Retaining wall construction in El Dorado Hills CA - a wall that stays put
Hillside creeping onto your patio, or an old timber wall leaning? We build block walls that hold the hill back and let the water out.
Start planning your retaining wall now
Call (916) 260-2151 or send the form early, because if the wall needs design review or a county permit, that paperwork needs time to clear before you get your yard back.
What goes into building a retaining wall in El Dorado Hills?
Retaining wall construction in El Dorado Hills means building a wall that holds back the soil on a slope so you get flat ground you can actually use. Most of the walls we build are segmental walls, stacked concrete blocks that stay in place by their own weight.
Usually the call starts with a slope that keeps creeping toward the house or an old timber wall that's starting to lean. The first things I look at are how tall the wall needs to be and how far it runs, because that face area drives most of the price. From there, the block you pick, how much we dig out, the drain and fill behind the wall and how easy the spot is to reach move it up or down. The schedule turns on the same size, plus whether the height brings in a county permit or your lot needs design review from the El Dorado Hills Community Services District. Once I've seen it, you get a written estimate for your wall.
Why El Dorado Hills homeowners call P&J for retaining walls
The owner writes your estimate
I come out myself to walk the slope and write the estimate, then check in while our lead mason and crew build it. After 13 years in business, I'd rather explain a wall than rush one.
District design review handled early
If your lot falls under the Community Services District's design review, we get that approval lined up first. That way the paperwork is already moving before the first block shows up.
Fully licensed and insured
We're fully licensed and insured, and that matters because the state licensing board requires a license for anyone who offers construction work. Ask every bidder on your wall to show theirs.
Most of what decides how long a wall holds up gets buried once it's backfilled. Before you pick a bid, send us your questions and I'll walk you through what goes behind ours.
How we handle retaining wall construction
Before we dig, I tell you what goes behind the wall, the fill and the drain, as plainly as what goes on the face, because that hidden part decides whether the wall stays put. Then our crew marks the line, digs out for the base, packs it firm and sets the bottom row level. The blocks stack dry with no mortar and lock together with shear keys, ridges cast into the block, or with connectors, pins that keep each row from sliding on the one below. As the rows go up, we set the drain and backfill behind them in layers, add reinforcement where the wall calls for it, and finish by grading the ground and cleaning up.
A new wall often sits beside older masonry or opens up room for something new. If there's an old brick or stone wall nearby with crumbling joints, masonry restoration can bring it back so it doesn't look tired next to the new one. And if the flat ground the wall creates is headed for an outdoor fire, we also do fireplace installation.
Segmental block wall
For most yard and garden walls we use segmental concrete block. It resists cracking and won't splinter or rot the way treated timbers and railroad ties do, so if you're weighing wood against block, I'd pick block.
Reinforced block wall
When the wall is taller or holds up a driveway or slope above it, we add layers of geogrid, a mesh that runs back into the fill. Those layers tie the soil to the wall so it acts wider and heavier than the block alone.
How do you know your slope or old wall needs work?
The wall leans out
If the top tips toward you, the soil behind is pushing harder than the wall can hold, usually from trapped water. Leans don't fix themselves, and I'll tell you if it's past patching.
Mud on the patio
Dirt washing onto your patio or walkway after a rain means the slope is moving with nothing holding it. Each storm takes a little more ground, and the cleanup grows with it.
Soft or split timbers
Wood walls and old railroad ties go soft, split and bow as they rot from behind. Once a screwdriver sinks in, it's holding less each season, so replace it before it lets go.
Soggy ground at the base
A wet strip along the bottom of a wall means water is collecting behind it with nowhere to go. That water adds push, and a few wet winters can tip the wall.
What happens after you call about a retaining wall?
Call and walk the slope
You call (916) 260-2151 or send the form, and I come out myself to look at the slope and talk it through with you. Then I follow up with a written estimate.
We build the wall
If the wall needs a permit, we take care of it before we start. Our lead mason and crew do the work, and I stop by to check on it.
Walk the finished wall together
When the wall's done, we walk it together so you can see the grade and where the water goes. Ask anything, since knowing how it was built helps you spot trouble later.
Retaining wall questions we hear
Here are straight answers to the questions homeowners ask before they build a wall. If yours isn't here, call or send the form and ask about your own slope.
Does my retaining wall need a permit in El Dorado Hills?
A structural retaining wall needs a county grading permit when it's over 4 feet in total height, measured from the bottom of the footing, or when it carries extra weight on the ground above it, like a driveway or more slope. El Dorado County issues that permit, and if your lot is in the El Dorado Hills Community Services District's architecturally controlled area, the district has to approve the plans before the county will issue it. A grading permit also brings a dust plan. Outside the county's Asbestos Review Area that's a Fugitive Dust Plan, and inside it a job that disturbs 20 or more cubic yards of soil needs an Asbestos Dust Mitigation Plan. We find out which office covers your address and handle the application and inspections as part of the job.
How much does a retaining wall cost in El Dorado Hills?
A retaining wall in the Sacramento area usually costs about $15 to $60 per square foot of wall face, installed. Where yours lands depends mostly on the wall's size, the block, how much digging and drainage the slope needs and whether a permit comes into it. I'll look at your slope and give you a written estimate for your wall.
What causes a retaining wall to lean or collapse?
Water and the wrong fill behind the wall are a common cause, since backfill with too many fine particles that drains poorly can let a wall rotate, shift a lot or collapse, especially once water pressure builds. That matters here, because El Dorado Hills gets cool, wet winters after its hot, dry summers. One geogrid maker's guide calls for a perforated pipe behind the bottom row that drains out to daylight, a buried toe, which means the bottom of the wall sits below the ground, and ground graded to shed water away from the wall. When you compare bids, ask what fill and drainage each one includes.
How long does it take to build a retaining wall?
The block work itself usually goes quickly, since a concrete masonry industry guide puts an experienced crew of three or four at 300 to 500 square feet of segmental wall a day. You can use your wall's face area to judge the block days, but digging, the base, the drain and backfill, plus any permit or design review, all add to the total.
Do I need an engineer for a retaining wall in El Dorado County?
If your wall needs a county grading permit, the grading plans carry a civil engineer's signature and stamp, except where the county's rules allow otherwise. That's why the planned height and what sits above the wall are the first things I ask about, since they decide whether the permit and its plans are part of your job.
Who can apply for a grading permit in El Dorado County?
A contractor can apply for you as your agent if they hold an active California contractor's license and a current El Dorado County business license. It's fair to ask any contractor bidding your wall whether they hold both.
Get a written estimate for your wall
Send the wall's rough height and spot, and whether your lot is under the district's design review, and we'll reply within one business day. I'll look it over at your property and send a free written estimate, no obligation.
Retaining walls up close
Work that often goes with a wall
Masonry restoration
Older brick or stone near your new wall can look tired beside it, and restoration repairs crumbling joints and faces without tearing anything down.
Learn moreFireplace installation
Once the wall turns a slope into flat ground, a fireplace can make that new space somewhere you'll actually sit out on cool evenings.
Learn more