Batter is the intentional backward lean built into a retaining wall as it rises, with each course set slightly behind the one beneath it, so the wall face angles into the hillside rather than standing perfectly vertical.
A dead-vertical wall directs the soil's full lateral pressure straight into the wall face, which is a hard load to resist through weight and friction alone. Batter changes the angle of that load path so more of the pressure pushes down into the wall and into the ground below it, instead of pushing straight out against the face and toppling it forward. That's why nearly every gravity wall and segmental block wall is built with some degree of batter, even when the finished look reads as nearly vertical from the yard, and why a wall built plumb straight up tends to fail sooner under the same soil conditions.
We set batter by eye and by string line on every wall we build, whether it's dry-stacked fieldstone on a steep Fancy Gap slope or segmental block on a flatter Hillsville lot, because a consistent lean from the first course to the last keeps the load path predictable for the life of the wall. A wall that loses its batter over time, leaning out at the top instead of staying tucked into the hill, is usually telling you the base or the backfill behind it has shifted, and it's worth a look before the lean gets worse.
More masonry vocabulary from the glossary.
The services where this term comes up.
Chelo's Brick & Stone serves Hillsville, Galax, Wytheville, Fancy Gap, and Independence, VA. Call for a straight answer and a free on-site estimate.
