A retaining wall is an engineering problem wearing a landscaping costume. It is holding back tons of saturated soil, and the ones that fail almost always failed at drainage rather than at the stone.
What Matters
Bulging courses, leaning faces, and blown-out sections are rarely about the block or stone. They are about water building up behind a wall with nowhere to go, then freezing and pushing.
Every wall we build gets a designed drainage layer and proper base preparation, with reinforcement where the height calls for it. Colorado freeze-thaw punishes anything less, and a wall rebuilt is far more expensive than a wall built right.
Compacted base and drainage aggregate behind every wall we build.
Reinforcement where height and soil load require it.
Engineering and permits arranged for taller walls, per your jurisdiction.
Grading planned so runoff leaves the site instead of loading the wall.
What We Build
Engineered block systems that carry real load, in a range of colors and textures that suit Front Range homes.
Local and quarried stone laid for a wall that reads as part of the landscape rather than a product catalogue.
Multiple shorter walls stepping a steep slope into usable ground, often cheaper and better looking than one tall wall.
Lower walls that define a patio edge, hold a planting bed, or add seating without needing engineering.
Questions
In most Front Range jurisdictions walls over about four feet, or any wall carrying a surcharge such as a driveway above it, need a permit and an engineered design. We will confirm what applies at your address and handle the permit.
Sometimes, if movement is limited to a section and the base is sound. Often the honest answer is that it was built without drainage and will keep moving. We will tell you which situation you are in rather than sell you a repair that buys two years.
Block is more predictable structurally and usually more economical at height. Natural stone costs more and looks better, particularly on properties where the landscape is doing the work. Both last when drainage is right.
A wall changes where water goes, so it can help or make things considerably worse. We look at the whole site's grading before designing the wall, because solving a slope while sending runoff toward your foundation is not a solution.
A garden or seat wall is often a few days. An engineered wall with permitting can run several weeks once approvals are in hand. Excavation and base preparation take longer than people expect, and rushing them is how walls fail.
Related
We'll walk the grade with you and tell you what the ground actually needs before anyone talks about stone.
