Retaining wall construction

Block, fieldstone and boulder retaining walls and stone steps, with the drainage and reinforcement to hold a Georgia hillside.

Serving Covington, Madison, Monroe, Social Circle, Monticello, Lake Jackson and Lake Oconee.

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We build retaining walls and stone steps for homes in Covington, Madison, Monticello and on Lake Jackson and Lake Oconee, from our base in Mansfield. Whether it is a block wall holding a driveway, a fieldstone wall around a patio or a boulder wall on a lake bank, every retaining wall we build gets a proper footing, drainage behind it and reinforcement where the height calls for it.

Retaining walls fail from water, not weight. When rain soaks the clay behind a wall with nowhere to drain, the pressure pushes it over.

Our walls start with a compacted footing, a buried first course, drainage stone and a perforated pipe behind the wall, and geogrid reinforcement where the height calls for it. That is how you get a wall that looks the same in twenty years as it does the day we finish.

What we do

Segmental block walls
Natural stone and dry-stacked walls
Boulder walls
Terraced walls for steep yards
Stone and boulder staircases down a slope
Wall caps, pillars and built-in seating
Replacement of leaning or failing walls, including timber walls

From our project gallery

Tiered block retaining walls on a sloped backyard

Curved stacked stone wall along the edge of a pool

Block retaining wall with built-in steps around a raised patio

Concrete steps flanked by capped stone walls

Stone-faced raised pool wall with a water feature

Block retaining wall with a brick return along a fence line

Block retaining wall stepping down a garden slope

How we build it

Footing and buried course
The first course sits below grade on a compacted gravel footing, so the wall cannot kick out at the base.
Drainage behind the wall
Clean drainage stone and a perforated drain pipe run behind the wall to let water out instead of letting it build up.
Geogrid reinforcement
For taller walls we lay geogrid back into the hillside between courses, tying the soil and wall together.
Built to the manufacturer’s spec
Block walls are built to the manufacturer’s engineering guidelines for setback, grid spacing and height.

Questions about retaining walls

Do I need an engineer or a permit for my wall?

In most Georgia counties, walls over a certain height (often 4 feet) or walls holding back a driveway or structure need an engineered design and a permit. We will tell you at the site visit whether yours does and help coordinate it.

My wall is leaning. Can it be saved?

Sometimes a section can be rebuilt; sometimes the whole wall needs to come out. It depends on why it is failing, which is usually drainage. We will look at it and give you an honest answer.

Block or natural stone?

Block walls are engineered systems that can go taller and cost less per square foot. Natural stone and boulder walls look more at home in a wooded or rural setting. Both last when the drainage is right.