Retaining Walls

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  • I'm looking for someone to rebuild a brick retaining wall and an adjacent planter. This would include demo, debris removal and hopefully reusing some of the existing bricks. Do you have a recommendation for someone that did a similar job? This is one of many yard projects for us so I'm looking for a reasonable rate. Strong possibility of more work in the future. We received one quote from someone who left their flyer on our door, but I would like to get at least one more quote and hopefully a recommendation from a previous customer.

    I highly recommend Bay Area Drainage at 925-377-9209. They just replaced a small retaining wall and we’re very happy with the work and price. The price was significantly lower than another bid. Call them last. 

    Orla Kristensen has been our mason for many years and many projects.  i cannot recommend him highly enough.  Our brick projects have included retaining walls, chimney, fireplace hearth, exterior decks with planters, lighting and irrigation.  Excavated and incorporated rebar reenforcement.  Good at accomodating changes / updates on the fly.

    Orla Kristensen

    (415) 846-1431

    texting works well

  • We need to get a wooden retaining wall and fence replaced, and I could use advice and recommendations, either for specific contractors (the recommendations in the archive are fairly old), or for what the work should entail. The retaining wall is about 4 feet high, plus there is a fence and an arbor along the top of the wall.   I had two different contractors look at the wall, and they recommended very different things, and at very different prices.   One person is proposing ground posts, "buried 36" deep, in concrete, about 4 feet apart".     The other person is proposing anchoring the wall 'laterally', by means of rebar that would be attached to a concrete slab they'd install a few feet uphill from the wall. (Both are proposing installing a French drain, so that part is similar.)     36" deep doesn't sound like a lot to me for something that is supposed to hold back 4 feet worth of hillside, plus a fence and arbor, but I don't know what is necessary or recommended.  I'd be grateful for advice or recommendations. 

    We had a small retaining wall and a bunch of heavy duty railroad-tie type stairs replaced about 2 years ago by 

    • Tomas Guindon tomasguindon [at] hotmail.com (tomasguindon[at]hotmail[dot]com)  510-520-0204

    He did a great job and his price was reasonable. We discussed his plans before the work started and he was very amenable to suggestions we gave him. He was recommended from someone on Nextdoor and i'm glad i used him.

    I recommend hiring a licensed geotechnical engineer and a licensed structural engineer to design the retaining wall.  Contractors can come up with all sorts of random ideas.

  • We purchased a house 4.5 years ago where the only updates the owners did was to terrace and design the yard. Amazing! However, as we are trying to make changes to the design, we've learned (and have observed from issues with the walls) that the stacked stone walls were not built appropriately. Examples include insufficient anchoring concrete for walls higher than 3', gaps between stone with nothing to secure them, small base stones supporting a lot of weight. 
    We asked the landscape architects (licensed) to come look at the work, and they refused. They deny having any copies of the work, as it was done nearly 10 years ago at this point. Previous owners don't claim to have any documentation but they did include the price of the work in the sales paperwork. 

    The person we'd like to work with brought their masonry person who says all the walls need rebuilding. This is an easily $50k project before we do anything else. Our original budget was much less than that, as that's a lot to invest when there are other critical things we need for our home still. 

    We'd prefer not to approach this litigiously, but we are also at a loss. We've contacted our own home owner's insurance, as we are concerned about structural stability (walls are already pitched toward the house), and they said it's the architect's business insurance that would be responsible. 
    I would appreciate insight into whether anyone else has dealt with this or the appropriate and less contentious (and ideally least costly!) approach. Are we incorrect in expecting the work (originally >$100k!!!!!!) to be sound?

    Attorney here (although not a real estate attorney).  This seems like the kind of issue that should have been discovered and discussed during the home purchase.  You should review the contract for the purchase and see if you waived the possibility of raising any claims for items that were either disclosed or were easily discovered (i.e. they didn't hide the poorly built walls in some way, which it sounds like they did not).  I realize in the Bay Area housing market people are purchasing homes without good inspections and sometimes with no inspections at all.   But if the walls are almost 10 years old and you've owned the home for over four years, I think you either have to live with it, or pay for the project.   

    First of all, I'd get a couple more estimates for the repair/rebuild work. In my experience design/build contractors ALWAYS want to re-do from scratch. Not so much because they want the money but because they think their design is better, and they're not that interested in tweaking someone else's design.

    Secondly, a retaining wall that is higher than 3 feet needs to be permitted, at least in Berkeley. So you might want to check with your city to see if there is a permit on file. In my experience, licensed contractors are unwilling to risk their license doing that kind of thing without a permit.

    We put in a stacked-rock retaining wall in our hilly backyard about 20 years ago that is still strong and beautiful and holding the hill back. Over the years, small filler stones have occasionally fallen out, and you can definitely see gaps here and there between stones. But it is overall well-built and sturdy and shows no signs of failing. The foundation for it is below ground level so I have no idea how large the base stones are but I assume our contractor did the math and built it well. So I would say that gaps are not necessarily a problem. But like I said, you should get a couple more people to look at it.

  • Retaining wall repair

    Nov 4, 2021

    I asked this question two years and didn't get any responses so I thought I'd try again. Can anyone recommend someone to repair a failing retaining wall? I'm looking specifically for repair specialists and do not want to replace the wall at this time. Thank you.

    I don't have any contractor recommendations but it's usually much more cost effective to replace a failed retaining wall than to try and repair it. Retaining walls typically fail by tilting over. As time progresses the tilt will get progressively worse. There's no way to repair this. The best you can hope for is to do something to stop it from tilting more but due to liability and costs I can't imagine a Contractor picking this up.

