Repair or replace? How to read a failing seawall
What the common symptoms usually mean, so you can follow the conversation when a contractor walks your wall.
How a typical canal seawall works
A seawall is a retaining wall that happens to sit in water. Panels hold back the soil in your yard. Tiebacks run from the wall back into the yard to anchors buried in the ground, so the wall cannot tip toward the water. A concrete cap ties the top together. Filter fabric behind the joints lets water pass while keeping soil in.
Most failures start when one of those parts stops doing its job.
What the symptoms usually mean
- Hairline cracks in the cap. Often cosmetic. Worth sealing so water and salt do not reach the steel.
- Rust stains or exposed steel. Steel in the cap or tiebacks is corroding. Corroding steel expands and cracks concrete from the inside.
- Holes or sinking behind the wall. Soil is leaving through a joint or under the toe. This is the one not to wait on.
- A panel leaning or a gap opening between panels. The wall is moving. Often a tieback or anchor has failed.
- The whole wall leaning along its length. The structure as a whole is losing the fight with the soil behind it.
Usually a repair
- Cap cracking or spalling without movement
- One or two joints leaking fill
- A localized washout with the wall still plumb
- A small number of failed tiebacks
Usually a replacement
- Rotation along much of the wall
- Several panels cracked through
- Widespread tieback failure
- Repairs that keep coming back
- A cap well below the city's current 4.0 foot NAVD88 minimum, where replacement is also the moment the wall has to meet the current standard
Questions to ask the contractor
- What exactly failed, and how do you know?
- If I choose a repair, how long should it last, and what would make it fail again?
- If I replace it, why is a repair not enough here?
- Does this project need to meet the city's 4.0 to 6.0 foot NAVD88 elevation standard?
A good contractor will answer all four in plain language.
Start a free request
Pick what you need. Five short questions.
Questions homeowners ask
Does a hairline crack in the cap mean I need a new seawall?
Often no. Hairline cracks in the cap are often cosmetic, and worth sealing so water and salt do not reach the steel.
What does a hole or sinking ground behind the wall mean?
Soil is leaving through a joint or under the toe. This is the one not to wait on.
When is a seawall repair usually enough?
Cap cracking or spalling without movement, one or two joints leaking fill, a localized washout with the wall still plumb, and a small number of failed tiebacks.
When is replacement the usual answer?
Rotation along much of the wall, several panels cracked through, widespread tieback failure, repairs that keep coming back, or a cap well below the city's current 4.0 foot NAVD88 minimum.
Get your wall looked at
Send a request and we will pass it to an independent licensed marine contractor who works Boca Raton canals and the Intracoastal. Have your address ready and, if you can, a few photos of the wall.
Free referral service. An independent licensed marine contractor does the work. How this works.
