Do you live in Orange County and have a big, beautiful deck where you like to spend summer afternoons barbequing or reading a good book? Maybe your deck is kicking outward, beginning to detach from your home and slide downhill? If you want to know how to protect your deck against slope creep and erosion, this article is for you.
Our team here at Dalinghaus Construction Inc. has assisted hundreds of hillside homeowners in Orange County. We’re here to help you reclaim your deck by educating you on the best repair options for you and your family.
This article covers the utilization of retaining walls and steel pier systems (helical piers & helical tiebacks) for deck support against erosion.
How to Secure Your Deck Against Erosion: Retaining Walls & Piers
Homes with decks that overlook hillsides have some wonderful advantages – a lovely place to entertain guests, gorgeous vistas, and a quiet space to spend a late afternoon. However, these decks often come with their own unique set of problems, the biggest of which is erosion.
Decks built into hillsides are especially susceptible to slope creep, seismic activity, and mudslides created by heavy rains. No matter the cause, the end result is the same – the deck begins to pull away from the home and the support beams start to kick outward.
Building a new deck from scratch is a very expensive venture and it is often cheaper to support the existing structure. The best ways to support an existing deck are retaining walls and/or steel pier systems.
Retaining walls are utilized to intercept the slope of a hillside and retain the top 6-foot layer of soil. The deck support beams can be built into a new or repaired retaining wall, safely supporting the deck and home.
To learn more about the cost of building or repairing retaining walls, read our article: How Much Does a Retaining Wall Cost (New & Repaired).
Helical piers and helical tiebacks (underground steel stilt support systems) can also be utilized on existing deck pads. Helical piers and helical tiebacks anchor into competent, load-bearing soil and/or bedrock to support the load of your deck and protect against lateral movement. Often, three helicals are utilized in a tripod arrangement to moor into the hillside.
To learn more about how to combat slope creep, read our article: What the Heck is Slope Creep? (How to Mitigate Lateral Movement).
Book a Free Deck Inspection
In this article, you learned how retaining walls and steel pier systems can help protect your deck against lateral movement. You also learned that slope creep, seismic activity, and heavy rain are responsible for most erosion in Orange County.
Dalinghaus Construction Inc. has been in the foundation repair industry since 2015 and holds over 100 years of combined deck repair experience.
If you live in Orange County (or anywhere in SoCal and Arizona) and would like to book a free slope stabilization deck inspection, click on the link below.
