Hillside Grading & Wall Excavation in Chattanooga, TN

Hillside grading and wall excavation is how a steep lot becomes a usable yard: cutting terraces, building up level areas, cutting swales to steer runoff and digging the footing and drainage zone for a retaining wall. In Chattanooga, where Missionary Ridge rises more than 330 feet above the valley floor and the mountains are higher still, many homes sit on slopes that were never meant to be flat.

Grading a slope safely

Soil on a slope wants to move downhill, especially after a heavy rain, and the area averages about 55 inches of rain a year. Fill piled on the top of a slope, a deep cut at its toe, or runoff concentrated on its face can all start a slide. We bench new fill into firm ground, keep cuts at the toe short and supported, and give water a path off the hill.

Retaining wall excavation

A retaining wall is only as good as what is behind and under it. We dig the footing or base trench to the wall designer's depth, place and compact the base stone, and after the wall goes up, backfill with drainage stone and a perforated pipe that carries water out the ends. HomeGuide notes most cities require a permit for walls over 3 to 4 feet tall and that walls 4 feet or taller usually need an engineer's design. We work with your wall builder or engineer.

Rock in the hillside

On the plateau, sandstone sits shallow. On the ridges, limestone and shale can show up in a cut. Rock can actually help a wall by giving it a solid base, but removing it costs more. We spell out how rock is handled before work begins.

Regrading for drainage

Homes below a slope often get water against the back wall every storm. A swale across the hill above the house, a regrade that pitches the yard away and a curtain drain where needed will usually fix it.

Mountain brow lots

On Signal and Lookout mountains, homes near the brow sit on sandstone with thin soil over rock. Cutting into the slope above the brow is rarely the right answer; water and soil have nowhere to go but over the edge. On those lots we focus on drainage, small terraces and careful fill placement.

Ridge lots in the valley

Missionary Ridge, Stringer's Ridge and White Oak Mountain lots usually have deeper clay over limestone or shale. Clay terraces need compaction and drainage to stay put. Walls on clay need a solid base and free-draining backfill so water pressure does not build up behind them.