7 problems with Gunnite pools that you need to know.

So you have been considering a swimmong pool and have met with the gunnite pool builder. Lets see if she told you everything?
Did you know these 7 traits of concrete pools?

1. Incompatible with salt – That’s right folks. Concrete(Gunnite and Shotcrete are just  concrete placing methods) pools are not compatible with salt. The concrete pool dealers will tell you they are. But this is for a reason; they will sell you a new surface sooner. Salt eats away at a concrete pool in much the same way it does a concrete driveway. While this may take longer because it is dissolved, it still happens.  Another reason salt eats the surface is because it is abrasive and with the water moving around so often that shell wears faster with salt in the water. By the way did you know that you would have to replace your concrete pool surface?
2.   Surface is a wear item, you need to replace it – Now whether or not you have salt in your water a concrete pool will need to be resurfaced. At best 7-10 years is all that can be expected. Now keep in mind the price - $15,000 to $20,000 is a good starting point for a 15’ x 30’ pool.
3.   Concrete cracks – As a NCMA certified mason I know this all too well. Cracks in concrete are to be expected and are considered a “feature” of concrete.  When pouring a patio we can do things to hide these cracks by “pre cracking” the concrete with control joints. But in a pool this simply won’t do.  So we end up with cracks where we don’t want them. Out west where the soil has less clay concrete cracks less – in pools too! But here in the north east with the freeze thaw cycles and clay content you can expect a crack failure to develop in your pool
4. Hard to heat – When it comes down to it concrete is just a ratio of sand, Portland cement, gravel and water. So basically it’s just hard dirt. And we all know that the ground stays the same temperature all year round. Having only concrete (which is hard dirt) insulate you from the ground (dirt) does nothing to keep heat in. In our own tests between two swimming pools of similar size. One a concrete pool using a 450,000 BTU heater and a Fiberglass (what type of insulation do you have in your attic) pool using a 150,000 BTU heater. We found that to raise the temperature from 65 degrees to 80 degrees took the concrete pool 3 full 24-hour days and only took the Fiberglass pool 8 hours. Both were in direct sun, but only one benefited from being an insulator from the ground temperature.
5.   Build time – Now this can vary widely from contractor to contractor, but in general concrete pools take longer to build. A fiberglass pool with 4’ of concrete installed in a flat location will typically be ready in under 10 working days. A top Gunnite builder will typically quote 30 days for the same project while most Gunnite builders shy away from 30 days and commit to 90 days. In fact many gunnite builders never actually build the pool themselves. Every portion is subbed out - Dig, Plumb, Steel, Gunnite/Shotcrete, Surface, Decking etc. Here at Albert Group we sub nothing. If we don't do it - we don't sell it to you.
6.     Surface is rough – All you need to do is stick your hand in a concrete pool then a fiberglass pool to feel the difference yourself. The smoothest concrete pool surface is a cheese grader compared to fiberglass. Do you want your kids feet to look like this after one hour or volleyball in the pool?
7.   Inconsistency of material used – Not all concrete is the same. If you know someone in the masonry trades ask them if every truck of concrete they have ever ordered is consistent. It’s not, that’s why it is considered an art. If concrete just always came in the way you wanted and did what you wanted it to do every time that would be great. But the fact is that you have to know how to work with it the way it comes in that batch. Everything can be a factor, humidity, drive time on the truck, was there leftovers from the last pour in his truck before he loaded you, is the truck sitting in the sun, is the project in the sun, windy, overcast, how many times did the barrel spin (there is a counter in the truck and you have to know it), did it rain last night (that would cool off the gravel).

  Despite all these drawbacks concrete pools do have some distinct advantages.  Size and shape can be whatever you desire.

What type of retaining wall do I need?

Retaining walls come in several varieties. Some of the most common types are:

1. Wood or Tie walls
2. Concrete Block
3. Poured Concrete
4. SRW – Segmented Retaining Wall
5. Gabion
6. StoneMakers Concrete
7. Mafia Block

Wood Tie Walls

                Wood tie wall are common with DIY’ers, they are not as common with the pro’s. These walls tend to have a shorter lifespan than the other methods listed here for a few reasons. Since they are wood and wood will rot most professionals do not see much upside in installing these. The material itself is only slightly less expensive than concrete so there is not much savings there. The amount of digging is the same so no savings there as well. They just install a little faster. For a 1-3’ tall wall that will be installed by yourself you might be happy with this type of wall. For taller walls consider a more permanent solution, doing these things twice can be very expensive.

