Timber Retaining Walls
Timber does most of the work in the Hutt Valley. A pole and rail wall goes up in a few days, costs less per metre than anything else, and holds a 1.2m step in level.
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Kelson, Wellington region
Retaining Walls in Kelson
Top Retaining Walls Lower Hutt builds retaining walls throughout Kelson, high on the northwestern side of the valley above Belmont and Manor Park. Kelson sections sit well above the valley floor with long views and, almost without exception, a slope somewhere on the property that needs holding.
- Timber, block, gabion, stone and engineered walls
- Full drainage behind every wall we build
- Consents lodged through Hutt 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 handledHutt City, Upper Hutt and Wellington, start to finish.
- Itemised quotesYou see what the drainage and the spoil actually cost.
Elevated sections, steep back yards
Most Kelson houses sit on a cut and fill platform, with ground rising behind and falling away in front. That produces two quite different wall jobs on one property, and they are worth thinking about together rather than one at a time.
The wall holding the bank behind the house carries sloping ground above it, which is a surcharge. The wall holding up the front lawn or the driveway edge is a different problem again.
| Council for consents | Hutt City Council |
|---|---|
| Typical ground | Weathered greywacke on the northwestern hills |
| Walls we build most here | Tiered timber and crib walls |
| 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 |
Tiering suits the wide Kelson sections
Sections up here are generally wide enough to step back, which makes tiering practical. Two 1.2m walls with a terrace between them usually beat one engineered 2.4m wall on total cost once engineering and consent are counted, and they finish faster because there is no consent wait.
The terraces also break up the run of surface water down the slope, which is worth having on clay ground in a wet winter.
Weather up here is harder than down on the flat
Kelson catches more wind and more weather than the valley floor, and the weathered greywacke clay holds water rather than shedding it through. Timber up here spends more of its life wet than the same timber would in Waterloo.
H5 poles handle that. What they cannot do is survive with no drainage behind them, which is why we quote the drainage as part of the wall and will not separate the two.
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 Kelson: common questions
Do I need two walls on a cut and fill section?
Often, yes, and they are different jobs. The wall behind the house holds sloping ground, the one at the front holds a platform edge. We look at both at the same visit.
Is tiering worth it in Kelson?
Usually, because sections up here are wide enough to allow real horizontal separation. We price both options so you can compare the numbers side by side.
Wall types
Retaining walls we build in Kelson
Concrete and Block Retaining Walls
Concrete goes in wherever something heavy sits above the wall, and in a city built beside an active fault it is also what engineers reach for first. We build.
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Engineered Retaining Walls
Past 1.5m, or once a driveway or building sits above it, the job changes completely. You need a chartered engineer, a building consent from Hutt City Council and.
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Stone and Gabion Retaining Walls
Stone suits the Hutt hills, where a hard manufactured face can look wrong against bush and rock. The whole region is founded on greywacke, so local quarries put out.
See moreNeed a retaining wall in Kelson?
Answer three quick questions or call [PHONE] and we will book a free site visit.