Sitting Wall/Sliding wall

by J
(Lockport)

I have a lot that is graded at a downward slope. Our brick patio was leveled out by putting gravel underneath and throwing mulch on the sides of the slope (bad contractor).

We are trying to put a sitting wall up and cannot figure out how to level it out. We're afraid the gravel underneath is going to quickly wash away--how can we make it level with our patio without putting it on the existing patio???

Comments for Sitting Wall/Sliding wall

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Sep 01, 2008

Seatwalls and Patios
by: Susan

Hi,
Since you indicated the slope is to the side of your patio, I am assuming (I hope correctly!) that your property is sloped side to side.

You might consider a seatwall that is also a retaining wall. It could be positioned so that the bottom of the wall closest to the patio actually meets it there.

In this case, remove soil to create a flat area for the wall. The wall can be 18 to 24 inches high. The slope meets the of back of the wall at the top of the wall.

Take a look here:
https://www.landscape-design-advice.com/landscape-retaining-walls.html

In your case, the area behind the wall would be sloped.

A perforated pipe should be placed behind the wall to capture any water flowing towards the seatwall. Hopefully, you have an area on your property with a lower elevation. The pipe behind the wall would be sloped, connect to a solid pipe placed below the ground, and lead to an unobtrusive area with a lower elevation.

Since the pipe works to take the water away, this shold eliminate problems with the gravel beneath the patio and seatwall.

If you are doing this yourselves, try to find some construction drawings online showing the correct way this should be built.

I hope this was helpful.

Susan

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