Concrete Block walls

                Concrete blocks look like the ones you remember being called cinder blocks as a kid. They are rarely made of cinders anymore but instead are made of concrete. Concrete Block walls can be used as a retaining wall however they are used more often as a load bearing wall. This is mainly because SRW’s and poured in place walls have taken over this market. Since a concrete block wall often times requires a substantial footing and loads of rebar and a lot of labor most pros would rather just pour that type of wall.

Poured concrete

Poured concrete walls are great when done correctly and disasters when corners are cut. One common mistake is to incorrectly lay the rebar inside the form, or use the wrong type or amount. As a homeowner it is important you have a contractor that doesn’t cheat here. If they do you will be paying to do it over. See the picture to the right. When it goes wrong there is no repairing it, just replaceing it. That job was done by a contractor in Fishkill, NY and only lasted 3 months before it broke.

SRW

                SRW’s installed correctly can be a great choice. The upside is that they are easy to install fairly easily. They are lightweight (usually around 100 lbs each) and they look good. The downside is that it is easy to skip steps such as burying courses, geo grid, properly compacting the base, etc. When these steps get skipped the project is in jeopardy. I have seen walls incorrectly installed fail completely.

Gabion

                A gabion wall is made from a cage filled with rocks. These are pretty simple to do, and usually very strong. These are mostly done in industrial areas or by roads and bridges. They allow water to run right through them. The look of them can be debated but most homeowners do not like them for their back yard.

StoneMakers Concrete

                StoneMakers concrete walls are only installed by a network of StoneMakers dealers so the downside is that you may not be able to find a dealer near you. This is constantly changing and chances are if you live in a moderately populated area there will be one. These walls take a lot of skill and know how that no homeowner would know without being taught. The wall because of the proprietary ingredients is much stronger than a normal concrete wall. This type of wall is also much more attractive, as the name implies you make the wall look like stone. This wall is a great choice for almost any retaining wall scenario and is what we use.

Mafia Blocks

                Mafia Blocks get their name from the size resembling coffins. Aside from their unflattering name they are extremely heavy and require a medium to large excavator to lift or some other piece of equipment. They are great for making bins at the landscape supply yard to put mulch and gravel in. Most homeowners would not want these things in their backyard.

Why do fiberglass pools crack?

Well, we all know everything has a breaking point. The trick is getting a product where the breaking point is so far out of reach that you will never get near it. But the question stands – Why do fiberglass pools crack? There are a few different ways that a fiberglass pool will crack. I will attempt to give you my honest professional opinion here as to what I have witnessed. If you have seen something I missed please leave it in the comments. The more we all know the better off we all will be.

My top 7 reasons fiberglass pools crack.

1. Improper shipping support.  I have seen this on a pool before and there is not much I can do about it once it gets to me but send it back from where it came from. Travelling down the road can place huge stresses on a fiberglass shell because of the bumps in the road. What happens sometimes is that a pool will be strapped improperly and this will allow significant distortion of the pool shell.   Leisure pools are able to flex over one foot without damage, but they also let you know any more is not good. The cracks that form are sometimes referred to as spider cracking of the gel coat. This is unsightly and should be rejected although it poses no threat to the overall structural integrity and is only on the surface.

2. Improper gel coat thickness. Now this one is a strange phenomenon. Gel coat applied to thin will crack just as easily as gel coat applied to thick. I’m not a scientist, I don’t know exactly why this happens, it just does. There is a very small margin for error here so the factory must have quality control factors in place when manufacturing your pool.

3. Accidental Damage. Well that can be just about anything. The most common although almost nonexistent would be the run of the mill car accident. In the past 5 years I know of only one pool where the driver hit a low bridge. That will straight destroy anything so a pool is no different.

4. Pool shell too thin or just too weak. Some manufacturers build weak shells, it’s bad for the industry as a whole. But unfortunately that’s just how it is. If the shell is too thin or flexible it will flex past the ability of the gel coat to flex and cause a spider crack.

5. Low quality gel coat or even worse a gel coat alternative. Placing plastic on the inside of the pool and calling it a high end finish is getting more and more popular. Be wary of any pool that calls the inside of the pool “xyz finish”. That is not a true gel coat and has a been known to fade and just plain delaminate.

