Commercial & Residential Retaining Wall Expert
The stone or Rock that will be used in Allen Berlt's retaining wall for the Bay Area will be extremely durable in order to last generations. Not all retaining rock is the same. Some retaining rock like granite and limestone can easily last for hundreds of years. Allen Berlts Rock retaining walls rock material is cold weather conscious, meaning we only use rock that is sustainable in a cold environment as to not crack and break down over time.
Retaining wall construction can be very challenging. Allen Berlt's rocks themselves are very dense. It’s not unusual for a cubic foot of rock to weigh between 150 - 400 pounds. Large boulders will require a piece of mechanical equipment (typically an excavator) or you have to master using gravity to help you lift the rocks in place, which in this industry will be very exhausting and inefficient.
Retaining walls completion can be complicated, especially as the height of the wall increases. With over 20 years of experience, Allen Berlt's rock retaining walls have seen heights of over 14 - 20 feet! If you are going to place rock walls over 14 feet, approval of your county will be needed. When rock retaining walls begin to have significant loads of weight against them from the soil that you’re trying to hold back its takes a professional judgment as to exactly place the retaining wall against the soil. If you’re planning a tall retaining wall, we highly recommend that you have it engineered properly from an expert retaining wall specialist. You don’t want the retaining wall falling down injuring or killing someone or damaging your property.
Your rock retaining wall design will require you to decide between a dry stacked retaining wall versus a mortarretaining wall. We have seen that the dry stacked retaining walls will be long lasting, easier to construct, easier to maintain, better looking and resist freeze cycles that create frost heave and soil expansion that has been known to tip over some rock retaining walls.
Your standard rock, due to density, does not have the suction of brick and concrete block, so we will make the mortar mix quite stiff. Without any suction, the mortar mix will stay plastic for some time. If the mortar doesn’t get stiff from water loss fairly quickly, you can’t stack more rock on the retaining wall as the mortar moves in the lower rows or courses. Soil can be very heavy, especially if it’s wet. Our entire team at Allen Berlt's rock retaining walls will keep this in mind as we start to build your rock retaining wall. Your retaining wall needs to resist the push of this soil against the wall. If the ground above your retaining wall is sloped, you have extreme un-safe pressure pushing against the wall. We will absolutely never let this be the case in our completion of your mortar rock retaining wall.
Dry rock retaining wall
When dry stacking a rock retaining wall, Many elements need to be addressed early and correctly, friction between the individual pieces of rock is very important. This friction of rock on your retaining wall needs to be greater than the push of the soil behind the wall, otherwise the soil will push a course of stone from a lower one.
If you intend to create a flat area above a retaining wall that will act as a parking area for cars or trucks, you need to account for this extra surcharge load. Some of the weight of the vehicles will push against the wall, especially if the tires are close to the edge of the top of the wall.
Our retaining wall is creatively put together with heart, soul, hard work and passion! It takes lots of muscle as well as Diligence, Determination and Discipline. After one day moving rock around, digging trenches, placing your retaining wall equipment, Its easy to realize that this is a quite robust project, and well worth every effort. Turning a pile of dirt and a ton of rocks into a magnificent retaining wall is always a very ambitious project.