Hello everyone,
For the house construction, we had to excavate quite a bit of the land to reach the required height. As a result, we are now about 80 cm (31 inches) higher than the neighboring plot. There is already a wall with a fence at the boundary with the neighbor. However, the wall was not founded deeply enough, so the excavation exposed the foundation. Over time, the wall will therefore not remain stable.
Accordingly, we either have to demolish and rebuild it or support it from our side. My first thought was to support it with L-shaped retaining blocks. However, our landscaping contractor advised against this because the “L” would face our house, meaning the unattractive side of the L-shaped block would be visible. He also said that on the side the “L” faces, there are usually reinforcements and similar elements, which would not look good.
Now my question: Are there L-shaped retaining blocks that look “nice” on both sides? Or would you agree with the opinion of our landscaping contractor?
Best regards
For the house construction, we had to excavate quite a bit of the land to reach the required height. As a result, we are now about 80 cm (31 inches) higher than the neighboring plot. There is already a wall with a fence at the boundary with the neighbor. However, the wall was not founded deeply enough, so the excavation exposed the foundation. Over time, the wall will therefore not remain stable.
Accordingly, we either have to demolish and rebuild it or support it from our side. My first thought was to support it with L-shaped retaining blocks. However, our landscaping contractor advised against this because the “L” would face our house, meaning the unattractive side of the L-shaped block would be visible. He also said that on the side the “L” faces, there are usually reinforcements and similar elements, which would not look good.
Now my question: Are there L-shaped retaining blocks that look “nice” on both sides? Or would you agree with the opinion of our landscaping contractor?
Best regards
I will bring this up again with our landscaping contractor. After the tip from @In der Ruine, I also came across other options for enhancing the appearance of the L-shaped retaining walls. There is so-called decorative concrete that can apparently be applied directly to the L-shaped walls. It looked very promising in the photos. It’s definitely good to know that there are ways to improve the look of the L-shaped walls afterward. I wouldn’t have thought of that on my own.
W
wiltshire13 May 2025 11:50Walls can also be tiled. I have attached a sample photo from Portugal for inspiration.
Of course, this can also be done with simpler patterns or textures as a DIY project.
Of course, this can also be done with simpler patterns or textures as a DIY project.
C
Costruttrice13 May 2025 15:10tomtom79 schrieb:
I understood what you mean, but these are not designed to support a slope. They are meant to face the attractive side toward you if you want to retain something on your side of the property.That’s not correct, see the post by @Tolentino
We are located downhill and had to retain the higher neighboring property. This was planned by the architect and approved by the building authority (building permit / planning permission).
And yes, they were significantly more expensive than the conventional L-shaped brackets.