6. Pool not made level to begin with. If a pool shell is produced off a wood framed mold most likely that mold has warped over time. With varying humidity and temperatures this is unavoidable for these cheaper molds. The problem with that is that the factory gives the installer a set of dig plans and we dig the hole to exacting specifications. If the pool is not the shape it was designed to be the hole will be off and the pool will not be level. Once water is placed in the shell the pool will most likely find level because of the tremendous weight. This forcing of the pool into level will stress the shell and cause spider cracking at best and giant wall cracks and bulges at worst. Rumor is that one manufacturers shells are so far off that they recommend the installer use the excavator to push the uneven corners down then fill it.

7. Improper backfill and or installation. If you use sand you will come to regret it. Thing is, sand just is a pain to compact fully, especially 8' deep around a corner you can't see. Gravel comes out of a shovel 95% compacted and the rule is if you get to 98% you can build just about anything you want on it. Sand besides being hard to compact can wash away in wel conditions. If your pool builder says they will be using sand - run!

Notice I didn't say temprature. Cold temps have little to no affect under normal. Every fiberglass pool builder in the northeast has installed a pool in below freezing temps and they never have a problem. I remember at the end of 2010 just before Christmas breaking over 1000 pounds of ice that froze inside a pool that was waiting to get installed. I needed to get the ice out because it was too heavy to lift with it in and there was no problems smashing the ice with a sledge hammer.  Thats because the gel coats and fiberglass itself have great cold weather properties. And that's why fiberglass pools are a great choice for upstate NY.

Got comments. Lets hear em!

Don't get stuck with low quality gel coat like this! Buy from people with integrity.

Are fiberglass swimming pools any good?

As a fiberglass pool installer in Orange County NY ,this is a question that I hear pretty often. For the longest time I would have had to say no. See, in the early days of fiberglass they had some obvious drawbacks. The 4 biggest drawbacks of fiberglass pools of old were.

• The shapes often resembled that of a bath tub.

• The gel coat colors were either white or some close variant to white like sky blue.

• The mold technology was pretty lacking.

• The Resins used actually absorbed water.

Can you believe that the pool on the left is still in production and has to compete with the pool on the right?

To be honest not every manufacturer has gotten all of these things fixed as of today. So let’s see what’s new in the fiberglass pool industry.

Shape: 

                Now I know that some of you

are thinking that shape is something that cannot be graded and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I would have to agree on some level, but when it comes to a pool shape is a little more important than that. Shape can affect how well a pool performs as well as how good it looks. For instance Leisure Pools adds a convenience ledge about two feet down from the coping on all of it’s pools. This simple change in shape allows children to easily move about the pool while providing a much stronger pool wall than the competition. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you can now see Barrier Reef adding this feature in their pools as well.

 

Gel Coat Colors:

                First a little definition – the gel coat of a pool is the part that you actually feel inside. Now color is another purely subjective topic. If you want a white pool plenty of guys make that and you will have no problem finding one. That being said who really wants a white pool anymore? No one I’ve spoken with in the past 5 years. Now why is it that so many fiberglass manufacturers only offer white or charge extra for colors thereby convincing you white is a better (cheaper) option. Simply because they have found it difficult to build a colored pool that will not fade. Now barrier reef which I liked above had some interesting language in their warranty.

“Barrier Reef Pools finish coat or gelcoat is warranted against blistering for a total of 15 years. This Warranty excludes discoloration, staining, fading, hairline cracks, blistering, surface yellowing or roughness after manufacture , where the cause is algae infestation, calcium scale or other mineral or vegetation deposits or faults arising from misuse or abuse of the surface or the maintenance of incorrect water balances.”

Now right there they excluded just about everything that can happen to a surface of a pool. Read that again, The first sentence warrants blisters and the second takes it away. That’s pretty fancy wording if you ask me. They go on to say that this applies only if your water balance is off. Well folks I have never tested pool water from a homeowner that maintained it themselves and had it come out “perfect” every single time.

 

Mold Technology:

                This is where Leisure Pools has really set the pace so to speak. Industry standard is to build a fiberglass pool mold on a wood frame. The problem with this type of manufacturer is that wood warps, plain and simple. For instance here in the Hudson Valley, NY we have weather extremes and I see decks all the time that look good one year and look like crap the next. The handrails don’t look straight anymore, the floor looks uneven etc. This is because the wood warped from month to month. A real good deck builder can help prevent this by placing the “cupping” in a certain direction but that’s some next level stuff, and I don’t build decks. This guy does build decks and he does a great job. Back on track, you can see how a wood frame will warp. Leisure Pools uses only steel frames on all of their fiberglass pool molds, it costs more but you end up with a perfect pool.

