188-Foot Engineered Welded Wire Wall in Rockmart, GA

#A Back Slope on Brushy Mountain Rd That Kept Washing Away

Behind this home on Brushy Mountain Rd, a short drive from the Silver Comet Trail's Rockmart trailhead and Coot's Lake Beach, the ground dropped off fast toward the woods. Every hard rain carried more of it downhill, and there was no flat ground anywhere behind the house. The homeowners wanted both problems solved, so we started with an engineered welded wire retaining wall installation along the property's perimeter. It was part one of a two-wall project that ends with a natural boulder wall closer to the house.

• Erosion With No End in Sight: Loose soil on the rear slope moved a little farther downhill with every storm.
• No Usable Yard: The grade fell away so steeply that the back of the lot was something to look at, not something to use.
• A Fence Worth Keeping: An existing chain-link fence ran right through the wall line, and the homeowners wanted it saved.
• No Plain Block Wall: The homeowners didn't want a boring concrete block wall that clashed with the woods. Their hope is that plants will grow over the wire face in time and hide how it was built.

#The Perimeter Wall by the Numbers

• Wall Length & Height: About 188 linear feet of welded wire form wall, designed at roughly 9 feet tall at its highest point.
• Engineered Design: Built to a plan from a licensed design engineer, including basket struts, geogrid, and geosynthetic face wrap.
• Fill & Finish Grade: Approximately 19 truckloads of fill dirt for backfill and finished grade behind the wall.
• Fence Removal & Reinstall: The affected chain-link fence was taken down, stored, and reinstalled using the original material.
• Added Height: Extra wire baskets and extra backfill when the homeowner chose to raise the wall near the end of the job.

#How We Built This Welded Wire Retaining Wall in Rockmart, GA

The first step was the fence. We took the chain-link down along the wall line by hand and set up silt fence on the downhill side to keep loose soil on the property. Then the skid steer and mini excavator cut a long trench into the hillside, deep into the red clay and tight against the mature hardwoods we wanted to keep. The first wire basket went in at the bottom of that cut, and the rest of the base course followed it across the slope.

From there, the wall went up one lift at a time. Struts lock each basket face at the angle on the engineered plan, and the geosynthetic face wrap lines the inside of the mesh so fill can't sift through. Geogrid between lifts reaches back into the compacted fill and ties the wall into the hill. Each course steps back from the one below it, and the line curves with the lot instead of running in a straight shot. That curve shows up best in the wide shots taken from the low side.

Most of the 19 loads of fill went in behind those courses, compacted lift by lift until the ground behind the wall came up level. As retaining wall contractors working in Rockmart and Polk County, we planned that new grade for the second half of the job too. It's the ground the Tennessee fieldstone boulder wall closer to the house was built on.

#Project Gallery

#The Perimeter Wall, End to End

These photos show the whole wall, from its low starting point beside the house to its full height deep in the trees. The wide panoramas from the low side show the length and the stepped courses best, with the reinstalled fence running across the top.

All 188 linear feet of the perimeter wall in one frame, with the chain-link fence reset along its top edge.

Looking back from the front of the home, the side slope shows how far the grade falls before the wall line begins.

The wall starts low on this side and gains courses as the grade drops, with the salvaged fence posts reset on top.

Each welded wire basket sets back from the one below, and the geosynthetic face wrap keeps backfill from sifting through the mesh.

Mature hardwoods along the lower slope were left standing, so the excavation stayed tight to the wall footprint.

Seen from down the wall line, each course steps back from the one below as the wall climbs toward the house.

At the corner, the reinstalled fence follows the wall down so the yard stays enclosed from top to bottom.

From the low side, the full height of the face is visible, including the courses added when the homeowner chose to go taller.

The wall was designed at about 9 feet at its tallest point, and the boulder wall can be seen in the distance on the left.

About 19 truckloads of fill built this flat terrace behind the wire wall and set the grade for the boulder wall at the back.

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#Trenching, Baskets & Geogrid Lifts

This is the part nobody sees once the job is done. The trench was cut into red clay, the first baskets were set at the base, and geogrid was laid across each compacted lift. The face wrap was left long so it could fold back over the next course.

The first basket goes in at the bottom of the cut and sets the line and grade for the rest of the base course.

Struts hold each basket face at the engineered angle while the geosynthetic face wrap is unrolled behind the mesh.

Face wrap is rolled out inside each basket, and pre-cut geogrid sections sized to the engineered design wait at the back.

Each compacted backfill lift gets its own layer of geogrid, reaching back into the slope to the length on the engineered plan.

The wall line bends with the contour of the lot, and the geogrid follows each curve back into the fill.

The base courses run the width of the slope before the bulk of the 19 loads of fill dirt is placed and compacted.

Face wrap is left long at the top of each course and folded back over the next compacted lift.

The full stack of courses at the corner, compacted and graded, ready for the chain-link fence to go back up.

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#Before the First Basket

Here's the sloped back lot as we found it, plus the crew taking the old fence down by hand so it could go back up later.

The original back slope, with loose soil and patchy grass running down toward the fence line.

The existing chain-link fence came down carefully so it could be reused once the wall was finished.

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#When a Steep Lot Won't Stop Moving

A back slope that sheds soil every storm won't fix itself, and every season you wait means more ground to rebuild. An engineered perimeter wall stops the slide at the bottom and gives you a level base for everything you want to build above it. If you're planning a second wall, a patio, or just a flat yard, start with the wall at the bottom.