Timber Retaining Walls
Timber is what most Christchurch sections end up with, and for good reason. A pole and rail wall goes up in a few days, costs less than block, and holds a 1.2m.
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Merivale, Canterbury
Retaining Walls in Merivale
Top Retaining Walls Christchurch builds retaining walls across Merivale, working around the constraints that come with a dense inner suburb. Sections here are tight, boundaries are close, and a lot of properties are character homes where the landscaping has to match the building.
- Timber, block, gabion, stone and engineered walls
- Full drainage behind every wall we build
- Consents lodged through Christchurch City Council
- Drainage on every wall300mm of metal, a drain coil and geotextile. Never an optional extra.
- H5 poles as standardThe right treatment for timber that lives in wet ground.
- Consents handledChristchurch City, Selwyn and Waimakariri, start to finish.
- Itemised quotesYou see what the drainage and the spoil actually cost.
Narrow side boundaries change the wall type
Merivale has a lot of properties where there is barely a metre between the house wall and the boundary. A 200mm timber pole plus rails plus 300mm of drainage metal eats most of that.
Steel post and concrete sleeper walls solve this. The post is around 100mm wide and the panels are thin, so the whole structure takes up far less of the space you have. On the tightest jobs in this suburb, that is the deciding factor.
| Council for consents | Christchurch City Council |
|---|---|
| Typical ground | Flat and stable, tight urban sections |
| Walls we build most here | Stone facing and concrete sleeper |
| Consent threshold | 1.5m of retained ground, or any surcharge above the wall |
| Drainage | 300mm metal, perforated coil, geotextile, on every wall |
| Site visit | Free, with a written quote to follow |
Character homes and the walls that suit them
The streets off Papanui Road and around Merivale Mall carry a lot of pre 1940 housing. A stone faced wall, or block faced in schist or basalt, sits with that architecture. We build the structure in block and face it in stone, which costs a good deal less than a solid stone wall and gives you most of the look.
On a low garden wall we will build solid stone, because at that height the structural argument for block disappears.
Access is usually the real cost
Getting a machine and materials into a Merivale back garden often means going through a gate, past the house, and around a corner. Where we cannot get a machine in, spoil goes out by barrow and metal comes in the same way, and the labour shows up in the price.
We work this out at the site visit and tell you what it means. A wall that costs 400 a metre with machine access can cost noticeably more without it.
Not sure whether your wall needs a consent? Send us a photo and a rough height. Under 1.5m of retained ground with nothing loading it from above is exempt. A driveway, a building, a pool or fill sloping up behind it is a surcharge, and that changes the answer.
Common questions
Retaining walls in Merivale: common questions
What is the slimmest retaining wall you can build?
Steel post and concrete sleeper. The posts are about 100mm wide, which is roughly half the footprint of a timber pole wall once you count the drainage zone.
Can you match a wall to my villa?
Yes. Stone facing over a block structure is the usual answer, using basalt or schist. We bring samples to the site visit so you can see them against the house.
Wall types
Retaining walls we build in Merivale
Concrete and Block Retaining Walls
Concrete lasts longer than timber and carries far more load, which is why it goes in wherever a driveway, a shed or a neighbour's lawn sits above the wall. We build.
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Engineered Retaining Walls
Once a wall passes 1.5m, or once a driveway or building sits above it, the job changes. You need a chartered engineer, a building consent and inspections. We manage.
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Stone and Gabion Retaining Walls
Stone is the choice when the wall has to look like it belongs. Canterbury gives us plenty to work with, including Halswell basalt, Port Hills volcanic stone, Timaru.
See moreNeed a retaining wall in Merivale?
Answer three quick questions or call [PHONE] and we will book a free site visit.