Stone Faced Retaining Walls in Christchurch
Top Retaining Walls Christchurch builds stone faced retaining walls, where a reinforced concrete or block wall does the structural work and natural stone is laid against the front as a face. From two metres away it reads as a solid stone wall, because the stone is real and it is laid by hand in the same way.
- Real stone face over a reinforced structural core
- Carries loads a mass stone wall could not
- Roughly half the cost of solid stone
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This is the answer for anyone who wants stone but is retaining something serious. A mass stone gravity wall cannot carry a driveway above it without becoming enormous. A reinforced core can be designed for whatever the site demands, and the stone is then purely a finish.
How a stone faced retaining wall goes together
The core
Reinforced block or poured concrete, sized by the engineer for the retained height and any surcharge, with the drainage and footing exactly as they would be on a bare wall.
The face
Stone laid against the core with ties back into it, jointed and raked so no mortar reads from the front. Coursing is deliberately irregular, because regular coursing is what makes a faced wall look like cladding.
The details that give it away
Returns at the ends, the capping, and how the wall meets the ground. If the stone stops flat at a corner or sits on a visible concrete plinth the illusion is gone. We return the stone around ends and bed the base below ground.
Stone faced retaining wall cost against solid stone
Roughly half, sometimes less on a tall wall, because the expensive part of solid stone is the volume of hand placed material. A faced wall uses a fraction of the stone for the same visible result.
It is still not a cheap wall. The masonry labour on the face is the same skill and close to the same time per square metre of face.
Where stone facing makes most sense on a retaining wall
Driveway walls on character properties, house platform walls that get looked at every day, and any consented engineered wall where the owner does not want to look at grey block. It is also the way to match a new wall to an existing stone one without rebuilding both.
Stone Faced Walls at a glance
- Core
- Reinforced block or poured concrete, engineered for the load
- Face
- Natural stone, hand laid, tied to the core, joints raked
- Cost
- Roughly half of an equivalent solid stone wall
- Advantage
- Carries surcharge loads a mass stone wall cannot
- Detailing
- Stone returned at ends and bedded below ground
- Best for
- Driveway and platform walls on character properties
Stone Faced Walls in Christchurch: common questions
Can you tell it is not solid stone?
Not from the front when the coursing is irregular, the joints are raked and the ends are returned. Those three details are what give a bad one away.
Can a faced wall hold a driveway?
Yes, because the core is engineered for it. That is the main reason to choose faced over solid.
Can you match an existing stone wall?
Usually. We source stone to match and copy the coursing pattern of the original.
Is the stone structural at all?
No. It is a finish tied to the core. All the structure is behind it.
How thick is the stone on a faced wall?
Enough to read as real stone from the front, with the pieces varying rather than being uniform slices. Uniform thickness is what makes a faced wall look like cladding. The stone is tied back into the core rather than relying on adhesion, because a face that is only stuck on is a face that eventually comes off.
Can stone facing go on an existing block wall?
Often yes, provided the wall is structurally sound and the added weight and thickness have been allowed for. It is one of the better value improvements available, because the expensive structural work already exists and you are only paying for the finish.
Which is better value, stone faced or solid stone?
Stone faced, in almost every case where the wall is doing structural work. You get the same appearance for roughly half the cost, and a core that can be engineered for a driveway or a house platform, which a mass stone wall cannot be without becoming enormous.
Recent Christchurch jobs
Boundary wall between us and the neighbour on a new build. Sorted the levels, the consent question and the fence on top in one job. Turned up when they said and left the site clean every night.
Builder here. I use them on subdivision work because the paperwork comes back complete. PS1 up front, PS4 at the end, no chasing.
Wall failed after the big rain and took part of the bank with it. Made safe within two days and rebuilt a month later with real drainage behind it.
Terraced the back lawn into two levels. Fast, tidy, fair price, and the drainage was done properly.
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