Retaining walls are great ways to reclaim usable space in your yard. In busy Houston, Texas, retaining walls on sloped surfaces can help you extend or level your driveway, create a flat area for a new patio, or even give you more lawn space to build an outdoor living area.
It’s important to keep in mind that when building a driveway retaining wall, its form, safety, and function is the top priority. Driveway retaining walls must be built to the design that is needed to create a strong driveway area. The size of the area required to park and properly turn around must be considered. While you don’t need a permit in the Houston area to build a driveway retaining wall, any retaining wall over 4 feet high must be consulted and approved by a wall engineer. Don’t let this scare you away, though! If your wall must be over 4 feet, the Pavertime team can put you in contact with wall engineers to help you begin this process.
Even though design options on driveway retaining walls are limited, it doesn’t mean they must be boring. Take a look at our five creative driveway retaining wall ideas to make your home stand out and make your neighbors stop in their tracks. Let’s get started!
5 Driveway Retaining Wall Ideas to Add Instant Impact
Build Decorative Paver Retaining Walls
Pavers and stonework increase your home’s value. Help your home stand out from your neighbors’ homes by installing a paver stone driveway retaining wall. While regular poured concrete and wood can be used to create retainer walls, utilizing paver stones will instantly elevate the look and feel of your home. Think about it! If you passed by a concrete wall and then a paver retaining wall, which one would make you do a double take? (I’ll give you a hint: not the concrete wall!)
Not only will paver stones last longer than wood and other building supplies, but they’re also maintenance-free. After installation by a qualified hardscaping contractor, they should only need occasional power washing and have long-lasting staying power. With different pavers and colors available, you can pick from a paver color that compliments your house or even go a different route and choose a rough-hewn style to bring a rustic touch to your home.
Pro Tip: Did you know stonework adds to your property value? A paver driveway retaining wall will add much more value to your property compared to a concrete retaining wall (which will add no value!).
Add Additional Lawn or Outdoor Living Space
Retaining walls can help you greatly expand your outdoor living area, meaning the retaining wall does not have to be on the direct edge of the driveway! If you have the space on your property, you can add additional space beyond the driveway when considering driveway retaining wall ideas that work for your property.
Pushing the retaining wall back 10-20 feet will provide additional space next to your driveway for adding a new lawn or a potential outdoor living area. You can use that additional space for a bunch of different outdoor uses like a custom fire pit, pergola, patio, or even just a garden. There are so many possibilities (take a look at our galleries for some inspo)!
Pro Tip: Do you love having your family over? Adding some more usable area on the edge of the driveway will give you a large flat area to host parties or family get-togethers and enable you to use your new driveway area as a space for tables and chairs.
Top Retaining Walls With Beautiful Gardens
Landscaping can significantly alter the look and feel of your home. Whether you have a green thumb or like simple native plants requiring less attention, adding a garden area to the top of your driveway retaining wall can bring valuable space for growing plants and vegetables. Let trailing vines hang over the retaining wall for a cottage feel, or plant stately red yucca plants for a colorful modern look.
Depending on the layout and requirements for supporting the driveway or surrounding area, retaining walls can sometimes be done in tiers. These tiers create built-in raised garden beds that you can fill with flowers and vegetables to wow your neighbors.
Pro Tip: Fill your retaining wall garden beds with easy-going native plants so the low maintenance of your retaining wall can transfer over to your plants, too!
Focus On Additional Details
Your design options with driveway retaining walls might seem limited because the function of the retaining wall has to come before design. But you have options to customize your retaining wall! A creative way to overcome this hurdle is by adding additional elements to the retaining wall, like a set of stairs and a paver walkway leading to and from the driveway area. Not only will this create a cohesive look, but you can also use this area to have fun with various paver colors and styles, allowing the driveway retaining wall to become part of a larger design.
Even better, you could add details to your hardscaping design that complement your driveway retaining wall by adding paver seating areas off to the side or using matching pavers to create a landscaping border.
Pro Tip: Remember, you can still customize your driveway retaining wall using our selection of retaining wall pavers! Although there are fewer options to choose from, you can still find a paver style and color to match the look and feel of your home! Call us to learn about your options!
Add Decorative Lighting to Your Retaining Wall
Create maximum curb appeal at night with driveway lighting ideas that use a low-voltage outdoor lighting system. Lights can be placed within any hardscaping structure, including paver driveways, driveway retaining walls, seating walls, and along staircases. Adding lights to your hardscaping not only looks nice but it also provides a safer area at night that could possibly prevent trips and falls while increasing home security.
Adding lights to your driveway retaining wall not only helps prevent injury but will highlight design elements and create ambiance, too. Maybe you can place uplighting along the base of the driveway retaining wall or place glare-free lights within the retaining wall that will be visually appealing at night while providing your home with an immediate upgrade.
Pro Tip: Pavertime can easily incorporate lighting elements into your paver projects! Ask us about our low-voltage lighting options.
Why Build a Driveway Retaining Wall?
Retaining walls help you reclaim valuable space around your driveway and property. Whether your home is on a hill that makes it hard to maneuver your car or you want to better use the yard you have, building a driveway retaining wall could help. Even better, building a stone paver retaining wall will help you achieve those things and also help you increase the value of your home.
If you need to fix up your driveway but are not sure where to start, Pavertime can help you navigate the many driveway retaining wall ideas out there. At Pavertime, we are experts when it comes to hardscaping. We aim to help you create the home of your dreams.
Our Pavertime team of experts is certified by the ICPI (Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute), and we’re also official Belgard Master Craftsmen. What does this mean? Simply put, we have the background, training, and experience to build lasting hardscape projects for your home.
Give us a call today to start the process of building a driveway retaining wall that will make all of your neighbors stop in their tracks (maybe even with some envy). While we’re at it, let us help you add value to your home while reclaiming flat space in your yard.
