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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Taita, Wellington region
Retaining Walls in Taita
Top Retaining Walls Lower Hutt builds retaining walls across Taita, at the northern end of the Lower Hutt valley floor where the valley narrows toward the Taita Gorge. The ground here is river gravel, flat and predictable, which makes it some of the most straightforward wall building in the city.
- 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.
Gravel at the top of the valley
Taita sits on the alluvial gravels the Hutt River has been laying down for a very long time. It digs well, it founds a post properly, and the free draining ground behind the wall helps the drainage system rather than working against it.
It is hard work for hand digging, so where a machine cannot reach the wall line the labour cost climbs faster here than it would in softer ground. Access is worth checking early.
| Council for consents | Hutt City Council |
|---|---|
| Typical ground | Flat valley floor gravel near the Taita Gorge |
| Walls we build most here | Timber pole and sleeper 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 |
State housing sections and what has happened to them
Taita was built out from the 1940s with thousands of state houses on flat sections. Since then a great many have been subdivided, extended and relandscaped, and each of those changes leaves a step in level.
The walls that result are usually 400mm to 1.2m along a boundary. Straightforward jobs, provided the treatment level is right and the drainage goes in properly behind them.
Watch what sits above the wall
On a subdivided section the ground above your wall is often fill placed to make a level platform. Fill that slopes up behind a wall is a surcharge, and a surcharge takes the job outside the consent exemption whatever the height.
We check the levels before we price the wall, because finding that out at inspection stage is an expensive way to learn 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 Taita: common questions
Is Taita ground easy to build on?
Generally yes. Flat, gravel below, predictable digging. The main variable is whether we can get a machine to the wall line.
Do I need consent for a 1.2m boundary wall?
Not on height alone. You do if anything loads the ground above it, including fill from a neighbouring build that slopes up behind your wall.
Wall types
Retaining walls we build in Taita
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 Taita?
Answer three quick questions or call [PHONE] and we will book a free site visit.