 

Resin:

                Now we are getting into the science of things here. This is the stuff that gets me excited. Well that and riding my Harley. But seriously - resin is extremely important. Except for the gel coat layer of the pool every other layer will contain resin. Some companies use multiple types of resin depending on the layer. The key thing to remember is that Vinyl Ester resins do not absorb water and most other resins do. That being said Leisure Pools is the only company that uses Vinyl Ester resins in every layer of their pool. The reason you want a resin that does not absorb water is simple. If your pool shell absorbs water the surface will probably blister. Knowing this some companies will use Vinyl Ester resin on the first inside layer but polyester resin on the subsequent layers. In theory that’s great, this stops the pool water from getting in the other layers. The problem is if you have ground water. If the back of the pool is not protected as well, then you have the risk of groundwater entering the shell and causing a blister.

 

So now that that’s done. Are Fiberglass Swimming Pools any Good? As you can see, it depends on the manufacturer. While some like Leisure Pools are excellent some others are not as good.  Leave your comments and sign up for our blog.

 

Does any company make a Carbon Fiber Swimming Pool?

In the race to build the most technologically advanced and structurally sound swimming pool one company has clearly positioned themselves as the leader. Not content with producing the best fiberglass swimming pool on the market Leisure Pools has raised the bar once again.

Introducing Composite Armor (or Armour if you are an Aussie)

Leisure pools has recently introduced Composite Armor to its line of fiberglass swimming pools. This Patented technology is comprised of Carbon Fiber, Basalt Fiber and DuPont Kevlar. Incorporating these hi -tech fibers to your swimming pool provides significant advantages over the competition.

3 reasons why Composite armor is the best choice for your new swimming pool.

1. Strength – Carbon Fiber and Kevlar are the go-to materials for super strong construction. There is a reason that bullet proof vests and helmets made from DuPont Kevlar have been standard issue for US combat soldiers for decades. 
2. Light weight – The Boeing 787 Dreamliner which seats up to 290 people and cost $32 Billion to design is Boeing’s most fuel efficient airliner and the world’s first airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction. Now this same technology is available in your swimming pool only 3 years later.
3. Flexibility – Here in the northeast, Monroe, NY to be specific we have seen some extreme weather in the last few years. This abundance of rain coupled with times of drought cause the ground to expand and contract. Having a composite based pool vs concrete (gunnite) or a vinyl liner pool is a huge advantage. The repair process on a crack in a gunnite pool can be quite a process.

 

New Research to Prove Health Benefits of Swimming Pools

We from Albertgroup Landscaping wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year. Is fitness also in the Top Ten List of your New Years Resolutions? Than we have good news for you: In 2013 the National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) will award research grants totaling $117,974 to study the health benefits of swimming and aquatic exercise and to encourage more people to get into the water.

Research to Prove Benefits of Aqua Exercise
While we all know about the health benefits of swimming and water exercise, it is always nice to have proof. “Physicians, therapists, and insurance companies rely on published science when considering options to treat patients. As people age, medical costs increase and mobility and quality of life decreases. We believe we have the magic potion. Our funded research will prove it,” explaines Bill Kent, Chairman of the Foundation’s Grant Review Committee, in a press release of the NSPF.

“The percentage of Americans older than 65 will increase from 12.4% to 19.6% by 2030 according to the U.S. Census data; similar trends are occurring around the world”, the release continues. Many of the research studies funded by NSPF focus therefore on seniors and age-related health-problems, such as osteoarthritis, cognitive, neuromuscular and cardiovascular functional decline and stiffness.

Swimming as Therapy for Age-Related Diseases
The Foundation is certain to be able to proof that aquatic exercise is the ideal therapy for many of those diseases. One example is the study of the Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratoy at the University of Texas at Austin. 40 osteoarthritis patients will be assigned to twelve weeks of swim training. The study is based on the recommendation of the American College of Rheumatology to include aerobic exercise as part of the treatment for osteoarthritis. But arthritic joint paint disables many middle-aged and older adults from land-based exercise and activities. In the water, the joints do not have to carry any weight, which may prove aqua-exercise as the ideal solution.

Another study, proposed by the Department of Kinesiology, at Indiana University, and the Director of Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming will compare seniors, who have been involved in regular aquatic exercise (swimming or workout) with an age-and-education-matched control-group. The study wants to show, that regular exercise is associated with enhanced cognitive ability and improved nerve and heart health in senior people.

