Concrete retaining walls in Concord CA - a wall that drains and holds your slope
Is your slope pushing soil onto the patio or tilting an old wall? We build poured walls planned around drainage so they stay put.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
Is a poured concrete retaining wall right for your yard?
A concrete retaining wall in Concord, CA is a poured-in-place structural wall that holds back a slope so the ground stays where you want it. The job covers digging out, building the forms, which are the molds that shape the wall, pouring, basic finishing and cleanup.
Most people call me when a slope is slumping toward the house, the patio keeps getting buried in mud after rain, or an old wall has started to lean. The first decision is whether you need a poured structural wall at all, because a dry-laid wall of stacked material with open joints costs much less and can do the job when the wall doesn't have much to hold. If poured is the right call, the price mostly moves with the wall's height and length, whether an old wall has to come out, curves or a stamped or colored face, the soil behind it and how easily we can get forms and concrete to the spot. The schedule turns on those same things, plus whatever the city or county asks for at your address, which we check before we set a date. The written estimate I put together on site gives you your own figure and spells out what's in it.
How can you tell a retaining wall is in trouble?
The wall leans forward
If the top of the wall has tipped out past the bottom, the soil behind it is usually winning, most often because water has built up with no way out. A leaning wall doesn't straighten itself, and the longer it goes, the more of it has to come out.
Mud on the patio after rain
When soil slides down a bare slope onto your patio or walkway every wet spell, that slope usually needs something holding it. Each storm takes a little more of the yard and can start washing out the ground under the slab below.
Damp cracks in the face
Cracks with wet streaks or a white crust around them usually mean water is pushing through the wall instead of draining away behind it. That pressure doesn't let up, so the cracks tend to widen with every wet season.
How we build a concrete retaining wall
Drainage is the first thing I plan and the first thing I show you, because water building up behind a wall is the real enemy. We dig out along the slope and prepare the ground under the footing, the wider base at the bottom of the wall, then set the forms with rebar inside, steel bars that give the concrete the strength to resist the push of the soil, and leave weep holes, small openings that let water out through the face. After the pour and basic finishing, we lay drain pipe and gravel behind the wall so water runs down and away, then backfill and clean up. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather you skip a fancy face than skimp on the drain or the footing, because once the backfill is in, nobody gets to those again without tearing the wall out.
A new wall often makes a level piece of yard that wasn't there before, and people want to use it. We pour concrete pool decks on that kind of ground and handle concrete floor installation for a shed or workshop on the cut, and when we plan the slab and the wall together, the water we send away from one doesn't end up under the other.
Straight wall, plain finish
This suits most yards where the job is simply holding back a slope. Straight forms are simpler to set, and a plain face keeps your money in the drainage and the footing, where it does the most good.
Curved or decorative face
This suits a wall that's also the main view from your patio or deck. Curves and a stamped or colored face can look great, but both add to the cost, so I'll show you what the plain version would run too.
Get a written estimate for your retaining wall
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a visit. I come out, look at the slope with you and put a free estimate in writing, with no obligation to go ahead.
(925) 536-0945- Based in
- Concord, CA 94519
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–9 PM
What happens when you call about a retaining wall in Concord?
Here's how a wall job goes from your first call to the final walk-through, so you know who you'll talk to and what you'll have in hand.
Call or send a message
Call (925) 536-0945 or use the form and tell us roughly where the wall goes and what it's holding back. We'll get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
Walk the slope with me
I look at the slope, where the water runs and how we'd get forms and concrete in, then explain your choices in plain terms. You get a written estimate that spells out what's included and what isn't, so there's no guessing about what you're paying for.
Build it, then walk it together
Once you're set, we sort out what the city or county needs, then build the wall with me on site. When it's done, we walk the finished wall together, drain outlets and weep holes included, so you can see where the water goes.
Why Concord homeowners call King Concord Concrete Works for retaining walls
Licensed and insured in California
We're licensed and insured. California's licensing board describes a concrete contractor as one who forms, pours, places and finishes concrete work, and that's every part of a poured wall.
