Hold the hill where it is
Poured concrete walls that hold back a slope, level out a yard or keep a bank off the driveway. Text us a photo of the slope with rough measurements.
Retaining walls
Flat ground is hard to come by on a hillside lot. A retaining wall makes some, by holding the high side back so the low side can be a yard, a driveway or a place to build. The wall does this all day, every day, with tons of soil leaning on it. When a wall fails, it is rarely the concrete that gives out. It is the footing, the steel or the water behind it.
We pour concrete retaining walls with a footing under them and drainage behind them. A low garden wall is a simple job. A taller one is a structure, and walls over a few feet typically need an engineer's design. Send a photo of the slope, how long the wall needs to run and about how high.
Kinds of walls
- Low garden wall
- A short wall that holds a planting bed or a terrace of rock.
- Yard leveling wall
- Holds back a slope to make a flat area for grass, a patio or a place to play.
- Driveway or parking cut
- A wall along a driveway or pad that was cut into a hill, keeping the bank off the concrete.
- Engineered wall
- A taller wall built to stamped plans, with the footing, steel and drainage the engineer calls for.
How the job goes
- 1
Look at the slope
We want to know how high the wall is, what sits above it and where the water goes. A wall with a driveway, a building or a steeper slope above it carries more load than one holding a flower bed. That decides whether an engineer needs to be involved.
- 2
Dig and pour the footing
The footing is dug into firm ground, with rebar laid in it and bars standing up to tie into the wall. It is poured first and left to set.
- 3
Form and pour the wall
Forms go up on both faces, steel is tied inside, and the wall is poured and vibrated. The forms come off after the concrete can hold its shape.
- 4
Drain and backfill
Drain pipe and gravel go behind the wall so water has a way out. Backfill goes in after the wall has gained strength, placed in layers and not pushed in all at once.
What makes it last
Concrete fails from the bottom up. These are the parts you will never see once the job is done, and they decide how the slab holds up.
- A footing sized for the wall
- The footing helps keep the wall from tipping or sliding. The taller the wall, the wider and deeper it has to be. On an engineered wall the plans give the size, and we do not trim it to save digging.
- Steel tied from footing to wall
- Soil pushes hardest near the bottom. Rebar that runs from the footing up into the wall ties the two together so the wall acts as one piece.
- Drainage behind it
- Wet soil is far heavier than dry soil, and trapped water adds its own push. Gravel and a drain behind the wall help take that pressure off. Missing drainage is a classic cause of leaning walls.
- Joints along the length
- A long wall needs joints so it can shrink and move without cracking at random. We put them at planned spots, including corners and steps in height.
Start with a photo.
435·220·5536Text us a photo of the spot and rough measurements. We will tell you what we can from the photo, or come out and take a look.
Get a quoteRetaining walls: straight answers
How tall can a wall be without an engineer?
It varies by city and county, and it also depends on what sits above the wall. Walls over a few feet typically need an engineer's design. Check with your city or county first. If yours needs engineering, we build from the stamped plans.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall?
Your city or county may require one, depending on the height of the wall and how close it is to a property line or a building. Check before any digging starts. Your HOA may have rules on walls as well.
Why a poured concrete wall?
A poured wall is one solid piece with steel through it. It holds a lot of weight in a narrow footprint, which helps where a yard or a driveway cut has no room to spare. Send a photo of the slope and we will tell you what we would build there.
My old wall is leaning. Can it be saved?
Sometimes, but a lean usually means the footing or the drainage was not up to the job, and that does not fix itself. Text us photos from the side and the front. We will tell you what we can from them, or come out and take a look.