Hardscaping
Retaining Walls
Walls that hold the grade and move water — built from the drainage out, not the face in.
A retaining wall is doing structural work whether it's six blocks tall or six feet. It's holding soil that wants to move, and it's holding water that wants to freeze. Build it for those two forces and it stays straight for decades.
What goes into a wall
- Trench dug below grade so the first course is buried
- Compacted aggregate leveling pad set dead flat
- Block laid to string line, courses set back per the block spec
- Clean drainage stone behind the wall with a drain outlet
- Geogrid tied into the backfill where height calls for it
- Filter fabric, compacted backfill, and adhered caps
Common uses around here
Terracing a sloped side yard so it's usable, holding a raised bed off the driveway, leveling a patio area on a grade, and stopping mulch and topsoil from washing onto the sidewalk every storm.
Finishing it
Once the wall is capped, the bed above it gets soil, plantings, and mulch so it reads as landscaping instead of construction. We can maintain that bed on the same visits as your mowing route.
This service is part of our hardscaping work across Metro Detroit. Bundle it with a regular route stop and you skip the trip charge.
Other Hardscaping Services
Common Questions
- Why did my old wall lean out?
- Nine times out of ten there was no drainage stone behind it. Water saturates the soil, freezes, expands, and pushes the blocks forward. A wall without a drainage path is a wall on a timer.
- How tall can a wall be without engineering?
- Most local codes allow segmental walls up to about four feet before a permit and engineered design are required. Taller than that, or holding a driveway, we bring in the right design rather than stacking higher and hoping.
- Can you rebuild an existing wall?
- Often yes, and sometimes we can reuse the block. We take it down, fix the base and drainage that caused the failure, and rebuild to line. Rebuilding on the same bad base just resets the clock.
Want a straight answer on price?
Send the address and what you need. Most quotes go out the same day, and there is no charge to ask.