I write the estimate myself
I come out to look at the job and write the estimate, and I work on site with our small crew of form setters and finishers. The person who promised you a drain behind the wall is the one making sure it goes in.
Options explained before you sign
We've been in business since 2020, and we're best known for laying out the options plainly before anyone signs anything. I'd rather you understand why the drainage costs what it does than just take my word for it.
On a wall, the part you can't see is what holds it up, so ask for a site visit and I'll show you the plan for yours before you decide.
Retaining walls and the work around them in Concord
Permits come first, and in Concord the easiest place to start is the city's Project Pal tool, which shows the zoning for your address, which permits a project needs and a rough permit fee. Building a wall means moving soil, and the City of Concord's Engineering Division issues a separate grading permit for that, plus an encroachment permit if any of the work reaches into the public right-of-way, the strip along the street that belongs to the city. If you'd rather ask a person, the city's permit staff answer at bldgpermits@cityofconcord.org or 925-671-3107. In Clayton and the unincorporated parts of the county, Contra Costa County handles building permits and requires one for a retaining wall 3 feet or taller. Either way, we check with the office that covers your address and handle the permit paperwork when your wall needs one.
A lot of the wall calls we get around here are for back yards cut into a hillside, where the house sits on the flat part and the slope above or below needs holding. Those yards often have a narrow side gate as the only way in, so I work out how forms, concrete and the crew get back there before I write anything down. We see the same kind of sloped lots on jobs in Clayton and Martinez.
Questions about retaining walls in Concord
How much does a poured concrete retaining wall cost in Concord?
A poured concrete retaining wall in Concord usually costs about $48 to $52 per square foot installed, with labor included. That's the going rate in the area for a straightforward wall, and it leaves out walls taller than 3 feet, removing an old wall, curves, stamped or multi-colored concrete and difficult soil, so any of those can move a quote outside it. Your written estimate gives your own figure once I've seen the slope.
What causes a retaining wall to fail?
Most retaining walls fail because water builds up in the soil behind them and pushes until the wall leans or cracks. A university extension guide on wall design says a lasting wall lets that water drain down and away through gravel backfill, drainage blankets or drain pipe. Whoever you hire, ask them how your wall will drain.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall in Concord?
A wall in Concord can need a grading permit for the soil that gets moved, and an encroachment permit if work reaches into the public right-of-way, both from the city. The permits section above shows how to check your address, and we handle the paperwork when a permit is needed.
Is there a cheaper alternative to a poured concrete retaining wall?
Yes, a dry-laid wall of stacked material with open joints costs much less than a poured structural wall. Which one fits comes down to what the wall has to do, so we settle that first, and if a stacked wall would do what you need, I'll tell you so.
How long does a concrete retaining wall last?
A poured concrete wall is built as a long-term structure, and Wisconsin's transportation department designs its permanent walls for a typical life of 75 years. That's a highway target from another state, not a promise for a back yard wall, but it shows the kind of lifespan these walls are planned for.
What should I know about the ground before building a retaining wall?
Ask what the ground under the wall is like and whether it tends to settle, because that decides which wall type makes sense. Transportation design manuals from Washington and Wisconsin say cantilever walls, the L-shaped kind with a footing that runs under the soil they hold, do best on firm ground, and that they and rigid gravity walls handle settling ground worst.
Related concrete work around a new wall
Concrete pool decks
If the wall creates a level spot beside your pool, a new deck can use that ground, with its drainage planned alongside the wall's.
Concrete floor installation
When a cut into the hillside makes room for a shed, workshop or room addition, a poured floor gives it a flat, solid base.
Service areas for retaining walls around Concord
King Concord Concrete Works is based in Concord, California, and builds retaining walls across the 12 cities listed here, from Walnut Creek to Pittsburg. If your city isn't listed, call and ask.
Concord, CA
Book a site visit for your wall
Call (925) 536-0945 or send the form with the wall's rough length and height, a few photos of the slope and a note on how we'd get to it, so I can plan the visit before I arrive.