[VoodooChile]

We've been asked to come up with a bid to build a retaining at the site shown below.

The wall is supposed to transition grade at the 2' drop along the foundation. It is 16' from that transition point to the sidewalk. The stairs also come into play...

We don't have any problems with the construction of the wall, but we are having a hard time visualizing how this wall could look good.

Any ideas on how to design this wall so it doesn't look like it was tacked on to repair a construction mistake would be appreciated.

Thanks yet again!

[dan deutekom]

Can we see more of the front of this house? I would like to see the whole front. I assume that the existing stairs have to stay? Don't you hate when the landscaper has to fix the goof up

[Stonehenge]

It looks like a nice solution would be to start the wall at the point where the foundation turns south - bubble it outward, then return it to meet the top of the steps. Leave a small bed in front of the wall along the sidewalk for perennials and such.

[agla]

One way to handle it could be the subtle approach of minimizing the wall rather than to build what would essentially be a raised planter. I think that taking the wall from the transition and wrapping it back to the step would make a planter and may make it look more like a reaction to a mistake or a token planter. I don't see that this is a mistake at all unless it is turned into one.

I'm not sure if I'm seeing an optical illusion or if the front walk stairs actually angle away from the driveway, but it is what it isI suppose.

What I meant by a subtle approach is to use the mounded slope that you have started as your primary solution and your retaining wall to back that up rather than replacing it. You could lay it out a few different ways, but I think I might start by coming straight off the foundation (perpendicular) for about 6 feet. Then I might sweep a 6' radius around back toward the steps until it became parrallel to the walk (about 4' from the edge of the walk), but only one foot high (assuming segmental wall). Then the next courses of wall would start on top of the first ones, but turn back toward the steps as soon as possible (on top of added gravel base) until it returned about 2/3 the way to the steps. Then cap both sections.

Fill behind the upper wall and in between the end of it and the steps. Continue to add soil in front of the upper wall, rake it up across the face of the upper wall so that the end of the wall closest to the step matches the grade and it gently slopes down along the face of the upper wall from left to right. Fill in between the walls and repeat for the front wall. The result is a garden bed with some topograpghy that is being supported by some minor retention. You'd have a four foot bed in front of a 12" wall and then a second tier six or so feet behind that. The walls would not dominate the planting bed, but add horizontal lines within it which tends to add comfort for most people. Then your planting can take over from there.

It may work better with one wall.

I'm not sure how well that explanation comes off, but I can try to clarify, if it is of interest.

[VoodooChile]

Here's a full view of the house.

I'll digest your suggestions and Easter dinner and respond a little later, if I survive the Sopranos season premiere!!!

Thanks for the replies.

[dan deutekom]

I am almost inclined to forget the wall completely and build a nice rockery. This could tie in with a nice planting in front of the house that would again turn into a rockery on the left side of the house. I just can't really picture a SRW wall that would really fit in here.

[Pelican]

This isn't the builder's "mistake", it's his demonstration of building on the cheap. He saved a few bucks by eliminating the brick veneer in that section. There is a high dollar subdivision near me as well that the builder did the same damn thing. It makes me sick that these guys sell these homes for $600K+ and take a shortcut to save a few hundred bucks. Then we are left to figure out a way to make it look like something.

The one I did was more radical than yours here, what I did was make a planter like Jeff suggested that stepped down as it went along so when it got to the driveway end it was just above the grade. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow.

[cutntrim]

That's a goofy looking garage wall (if that's a garage). I think the brick "veneer" should extend right across to the left edge of the wall, and I'd remove the soil hump and step down armor stones on either side of the concrete steps.

Keep the soil level even with the height of the turf to the right of the hump. Plant a tree in the center (deciduous, filtered light...River Birch maybe), put a couple more smaller armour stones and some small shrubs, flowers around the tree.

Just my opinion anyway...and opinions are like...well you know how that saying goes.

[agla]

I do not see the wall drop as poor planning at all. It was foresight. The house was sited to be raised, for some reason or another, above the elevation of the driveway. It was designed for the porch to have minimal steps and minimal height above the grade. To do that, you have to eventually get back down to the grade of the garage floor.

Putting the transition where they did gives the opportunity for a nice level area in front of the porch which makes sense if it is going to be used by the family and allows for transitioning between that drop and the steps.

