Retaining Walls for Water Mitigation

Here in East Tennessee we have lots of hillsides and uneven ground that can channel water toward our house. One of our retaining wall customers had just replaced her floors because water coming off the gutter downspout and hillside running alongside her house and seeping through the walls.

Repairing floors and walls, mitigating mold inside is very expensive not to mention disruptive to living inside your home. As you can see in these pics a few simple corrections to the landscape can really help divert water away from the home.

First task was to tackle the short gutter downspout pipe. Rooves collect massive amounts of water and funnel it into the downspout. This water absolutely must be sent somewhere away from the dwelling. I found a low spot in the yard far enough down the hill that there was no way it could reach the home, then installed a ground level popup emitter that allows the water out, but isn't unsightly or gets in the way of mowing.

The customer also desired a small retaining wall to divert hillside water run off, and cover the unsightly hole under the deck. So I installed a Y in the pipe to also accept any water caught by the retaining wall so it also diverted into the inground popup. And installed a short block wall.

Overall the project is most certainly cheaper and less invasive than repairing the inside of your house from water damage. It improves your property, potentially raising it's value, and provides peace of mind while you live there. If you need help with a water mitigating retaining wall, fall and winter we landscapers have a lot more time on our hands with the mowing season coming to and end, and we'd love to help solve any of your landscape issues!