When people start working in a new commercial building or move out to another place, they often don’t think about what makes that place work. Nonetheless, you need to know those things since not being able to meet specific structural requirements, including those that concern your drainage system, could give you several issues in the future.
Drainage backfill is essential when your building has a retaining wall and having it is perfect if you want to ensure proper drainage structure in your building.
Regardless of that, many people don’t know how it works, so we are here to tell you what makes drainage backfill that important for the retaining wall in your building.
What Is Drainage Backfill?
So, what is backfill?
It’s the first thing you need to know to understand why the backfill process is important for retaining walls. When people talk about drainage layer backfill, they are talking about granular materials that are piled up behind your retaining wall to make sure it has adequate drainage.
Regardless of its materials, any retaining wall must have a compacted backfill to promote free draining. This process may seem simple to undergo by yourself, but it’s best if a professional does it since doing it yourself could lead to serious structural issues that can cost you a lot of money in the future.
Why Is Drainage Backfill Important?
Getting to the main part of the article, it’s time to know why drainage backfill is that important to your retaining wall. In a nutshell, what backfill does is let water flow directly towards the wall instead of building up above the native soil, and that helps it move through it and get to the other side of the wall.
Drainage backfill does this by relieving hydrostatic pressure in the wall, so you also need drainage pipes to let the water go away from the wall instead of accumulating it. If you let water stay there, it can get you moisture and mold issues, which leads to many other problems.
If you don’t have backfill, your retaining wall may not be able to stand there for long, so you will need to fix it or get rid of it in a few months.
What Is The Best Backfill Material? Is It Good For A Retaining Wall?
You use many materials to create backfill in your retaining wall, but most retaining walls use gravel since it doesn’t retain water and makes it easier for you to have weep holes on your building.
Compacted native soil and crushed stone are also excellent for your retaining wall, and your contractor can push soil against the filter fabric of your retaining wall to make sure the two materials are separated.
If you need to backfill a trench, read this guide: 4 Trench Backfill Methods You Should Know
How Do You Backfill A Drain Pipe To Relieve Hydrostatic Pressure?
We don’t recommend you backfill your drain pipe yourself since that is something only backfill professionals should do. They are the ones who know how the process works, and you are at risk of making a mistake if you try to do it yourself.
[Read: How To Hire The Best Earthworks Construction Company In Prescott, AZ]
Protect Your Building And Retaining Walls With Drainage System Backfill
The best way to protect your building walls from all the issues that come after water accumulates on them is to call a reputable earthwork professional. They are skilled and trained to do drainage backfilling works the right way.
We are Aspire Construction Group, and we offer land grading, earthwork services, and drainage backfilling in Yavapai County, Arizona. You can call us whenever you need a professional earthworks contractor to tell you what your retaining walls need to be strong and durable!