The alternative would be a porch higher above grade, a sloped front yard area with either the wall drop on the back of the garage, or a lot of foundation exposed as you approach the corner, having the drop on the corner forcing a wall right up against the walk (or cutting the front yard in half with the walk). Instead, they gave a lot of opportunity, like the ones suggested above, and some distance to work it out in.

Think about the alternatives to changing that foundation design and what opportunities and limitations arise from them. There are three very different and equally effective ways to deal with it already listed above - planter, terracing, and rockery. If that transition were on the corner, you would not have those choices.

I'm guessing that we are dealing with a walkout basement in the back which is driving the siting of this house. Forcing walkout basements often results with the front of the house compromised. This house looks like it is stuck to a pitchers mound. I'd argue that the house could have been sited better, but that the foundation drop on the front (or really side) of the garage was a very good way to set up a good aesthetic correction.

I site houses as well as other things in my full time job.

[cutntrim]

Here's an idea the builder could have used: build a house with an attached garage...not a garage with an attached house. From the street the property is dominated by the garage. Pull the house itself forwards on the lot, and site the garage to the rear. I think most people use the backyard for entertaining and for achildren's play area, so reducing the size of the (to my eyes NOT level) front yard would not have been a major loss.

Anyway, you work with what you're given, and actually I think Dan's idea is the best. You can hide the foundation with rocks and plants.

[agla]

The house is set up for a level area in front of the porch. But, it is short on fill.

The house is built, so you have to adjust to it at this point. You can't go back now. The layout of the house and garage does suck, but given that layout, the finished floor, elevation, and the garage slab elevation, the location of the step down in the garage foundation is pretty good in my opinion.

I would try to push the homeowner into investing enough in fill to make the level area go across the front of the house to match up to the walk. You know the builder is not (and did not) do it. Not completing the grading is a short savings with a very big negative impact.

Then again, how do you convince someone to understand aesthetic concepts in landscaping when they could not understand how unattractive that damn garage is in front of the house?

I would bet that the project is driven by a walkout basement that became the central focus of this house and the desire to have a side entry garage became the second important thing. These are two things that will add value to a house, realtors are always telling people. People hear that and then they cling to them and compromise everything else to make those happen.

My guess based on experience:
Once they made the decision to have the walkout, they wanted the full width of the basement usable which pushed the garage over too far toward the lot line to be able to have a side entry and adequate turnaround space. Then they moved it out front instead of putting the doors on the front (could be a zoning or HOA thing, also).

Secondly, the topography is not quite right for the walkout, but they decide they can lift the floor of the house higher and make it work, but they need to match grade with the side lots and need to have a driveway that works with the grade of the street. That causes there to be a 4' difference between the garage slab and the floor of the house which also sucks.

So now they have a house that looks worse from the street than a nice pair of garage doors, a bunch of steps inside their garage, a bunch of steps in their walkway, and a pitchers nound for a front yard.

These are often accompanied by a backyard grade that is very flat to try to minimize the height of the main floor of the house, so there may be drainage problems out back.

That's my guess.

[VoodooChile]

I agree with agla that the builder was simply dealing with an existing grade change, but I don't feel that the builder's solution was optimal.

I've attached a cheesy photo-representation of what I would prefer, a gradual transition that would allow more options...

[VoodooChile]

Stone, at what point does the foundation "head south"? The corner by the driveway?

Several solutions seem to entail putting soil against the brick. I would need to cover the brick with insulation (foamular) right? Otherwise moisture could compromise the mortar joints and cause degradation from the bottom up?

Also, hiding costly brick isn't an easy sell.

Sadly, budget is an issue here. I envision a two-tiered wall to lessen the impact of the larger wall that comes out from the 2' drop in the foundation, but that would double cost, and the most obvious solution, curving a wall from the 2' drop in the foundation to the stairs also happens to be the cheapest.

Young family + new house = tight budget

agla's solution sounds good, if I understand it correctly, and probably not too over budget.

Still simmering on this one.

[cutntrim]

This is neither here nor there, but I don't get why they've got a sweeping curved walkway there to begin with. If the steps had have taken a left hand turn with a landing and step down along the foundation/garage wall then they wouldn't have had to worry about paying you to fix anything. Frankly, the fewer steps taken from car to front door the better, in my book...and yeah I know they go inside from the garage, but it's still an odd design.

[VoodooChile]

Steps sweeping left with a landing...very nice cutntrim!

Heres the front with a full facade of bricks. Looks better I think.