Thank you for stopping by to read about our latest project in Bloomfield Hills. This is a story of how we built a beautiful limestone retaining wall for an amazing family in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Enjoy!
Design Phase
The homeowners and our team connected at the end of 2022. They had an idea of doing a replacement for what they currently had in their backyard. The condition of the walls when we first met was not good. We specifically remember a lot of the crushed and stacked stone on the property was falling apart and hardly retaining the dirt. There was a little life left in the wall–maybe 5 or 10 more years and it would have become quite a serious problem for the family.
After our first meeting, we agreed to do a 2D and 3D landscape design to show what we could create in their backyard. We ended up designing two different ideas for them. One idea used a block wall and the other showed a limestone wall. In both designs, the footprint was the same and the only difference was the materials. And, it pretty much ended up being built as our design depicted it. Certainty is the most important emotion when making a large investment into your home and designs give certainty and allow families to see the possibilities for their remodel.
Demolition
This was the third project on our schedule in 2023. Days 1-3 were spent on demolition. There were roughly 30 to 40 yards of material that we removed. We had a mixture of the stacked stone, which made up her lower wall, and broken concrete pieces used to create a platform connected to the driveway. Full transparency, there were a lot of materials taken out, and removing them allowed us to get a head start on the wall.
Building our Limestone Retaining Wall
The building of the retaining wall went very smoothly. The only difficulty was the fact that the stones were not perfectly flat. As we stacked the wall we had to chip away pieces of the bottom of the stones to ensure that it sat as flush as possible across the stone below it. This is something that should be expected as it relates to any natural stone given mother nature doesn’t make things like a manufacturer would.
One benefit of using a natural wall versus a block wall in a scenario like this is the amount of time that it saves and the weight of the stones. The stones weigh roughly 1,000 pounds and this makes them difficult to be moved by natural elements. Machines are mostly used to install limestone due to the stone’s weight and it’s a quicker process! Quicker means fewer labor hours and potentially a lower total project cost.
We built the wall 5-6 courses high as you see in the photos. On the side closest to the home we stacked two extra courses and slowly cascaded down to the main height that we kept for the entire wall.
We decided to make a design change and add an entrance that would allow the homeowners to reach the bottom of their backyard from the driveway. We utilized everything we could to make the staircase look as natural as possible. We wedged in smaller pieces and utilized the old tree trunks and boulders that they had already. All the small details complement each other to make the project look amazing!
This was a great project from start to finish. The homeowners were super excited about the way that it turned out and we had a blast building it as well. If you are a homeowner and you’re interested in adding some natural limestone to your landscaping, give us a call! You can reach us at 248–302–9175!