Your Fountain to Youth
“We will all get older”, summarizes Thomas M. Lachocki, Ph.D. and CEO with the National Swimming Pool Foundation the importance of those studies. “Why not explore to what extent water activity will help us maintain our mobility and minds while we are alive. It is no coincidence that people believed in the ‘fountain of youth’ and not a ‘football field of youth'.”

Why You Should Order Your Swimming Pool Now

Where will you be during your next summer vacation? That might sound like an odd question, with freezing winter-weather outside and the holidays not quite there yet. Still, we would like you to think of some beautiful, sunny days. You take your coffee outside on the terrace to enjoy your Sunday morning. A little later your kids storm out and jump in the pool even before they have breakfast. All of you look forward to a wonderful vacation-day right in your yard.

Family-Fun all Summer long
Why not give your family the gift of summer-long family-fun? Even if the weather outside is less than inviting you can make plans of what your backyard should look like in the summer. There are many little things you can do, to improve your outdoor space. Add a retaining wall to gain more space, design a sitting area, include a fire pit, water features or plan an in ground swimming pool.

Make Your New Years Resolutions Come True
Do you want to get more exercise next year? Do you want to spend more time with your family and children? Do you want to spend more time outside? It sounds like we have the perfect solution to all your resolutions: The installation of an in ground Fiberglass Pool. Imagine how easy it will be, to just step out in the morning and swim a few laps or start the day with some aqua exercises.

A Present that lasts all Summer Long
Let’s be honest, most of us have all and even more than we actually need. Why not scale back on having more things and toys and trinkets and give a present, which still can be enjoyed when the holidays are long past. Imagine the happy faces of your children, when they learn, that they will be have their own swimming pool right outside the back-door next summer. Why not adding a new swimsuit or some water toys to the swimming pool plans?

Free 3D Rendering
Albert Group Landscaping and Swimming Pools offers free 3D rendering of your project. The renderings are very detailed and include even the finishing touches, like plants and different lighting scenarios. You will be able to see exactly how your yard will look like, when we are done with your project. Please contact Albert Group Landscaping if you should have any questions. We help you to share your summer-trees under the Christmas-trees!

Plan your pool project now, than you will have it installed before summer starts!

How to Use Walkways and Retaining Walls to Create Winter-Magic

Snow can add some true magic to your garden. When you look out of your window on a white, glittery surface, branches heavy with fresh fallen snow, it is easy to get lost in the silence of this wonderful Christmas scenery. True, soon enough there will be footprints, shoveling and more mushy weather, but just follow our simple tricks to preserve the white winter magic a little while longer.

Walls of Delight
Retaining walls can be very attractive in a winter landscape. They provide space for the snow to collect and can be easily decorated with a few pine-branches, a lantern or some lights, depending on how natural you want the wall to look. Next spring or summer, think of planting some patches of decorative grass around your wall. This will add color to your winter landscape. Another beautiful addition is the installation of decorative tiles set into the wall. Texture and color should fit the surroundings and add an attractive splash of color. Choose flower motives to remind your garden-visitors what it will look like again in a few months.

Snow-Catchers
If you do not have a retaining wall, you still can add all kinds of structures to ad eye-appeal to your winter garden. Birdhouses are a wonderful addition to every yard. You can put them on wooden stilts or hang them in a tree. Other possible snow-catching elements are fences, arbors, benches, and boulders. If you just want to add something right away, choose simple tepee-like structures, made out of bamboo poles. You can decorate with natural materials, pines and red berries, lanterns, lights or Christmas ornaments. Have fun with it!

Outdoor Christmas-Trees
To add to the beauty of your wintery landscape, you should make sure to feature some trees and shrubs in your yard, that hold their bare limbs horizontally. This way snow can collect and creates the striking design of dark and light. Crabapple or Dogwood trees are good choices to create wintery silhouettes. Add some berry-full bird food to decorate your outside Christmas tree. 

Encourage a Walk in the Snow
To make sure, your winter landscape will get the attention it deserves, include some paths that garden-visitors can use in any weather. If you do not have walkways in your garden, which always add to a more park-like feeling, just try to create a path or two through your winter wonder land. You can use lanterns to mark the way.

