Retaining Walls: A Quick Fix for a Watery Yard

Lately, storms and rains have assaulted much of the southern US. This sort of weather can turn even the most sloped yards into watery, swampy messes. One way some homeowners deal with this water is by building retaining walls with drainage systems near them.  A retaining wall is any sort of wall, usually made from brick, stone, or other masonry materials, that holds earth back.  A series of these walls can turn a sloped yard into a terraced yard.   One important part of keeping a retaining wall standing is making sure there is adequate drainage behind it.  Water trapped behind the wall can weaken it and ultimately cause it to come crashing down.  Avoiding this problem is simply a matter of making sure excess water has somewhere to go.

The same principle applies to yards that face severe weather. You can easily use retainingwalls to control the flow of excess water, and then drain that water off in a controlled way. If you live in an area with severe storms for much of the year, installing permanent rain drains and retaining walls in the yard will help keep your yard dry and usable. To start this process, first build the retaining wall in your sloped yard. It is smart to build more than one and in different parts of the yard if you really want to control water flow.  Then, build a small ditch or gutter on the ledge of yard behind the wall. Rather than just running down hill and causing erosion and other problems, rainwater will now run into these ditches.  From there you just need to direct the flow of the water to where you want it to go. You can divert it to rain barrels, culverts at the edge of your yard, gardens or other places.  

As you can see, a few well-placed retaining walls with accompanying drainage systems can both help create more space in a sloped yard and they can also be useful in controlling erosion and other weather-related problems.  So, head on down to your local masonry materials and get started building before the next big storm hits!

Concrete Block and Your Small Business

Concrete block is a versatile masonry material that can be used in many different ways on the exterior of your small business. One thing that is important to do as a business owner is make your business stand out.  If you are trying to go for a unique look in the actual building itself, try mixing up the materials you use to build. For example, mixing a red brick facade with textured gray or sand colored concrete blocks can really beautify the face of your building.  Besides texturing, concrete blocks can also carry designs. A recent example of this is the facelift that bridges near the Milwaukee International Airport got.  A large airplane design is pressed into the concrete blocks that hold up the bridge. This modern feature is both practical—it points to the airport exit—and it is beautiful. It stands out from all the other miles of concrete across America.  

The same principle can work on the outside of your business.  Sell coffee? You can order a coffee cup design in your concrete block.  Wine bottles, books, records, animals, and thousands of other designs can also be created in concrete block.  This will catch the eye of potential customers and also leave no doubt about what your business sells. 

Beyond designs in the blocks, use concrete blocks to create walkways around your business.  As with the façade, these walkways can suit your own style and tastes. A range of colors and some mixing and matching can make even the sidewalk around your building stand out.  A brick walkway with concrete block accents makes a lovely walking path of driveway.  You can also use chips of concrete block to fill areas where plant beds will not work, but poured concrete is just too mundane. 

Overall, some well-designed, well-placed concrete blocks can change the look and tone of your small business’s exterior.  Head on down to your local masonry materials store and get ready to do a makeover that will have everyone talking!