The information in this article applies to:
QUESTION
I have sloped terrain in my plan and need to hold it back with a wall. How can I do this?

ANSWER
Use the Retaining Wall tool to easily place retaining walls in your terrain. Retaining walls are automatically drawn with footings and a terrain break, which creates a sharp drop in the terrain along the wall.
To create a retaining wall
- To add a retaining wall, your plan must first have a Terrain Perimeter.
- If it does not, you can add one quickly and easily by selecting Terrain> Create Terrain Perimeter
from the menu.
- If you have just created your Terrain Perimeter, you will not have any Elevation Lines placed, and if you insert a retaining wall into flat terrain, it will look like a concrete strip in 3D views.
- The height of the retaining wall is determined by the elevation on each side.
- By default, the retaining wall will follow the elevation of the terrain - cutting at the apex and the bottom.
- Select Terrain> Elevation Data> Elevation Line
and draw several elevation lines. Note that an elevation line drawn near the end of another will cause them to merge.
- Now that we have placed some elevation lines, click the Select Objects
button, select an elevation line, and click on the Open Object
edit button to open it for specification.
- Values entered are in inches, unless the foot (') mark is added. Negative values should be preceded with a hyphen (-).
- Once you have set the appropriate values for your Elevation Line, click OK to save the changes and close the Elevation Line Specification dialog.
- Once you have a terrain perimeter and have specified your Elevation Lines, add a retaining wall by selecting Terrain> Terrain Wall and Curb> Straight Retaining Wall
.
- When the Straight Retaining Wall
tool is active, your cursor will turn into a cross and you can click and drag to create a retaining wall.
- Once the retaining wall has been created, select Terrain> Build Terrain
to apply the changes to your terrain.
- Notice that the Elevation Lines are above and below the walls. No elevation lines are between the walls.

- Lastly, to see the retaining wall, create a Full Camera
view.

In Home Designer Pro, a retaining wall's height can be specified independent of the terrain by selecting and editing the wall in 3D views.
To change the height of a retaining wall in Home Designer Pro
-
Open
the plan in which you would like to add a retaining wall, or create a new plan by selecting File> New Plan
.
- To add a retaining wall, you must first have a terrain perimeter on your plan. From the menu, select Terrain> Create Terrain Perimeter
.
- Next, draw a retaining wall by selecting Terrain> Terrain Wall and Curb> Straight Retaining Wall
and then clicking and dragging in floor plan view.
- Select 3D> Create Orthographic View> Cross Section/Elevation
, and then click and drag the camera toward the retaining wall to create a cross section/elevation view of the retaining wall.

- While a retaining wall can be edited in any 3D view, adjusting the height is often easiest and most accurately done in a Cross Section/Elevation view.
- Click on the wall near the top edge to select it and display its edit handles.
- Notice the move handle in the center of the top edge, as well as the temporary dimension indicating the height.
- Click on the Move
handle and drag the wall's top edge to the desired height.
- Use the Break Line
edit tool to place breaks along the top of the Retaining Wall in order to edit the wall to create a stepped retaining wall.