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Atlanta Retaining Wall

by Matt Goering

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You'd be surprised how many Atlanta homes utilize retaining walls in one way another. Few people would make the mistake of comparing Atlanta to Seattle, San Francisco, or Denver when it comes to topography, but the fact that much of North Atlanta sits smack in the Appalachian foothills means there's some pretty steep hills to be found in the metropolitan area. That, combined with the fact that the Atlanta metropolitan area is the ninth most populated in the nation, makes the Atlanta area prime real estate for the utilization of retaining walls in landscaping and building projects across the A-T-L.

Atlanta Retaining Wall Projects
Though the lines are often blurred, when it comes to building a retaining wall in Atlanta your project will probably fall into one of three general categories: landscaping, erosion control, or home building.

  • Building an Atlanta Retaining Wall for Landscaping—As a landscaping tool, retaining walls are usually used to transform steeper slopes into level, accessible areas. This allows you more options when it comes to the types of vegetation you can plant, and it increases the possible uses of your property, since patios, pools, gardens, gazebos, walkways, and just about every other man-made landscaping addition works best when it's not built on a slope.

  • Building an Atlanta Retaining Wall for Erosion Control—Some might argue that this falls into the realm of landscaping, and they might be right. Nevertheless, a second reason retaining walls are so common in the Atlanta area is due the high annual rates of precipitation, which push 51 inches per year. That means there's an awful lot of runoff that can cause serious erosion problems, especially in areas where the land has been disturbed such as around new home builds, outdoor construction projects, or areas of poorly-conceived landscaping.

  • Home Building and Retaining Walls—A final reason retaining walls are common in Atlanta is that they're vital if you want to build a home or an addition onto a sloped lot. Since Atlanta is one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the world, retaining walls built for home builds and additions aren't what you'd call uncommon. Sometimes these retaining walls end up visible and incorporated into the overall landscaping, and other times they end up buried, but the short and fat of it is that it's much easier, and cheaper, to design and build a structure on level ground than it is to try to build it on a slope.

    Atlanta Retaining Wall Costs
    When the discussion of retaining wall costs arises, keep in mind that there's a huge range of factors that affect the final price, including the size of the project, the purpose of your retaining wall in Atlanta, the materials you use, and which contractor you hire. Retaining walls can be as small as a foot high, built to create new garden beds and more texture in an average suburban backyard, or they can be 10 feet high, reinforced, anchored, and stone veneered walls that make room for a stone patio and new swimming pool. As you can imagine, those two projects come with pretty different price tags. Nevertheless, if you're looking for an average to give you an idea what a run of the mill retaining wall in Atlanta might cost, about $7,000 is a good place to start. That number is based on the post-project surveys that ServiceMagic uses to follow up on all the Atlanta retaining wall jobs that start as contractor referrals in our system. Average final costs ranged from $3,000 on up to $12,000. As for how long you should expect the job to take, start to finish, seven days is the norm, based on our most recent information.

    Get Plenty of Bids on Your Retaining Wall In Atlanta
    An Atlanta retaining wall is no small undertaking, either in project scope or cost. That being the case, your search for the right contractor should be equal to the task. With any job this big, it's vital that you bring in at least three contractors to give bids on how much it's going to cost and how long it will take to get done, and that you check references before you sign any contracts. Comparing estimates and checking references is your best tool as a homeowner when it comes to ensuring you hire the best company for the job. In fact, in the state of Georgia it's even more important than in other parts of the country since there are no laws on the books that require contractors to obtain licensing of any sort before they go into business. Don't get caught with your pants down and a lousy retaining wall to boot! Exercise patience and do your homework before you hire anyone to build you a retaining wall in Atlanta.

    Matt Goering, formerly a carpenter and house painter, is a freelance writer for the home improvement industry who has published over 600 articles.
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