  • We have a large retaining wall that's on its last legs that we need to rebuild with permits. We also want to do some other landscape related work in our backyard, like a deck addition, building planters and other less heavy duty items. Are there good firms out there that can handle both the design and construction aspects of all of these projects for us? We've had some work done on our house and I'm getting construction research/decision fatigue; would love to work with a reputable one stop shop for all these projects if one exists. Thanks for your advice and recommendations.

    We’re currently working with Oscar Martinez and have been super happy with his and his team’s work. They’re doing design and build, in communication with us. Retaining wall, irrigation, drainage, concrete, patio, grading / the works.  They’re super friendly and upfront. Highly recommend! 
    You can reach him at (415) 786-2335 and he can also supply lots of pics of his work. 

    I love working with Ingrid at Earthly Sites - https://www.yelp.com/biz/earthly-sites-oakland-2

  • Retaining wall replacement

    Sep 10, 2016

    I have a 50 ft retaining wall that is falling down in my back yard.  I didn't see any current posts with recommendations for this type of work.  Does anyone have someone they would recommend who does quality work at a reasonable price?

    We used Collins Building in Oakland in 2012 for a wall of about 40 feet of varying  height (mainly 4 or 5 feet).  This was a fairly major job that required excavation into the hillside past where the old wall had been and deeper footings.  With permit, structural engineers report (required by the city & this is not the sort of job I would recommend anyone try without a permit) and color added concrete, it ran about $30K.  I had cheaper estimates but they were for a more slapdash wooden posts and boards (like the wall that had failed as the wood rotted) and I feel very relieved to have a retaining wall I can trust for years.  I can email pictures if you like.  I've used the Collins brothers (Michael and Seamus; there may be a third) for roof, siding and the wall, and I've always been very pleased with their professionalism and the quality of their work.  AboutTheSame

I recommend hiring a licensed geotechnical engineer and a licensed structural engineer to design the retaining wall.  Contractors can come up with all sorts of random ideas.

We had a small retaining wall and a bunch of heavy duty railroad-tie type stairs replaced about 2 years ago by 

  • Tomas Guindon tomasguindon [at] hotmail.com (tomasguindon[at]hotmail[dot]com)  510-520-0204

He did a great job and his price was reasonable. We discussed his plans before the work started and he was very amenable to suggestions we gave him. He was recommended from someone on Nextdoor and i'm glad i used him.

Archived Q&A and Reviews


See also: Structural Engineer , Brick and Stone Masons and Landscape and Garden Design


Oct 2007

I am looking for a reliable, resonably priced person to redo a retaining wall that is currently in need of replacing. I have checked in the achives and everything is a bit out dated. I live in Lafayette. Thanks in advance for your recommendations. Carole


I can recommend my landscaper, Jose, to you. He does retaining walls and also sod and sprinklers, and all things landscaping. He's reasonably priced and does really nice work. He has experience in so many areas and always has great suggestions on how to make things work for you. You can reach Jose at 510.233.9261. -Happy Yard I wanted to spread the word about Double A Paving2. We hired them to build a significant block retaining wall in our back yard and they did a terrific job. They did excellent work, were competitively priced, on time, etc. The owner, Aidan McNally, is super-nice and has a phenomenal crew. I have done a lot of work on my home and have never posted a positive unsolicited review but this guy is worth it! erin


Jan 2007

I need to have a 3 ft wooden retaining wall and fence built in front of my house in Montclair. I do not want to pay a full contractor to do it -- I do not have that kind of money, and after all, he would pocket half the money and sub the job out. I would like to hire a reputable crew (probably Mexican or Central American) who can do this work. Can anyone recommend a person or crew who can take on this sort of project? rogert


Ignacio Medina and his hard-working crew built a gorgeous stacked-stone retaining wall in my back garden, about 2 1/2 feet tall and 20 feet wide. I was going for a cement wall and for just about $1200, they created a thing of beauty that adds to the landscape. Ignacio is at 510-292-6429. Lauren


May 2005

I'd like to put in my 2 cents here in response to the frequent inquiries I see by people looking for someone to build them an inexpensive retaining wall.

Any structure that is actually a retaining wall is either: a) going to cost a good chunk of change, or b) not going to last very long and could cause damage to property as it fails. Choice b) is equivalent to tossing your money down the toilet. Actually, a) and b) are not mutually exclusive- I've seen plenty of supposed retaining walls that cost the homeowner plenty of money to have built, and then failed within a few short years.

A retaining wall holds back soil, that for several months of the year is wet soil, and here, is most commonly heavy clay soil. Any load that a retaining wall carries has to be engineered into its design- this includes all the weight uphill of the wall, often including an uphill neighbor's house.

Any retaining wall over 3' high has to legally be reviewed and 'wet-stamped' by a civil or structural engineer, and installed under permit. Skipping the permit is very very unwise. It provides you with objective third-party review of your plan and oversight of the construction process.

To protect your investment and your property, please don't cut corners when it comes to retaining walls! They are as critical as your house foundation. Don't let any builder try to talk you out of proper permitting telling you that the permit just costs money- it is in fact a very cheap way to hire what amounts to an outside consultant for your project, and any respectable builder who really knows what they are doing will be just fine with that.

You don't always get what you pay for- in this case you can spend a lot and not get what you thought you paid for at all. But the wall will likely hold up just long enough for an irresponsible builder to slip away out of sight. Cecelia


May 2004

We are looking for someone to replace/augment a four foot high very long retaining wall that has limited access. There was only one recommendation listed and it was two years old. We'd appreciate any recommendations of workers who could do this with or without permits. Thanks.


We had a very similar problem on our property with a retaining wall that was falling down. Our realtor recommended MW Construction (510-336-1725). They put in a replacement wall that included drainage system for a pretty reasonable price.