When you live on beautiful waterfront property, you want to make sure you don’t lose any of it to erosion or shifting soils. Unfortunately, seawall failure is more common than you think and can compromise the safety of your home while also allowing erosion to eat away at your property. Understanding why seawall failure occurs and taking steps to prevent it can help protect your home.

Why do seawalls fail?

There are many different issues than can arise which can result in a seawall failure. Some of these issues may be preventable with regular maintenance, while others can occur from harsh weather conditions and are relatively unpreventable and unavoidable. As soon as you start to see damage to your seawall, call California Building Innovations to come take a look at the underlying issue with your seawall. Taking these steps ahead of time can save you a costly amount in the future. Some causes of seawall failure can include:

• Poor Maintenance/Lack of Inspections
• Corrosive Nature of Marine Environments
• Driving heavy machinery too close to seawall
• Raising elevation and load beyond seawall design limits
• Changing water flow and trapping large quantities of water behind seawall
• Shallow building foundations placed too close to the wall
• Poor original construction/materials that can’t withstand harsh, corrosive marine environments

Whether it’s a loss of soil containment or structural damage in the wall itself, any problem should be immediately addressed by our seawall repair specialist to ensure your seawall doesn’t face any additional damage. Anything larger than small cracks in your seawall will likely require a professional to repair it. Don't delay calling California Building Innovations as another problem that may need a minor repair now can quickly enlarge to a major repair job when left to the mercy of the water. If you’ve noticed any of the following damages to your seawall, call California Building Innovations for a free inspection and quote for repairs.

• Large cracks
• Severe erosion
• Separation of panels
• Cap/wall leaning forward or back
• Wall bowing or bulging in the middle
• Wall kicking out at bottom/Seawall moving

Needing to replace your seawall is a last resort for most homeowners and most damage can be diminished before the problems become too severe. As long as professionals are called in early, most damage can be mitigated and repaired. If you think your seawall has structural damage, don't delay—contact us today to schedule a consultation.