil slopes, excavations or retaining walls are reinforced by the insertion of relatively slender elements – normally steel reinforcing bars. The bars are usually installed into a pre-drilled hole and then grouted into place or drilled and grouted simultaneously. They are usually installed untensioned at a slight downward inclination. A rigid or flexible facing (often sprayed concrete) or isolated soil nail heads may be used at the surface.
A number of systems exist that do not consist of just the wall, but reduce the earth pressure acting directly on the wall. These are usually used in combination with one of the other wall types, though some may only use it as facing, i.e., for visual purposes.
Stones of retaining wall used in preventing soil run-off in dale
This type of soil strengthening, often also used without an outside wall, consists of wiremesh "boxes", which are filled with roughly cut stone or other material. The mesh cages reduce some internal movement and forces, and also reduce erosive forces. Gabion walls are free-draining retaining structures and as such are often built in locations where ground water is present. However, management and control of the ground water in and around all retaining walls is important.
Mechanically stabilized earth, also called MSE, is soil constructed with artificial reinforcing via layered horizontal mats (geosynthetics) fixed at their ends. These mats provide added internal shear resistance beyond that of simple gravity wall structures. Other options include steel straps, also layered. This type of soil strengthening usually needs outer facing walls (S.R.W.'s – Segmental Retaining Walls) to affix the layers to and vice versa.[11]
The wall face is often of precast concrete units[7] that can tolerate some differential movement. The reinforced soil's mass, along with the facing, then acts as an improved gravity wall. The reinforced mass must be built large enough to retain the pressures from the soil behind it. Gravity walls usually must be a minimum of 50 to 60 percent as deep or thick as the height of the wall, and may have to be larger if there is a slope or surcharge on the wall.
Cellular confinement systems (geocells) are also used for steep earth stabilization in gravity and reinforced retaining walls with geogrids. Geocell retaining walls are structurally stable under self- weight and externally imposed loads, while the flexibility of the structure offers very high seismic resistance.[12] The outer fascia cells of the wall can be planted with vegetation to create a green wall.
^Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical Soil Mechanics. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
^Bahrami, M.; Khodakarami, M.I.; Haddad, A. (June 2018). "3D numerical investigation of the effect of wall penetration depth on excavations behavior in sand". Computers and Geotechnics. 98: 82–92. doi:10.1016/j.compgeo.2018.02.009. S2CID125625145.
Is it possible to repair only part of a retaining wall?
In many cases, repairing a specific section of a retaining wall is possible and practical. If the damage is isolated and the rest of the wall remains stable, targeted repair can restore strength and extend the wall’s life. The key is proper inspection to confirm that the failure is not spreading beneath the surface. When conditions allow, partial replacement can be a cost-effective way to maintain structural performance without rebuilding the entire wall.
Can a homeowner repair a retaining wall on their own?
Minor surface issues may look manageable, but most retaining wall problems involve forces that are not visible from the outside. Soil pressure, drainage flow, and compaction all affect whether a wall stays in place or continues to move. Without proper assessment and construction methods, a DIY fix often masks the issue instead of solving it. For walls that support soil or protect structures, professional repair is the safer option and usually prevents repeated failure.
Is it more affordable to rebuild or renovate a structure?
The answer depends on goals, timing, and property value. Rebuilding can make sense in high-demand areas when the owner plans to stay long-term and invest in a modern structure from the ground up. Renovation is often the better path for owners who want to control costs, preserve existing features, or prepare a property for sale without taking on a full teardown. Each option carries different timelines, permits, and financial considerations that should be weighed carefully.