Easy Winter-Decorations
For a wonderful one-time effect you can simply fill paper-bags with some sand and add a candle. Another easy to make outdoor winter decoration are ice-cakes. Take a Bundt cake pan or even a bucket and fill with water. Include decorative objects, like pinecones, pine tree branches, rowanberries or Christmas ornaments to be frozen in the ice cake. Use some warm water to get the ice cake out of the pan, set on some pinetree branches and enjoy!

For more ideas about landscaping projects for your garden contact Jamie Snyder of Albert Group Landscaping.

Hardscape: How to Maintain a Safe Walkway through the Winter

Walkways do not only enhance the aesthetics of your yard, they also create functional pathways to your garage, your shed and to your front door. Especially in the wintertime you will appreciate established and well-maintained walkways. They will make it easier and safer to get around on your property.

To prepare for the snowy season it is a good idea to clear all the sideways and walkways around your home. Clear any tools, hoses, rocks and debris form the walkways, so that shoveling or snow blowing will be easier and smoother once winter hits.

Check for Problem Spots Now
Another good idea is to check for cracks and other problem spots now. The extreme temperature-change will worsen the cracks over the winter – and the repairs will be more extensive and expensive in the spring. You also want to make sure to get rid of any low spots where puddles can develop and water might collect.

Inspect the Drainage System
Another important thing to check, is your water drainage system: Make sure, that rain and melting snow will not spill directly on your walkway, but can flow freely through your drainage system. If water gets under your walkway during the cold winter month, and the water freezes, it can actually rise up the walkway in certain spots. The consequence is, that the walkway will crack or get otherwise damaged in these areas.

Hire a Professional
“I can't tell you how many times I get calls for walkways from people who have an walkway that is in disrepair or simply never had one to begin with“, says Jamie Snyder of Albert Group Landscaping. „And every one of them in the end wished they had acted sooner.“ Albert Group is ICPI certified and a member of the NCMA (Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute and National Concrete Masonry Association respectively). “We don not only want to transform the curb appeal of your home, we have the skills necessary to install a walkway that will last the life of your home.”

Keep it Safe
By keeping your walkway clean and well maintained you also keep it safe. According to the National Floor Safety institute, there are more than 8 million emergency room visits and 21.000 deaths each year because of slip, trip and fall accidents. Most of these incidents happen on even floor, in 55 percent of all cases, the walkway is implicated as the cause.

How to Avoid Retaining Wall Failures

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy our thoughts go to those who were affected.  With the destructive power of nature still in our minds, we also want to take a closer look on the durability of hardscape features. Many of you have probably passed an otherwise beautiful residential development, but noticed the crumbling or tilting of a retaining wall. How can that happen? And even more important: How can you avoid the failure of important hardscape structures?

Generally retaining walls provide lateral support for vertical slopes of soil, which would otherwise collapse. Retaining walls are used for landscaping purposes, such as changing the topography of a yard. Since there is no yard without a slope, retaining walls are used often to level of terrain for a swimming pool, a patio, terrace or other landscaping feature.

To build a durable wall, it takes some planning and designing. Factors that should be considered are purpose of the wall, site placement, drainage, foundation, construction materials and building code issues. If the general engineering principals have not been applied, failure will occur, the wall will crumble, crack, puddles will develop around the top or the base of the wall, and the wall will set excessively or even sink.

Building Codes
Building Codes are made for a reason! Retaining walls should always be considered as load bearing construction not as an aesthetic feature, although new materials like StoneMakers concrete will allow us to design aesthetic and durable constructions. When calculating the effect of the earth pressure one also has to consider the contribution of water – plus worst-case scenarios, such as long lasting rainstorms or melting snow. All Albert Group Landscaping construction comply with the applicable building codes.

Foundation
The foundation is one of the most important parts of you wall. The footing and foundation system ensures that the retaining wall can resist the imposed lateral forces. It will also prevent the wall from sinking or settling excessively. Well designed and built walls utilize steel reinforcement bars or other methods to tie the wall to the foundation.

Drainage
Most retaining walls fails because rising groundwater or soil-moisture builds up too much pressure for the wall. When the imposed forces of soil and groundwater exceed the resisting forces of the retaining wall, failure occurs. Therefore all retaining walls should be constructed in a way that provides drainage for all water that collects behind the wall. Possibilities are a gravel drainage blanket and/or pipe behind the wall.

As you can see, proper design and engineering are essential to build a functional and long lasting retaining wall. Feel free to contact Jamie Snyder if you have any questions. Albert Group Landscaping also can provide you with a free estimate for your next landscaping project.