Project Overview

This sandstone retaining wall in Haltom City, TX replaced a timber wall that had already lost the fight. The old
landscape timbers had rotted, bowed and pulled apart at the joints, the slope behind them was washing out, and the
cedar fence sitting on top of that slope was starting to lean with it.
Fixing the fence alone would have been a waste of money. Whatever went up on that line was going to move again
within a couple of seasons unless the ground underneath it stopped shifting first. So the wall came first, and the fence
went back on top of solid ground.

Scope and Deliverables

• Demolition and removal of the failed timber retaining wall
• Excavation and regrading of the eroded slope behind the wall line
• New sandstone retaining wall built course by course along the run
• Removal and disposal of the old fence above the wall
• 13-gauge metal posts set in concrete, 24 to 30 inches below grade
• 2x4 pressure-treated rails and 2x6 pressure-treated baseboard
• 122 linear feet of 1x6 cedar installed board on board, 6 ft tall
• One gate, with galvanized caps, Simpson brackets and galvanized hardware throughout
• Stain applied to the finished cedar

Materials

Sandstone was chosen over block or poured concrete for a reason. A dry-laid sandstone retaining wall in Haltom
City, TX drains through the joints instead of damming water behind it, and hydrostatic pressure is what pushes most
failed walls over. It also weathers into the landscape rather than reading as an engineered slab in the middle of a
backyard.
Above the wall, the fence is cedar 1x6 installed board on board — overlapping pickets that leave no gaps even after
the wood shrinks in its first summer. The frame is 13-gauge metal post set in concrete rather than wood post, which
matters more than usual on a slope: a wood post buried in ground that holds moisture is a post that rots at exactly
the depth you cannot inspect.

Timeline and Quality

The wall drove the schedule. Timber demolition, excavation and stone setting had to be finished and stable before
any fence post could be placed, and the fence itself runs two to three labor days once the ground is ready.
811 was called before excavation so public utility lines were located and marked. On a job that involves digging into a
slope rather than drilling isolated post holes, that step matters more, not less.

Outcome and Benefits

The finished sandstone retaining wall in Haltom City, TX holds the grade where the timber wall used to sag, and the
new cedar fence runs straight across the top of it. The difference between the before and after on this property is not
subtle — the slope was actively failing.
Both the wall and the fence carry our 2-year labor warranty and 30-day material warranty. As with any wood fence in
North Texas, water around the posts during dry spells; black clay soil shrinks away from concrete when it has not
rained, and that is what loosens posts.

Service area close

A&O Texas Solutions builds fences, patios and retaining walls across the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex. If your fence is
leaning because the ground under it is moving, the fence is not the problem. We will look at the grade first. For a
sandstone retaining wall in Haltom City, TX, North Richland Hills, Watauga, Richland Hills or anywhere in Tarrant
County, request a free estimate today.