Holding a bank off the driveway
When the slope beside your drive sheds soil after every hard rain, a wall holds it back and gives the runoff a planned path instead of one across your concrete.
Concrete retaining walls in Prattville AL - a wall that holds the yard and drains
A slope washing out or an old wall leaning? We look at the water and ground first, then build the wall your site calls for.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What goes into a concrete retaining wall
A concrete retaining wall in Prattville holds back soil where your yard changes height. Built right, it keeps the slope off your drive, patio or house and lets the water behind it drain away.
Most calls start with something you can see: dirt washing onto the drive after a storm, a bank that keeps creeping, or an old wall that's leaning. Concrete walls come in more than one kind. A block wall is a gravity wall, concrete units stacked without mortar that hold the soil back mainly by their own weight. Some add layers of reinforcement reaching into the backfill, the soil behind the wall, to add to that weight. A poured wall is formed and filled on site. Your site decides which kind it needs, and that sets how it's built, what it costs and how long it takes.
Most of the price comes down to the wall type, its height and length, and whether an old wall has to come out first. Curves, soil that's hard to dig and how much drainage the wall needs add to it too. The schedule turns on the wall type and the permit, because we find out which office covers your address and what it wants before we set a date. Your own number comes from the estimate, after I've measured.
I measure it and run the job
I come out to look at your wall and measure it myself, then I'm on site running the work with my crew, so the plan you hear is the one that gets built.
Straight talk about what concrete does
We've been at this full time since 2013, and I'd rather tell you plainly what your wall will and won't do than promise something concrete can't deliver.
Homes and small business lots
Most of our calls come from homeowners around Prattville, and some from small business owners, so we're used to walls that sit beside drives, patios, garages and parking areas.
How we build a wall that drains
I start with water, because it's what I watch most on a wall. On the first visit I look at where it's coming from, whether that's the slope above, a downspout or a low spot in the yard. I also work out how it'll get out from behind the wall once the soil is back in place, because water that can't get out is what loads up the back of a wall.
Then we dig out for the base and pack it firm instead of raking loose dirt level, because a wall sitting on soft fill settles and leans with it. Behind the wall we give water a way out, usually with drain rock and a pipe at the bottom that carries it past the end of the wall. On a poured wall we cut control joints, planned weak lines, so the cracks concrete tends to make land where we chose. Then we let it cure, the stretch where it gains strength, before we pile soil against it.
If the budget gets tight, the face finish is the first thing I'd cut and the base and drainage are the last. Nobody sees the base on day one, but it decides whether the wall stays put. Walls often go in alongside other work, like leveling ground beside one of our concrete pool decks or cutting a pad into a slope for a shop that gets concrete floor installation next.
Where a retaining wall solves the problem
Making flat ground on a slope
A wall or two can step a hillside into level terraces, giving you room for a patio, a garden or a play area where the yard used to fall away.
Replacing a wall that's leaning
An old wall that's bulging or tipping usually has water or base trouble behind it, so we find the cause before we tear it out and build the new one.
Cutting in for a building pad
When a shed, shop or parking area needs level ground cut into a slope, the wall holds that cut back so the ground above it stays where it is.
Get your wall looked at and priced
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I'll come out, look at the slope and measure it, and the estimate is free with no obligation.
Bring your lot line details
Property lines, easements and utility locations all change where a wall can sit, so bring what you know to the visit and we'll plan around them from the start.
Show us where water runs
Photos or notes on where water pools or runs after a heavy rain help, because the path water takes now is the path it'll try to take behind the wall.
Note what's close to the wall
Nearby roads, buildings, pools and the slopes above and below all shape a wall, and a wall cut into a slope near a building has to leave that building's foundation supported.
Concrete walls and yard work examples
Use these to talk through block faces, poured walls, curves and terraced layouts you like, and we'll tell you what your slope can take.
Questions people ask about retaining walls
Straight answers on cost, drainage, permits and licensing for a concrete retaining wall in Prattville and the cities around it.
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in Prattville?
A poured concrete retaining wall in the Montgomery area usually costs about $27 to $39 per square foot of wall face, installed. That's the area's going rate, not our price. One local estimate behind it leaves out removing an old wall, stamped concrete, curved walls, walls taller than 3 feet and difficult soil, so your number comes from the site visit.
Why do retaining walls fail?
One look at retaining wall failures found most came from two things, poor communication among the people on the project and water that wasn't managed. Ask anyone bidding your wall how it'll handle groundwater seeping through the soil, surface water running toward it and any leaky water or sewer line nearby.
Is gravel behind a block retaining wall enough for drainage?
Not on its own. An industry guide says gravel fill in a block wall helps relieve water pressure at the face but isn't meant to be the main drainage path, so the wall still needs a planned way out for water. The same guide calls organic soils and expansive soils, which swell when wet, unsuitable ground to set a block wall on.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall in Prattville?
Ask the city's Building Division, which handles permits for all construction its building and development codes cover. That code is also the starting point for how much engineering a wall needs. We find out which office covers your address before we set a date, and when a wall needs a permit, we handle the application or walk you through it.
What has to be in place before a Prattville building inspection?
The city says all stormwater controls, the measures that keep runoff and loose soil from leaving the site, must be in place to pass an inspection. On a permitted wall job, we set those up along with the dig-out and grading so they're ready before the inspection gets booked.
Who needs a state license to build a retaining wall in Alabama?
Alabama requires residential home builders to hold a license from the Home Builders Licensure Board, renewed every year. The law covers improving a home someone else lives in when the cost is over $10,000. The same law doesn't stop you from doing the work on your own residence. We're licensed and insured.
Work that often goes with a wall
Book a site visit for your wall
From Prattville to Millbrook, Wetumpka and the cities around them, call (334) 788-0315 or send the form to get a look at your slope.