Sloped Yard Erosion in Frisco: What You May Be Seeing
Maybe soil is washing off a bank after storms. Maybe the slope is creeping toward a fence, a patio or the lot line, or a low wall at the bottom has started to tip.
Frisco’s code defines a retaining wall as “a wall not laterally supported at the top that resists lateral soil loads and other imposed loads.”
If a wall already stands on the slope, check it for signs of trouble such as leaning or bowing, leaking or seeping, cracking, efflorescence and foundation shifting. The leaning retaining wall page covers a wall that is tipping, and the retaining wall repair page covers the kinds of repair.
Call or send the form, and we will come out to look at the slope for a free on-site estimate.
North Texas Clay and Rain Near Frisco
The most widely mapped soil in Collin County is a clay of the Texas Blackland Prairies. Water enters it rapidly when it is dry and cracked, and very slowly when it is moist.
Part of Frisco lies in Denton County, where the largest mapped soils are Sanger, Somervell, Callisburg, Gasil and Ponder instead. The free on-site estimate checks the soil where the wall would go.
A 10-year storm at Frisco is estimated at 5.98 inches over 24 hours, and a 100-year storm at 9.32 inches. At DFW Airport, the driest months are July and August, at 2.08 and 2.18 inches.
Frisco keeps watershed studies for six creeks: Cottonwood Branch, Panther Creek, West Rowlett Creek, Rowlett Creek, White Rock Creek and Stewart Creek. The Caddo Trail runs along Stewart Creek south of Stonebrook Parkway.
If your yard runs down toward one of these creeks or a greenbelt, mention it when you call.
How Retaining Walls in Frisco Hold a Slope
Sloped yards may need terracing, which can add 50% or more to the cost.
Three wall types differ like this:
- Segmental block walls stack interlocking blocks without mortar, allow slight ground movement and handle 3 to 4 feet without added reinforcement.
- Cantilevered walls use reinforced concrete with an L-shaped footing and suit walls over 4 feet.
- Gravity walls rely on their mass.
Walls over 4 feet need engineering, permits and deeper foundations.
Basic drainage is a perforated pipe at the wall’s base, gravel backfill and weep holes. A segmental block maker recommends free-draining gravel with virtually no fines, with filter fabric above it and below the topsoil. The retaining wall drainage page shows the layers.
Want to know whether your slope calls for one wall or a terrace? Call or send the form.
If the Slope Is Left Alone
For a wall already on the slope, water pressure builds behind it without drainage and can make it bow or crack. Footings that lack strength, and missing rebar, can make a wall fail early.
A typical repair runs $250 to $1,250 per job. A full remove and rebuild runs $6,000 to $14,500, and removing an old wall alone costs $15 to $30 per linear foot.
To find out where your slope stands, call or send the form.
Retaining Walls and Terraces in Frisco: Typical Costs
Depending on the project, a new wall runs these amounts per square foot of wall face, installed:
- block (segmental): $15 to $50;
- natural stone or boulder: $20 to $100;
- poured concrete: $20 to $40;
- timber: $13 to $30.
A typical complete retaining wall project runs about $3,200 to $9,400.
Three more lines can apply. Sloped terrain can raise labor by 50% or more. Clay-heavy soil can raise excavation labor by up to 50%. An engineered design runs $500 to $750 per wall.
The retaining wall cost page has every range. Your price is set at the free on-site estimate.
Frisco Rules for Walls on a Slope
Frisco requires that no portion of any residential lot be in the 100-year floodplain, and altering or filling floodplain needs a flood study. No part of a retaining wall may interfere with or alter a drainage swale between lots.
If a fence is part of the plan, a fence shall not adversely affect drainage, and fences are not permitted in FEMA-designated floodway areas.
Frisco has more than 200 HOAs, so check with yours too. The wall heights that set the city’s permit and engineering rules are in the permit line further down this page.
What to Do Today About an Eroding Slope
- Keep people and cars clear of the top edge of the slope and of any wall below it.
- Send roof water away. Point downspouts away from any wall on the slope.
- Check the city’s rules first. Frisco says altering or filling floodplain needs a flood study, and no part of a retaining wall may interfere with or alter a drainage swale between lots.
- Call us. We answer Mon–Sat 8–6 and set up a free on-site estimate, or send the form any time.