Concrete Retaining Walls in Moses Lake WA - A wall built to drain and hold your yard
Soil slumping onto the lawn or a slope you can't use? We plan the drainage first, then pour a wall that holds it back.
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- Free estimates at your property.
- We reply within 1 business day.
What does it take to build a concrete retaining wall in Moses Lake?
A concrete retaining wall is a poured wall that holds back the earth behind it. It's built to carry the push of that soil, so a slope stays where you put it. In Moses Lake, we build them for homeowners who want a yard they can use instead of a hillside that keeps creeping toward the house.
Most people call when a slope is washing onto the lawn, an old wall is leaning, or they want a flat spot for a patio or a pool. The price moves with the height and length of the wall, how hard the site is to reach, how much design work it needs and how the water gets out from behind it. The schedule turns on that design work and, for taller walls, the permit, so before we price anything I check with the city or county office that covers your property. The written estimate lays out the full scope, so you can line it up against other bids.
How do you know your slope needs a retaining wall?
Dirt washing onto the lawn
If soil slides off the slope after every hard rain or sprinkler cycle, nothing is holding the bank, and each season takes a little more of your yard. Waiting usually means a bigger wall later, because there's more to dig out and rebuild before we can pour.
An old wall leaning out
A wall that tips forward, bulges in the middle or has a crack running top to bottom is losing to the soil behind it, and trapped water is usually part of the reason. Once a wall starts moving it rarely stops on its own, so it costs less to replace it before it drops a load of dirt on the patio.
Wet spots at the base
Damp soil, staining or puddles along the bottom of a wall mean water is collecting behind it with no clean way out. That water adds weight the wall may not have been built for, so it's worth having someone look before the leaning starts.
How we build a concrete retaining wall
I start every wall with where the water will go, because water behind a wall causes more trouble than anything else I see, and we settle the drainage and the design with you before we put a price on it. Then our crew digs out for the footing, which is the wide concrete foot the wall stands on, and packs the base so it won't settle. We set the forms and the rebar, the steel bars that keep the wall from bending under the soil's push, and pour. Once the forms come off, we backfill with the drainage we planned, so the water has a way out instead of a place to sit.
A wall usually makes level ground, and level ground usually gets poured. If the new terrace is for swimming, we can build the concrete pool deck in the same project, and if it's for a shop or a shed we handle the concrete floor installation too, so the wall and the slab share one drainage plan.
Low garden walls
These suit terraced beds and short slopes where you want a clean edge and a flat strip of yard. They're the simplest wall we build, though the drainage still gets planned the same way.
Taller walls holding a slope
These suit lots where a real hillside meets the house or the driveway, and they hold back the most soil and water. Expect engineered design work before the pour, which the Moses Lake section below explains.
Walls that frame a patio or pool
These suit yards where the wall and a slab go in together, so one plan covers the grade, the drainage and the finish. Doing both at once also saves digging the same ground twice.
Get a written plan and price for your retaining wall
We reply within 1 business day to set up a visit, and the estimate at your property is free and obligation-free. I walk the slope with you, mark out where the wall would go and talk through the drainage and the permit side. Then I send you the scope in writing.
(509) 512-0637Building concrete retaining walls in Moses Lake under the city's rules
The Moses Lake Building Department issues the permit for any wall taller than 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall. It also requires one for a shorter wall that carries extra load, such as fill piled behind or above it. That measurement includes the footing in the ground, so a wall that looks short can still count. When a wall needs a permit, the city wants engineered plans with a site plan as part of the application, so the design work comes first. We handle the application or help you with yours, and we build to what the city decides. We plan walls the same way on jobs in Ephrata, Quincy and other cities around the area, checking with whichever city or county office covers the lot.
Lots near the lake add another layer. A wall near Moses Lake that isn't built to stabilize the shoreline has to meet the city's shoreline standards, and the city may widen the required setback from the water to protect the shore, so we find that out before the wall gets drawn.
What happens when you call about a retaining wall in Moses Lake?
Call or send a message
Call (509) 512-0637 or use the form, and we'll set up a time to come out. Tell us what the slope is doing now and what you want the yard to be when it's done.
Walk the slope with me
I come out myself, mark where the wall would run and talk through your choices, the drainage and whether a permit applies. That's the time to ask anything, because the plan is still easy to change.
Get the scope in writing
Your written estimate spells out the wall, the footing and the drainage behind it, so you can see what you're paying for, including the parts nobody sees. If the budget's tight, I'd rather you skip a fancy face than skimp on the footing and drainage, because those are hidden on day one and they're what fails first.
Prep, form, pour and cure
Once you say go, our crew preps and forms the wall, and I'm on site to run the pour. Before we leave, I show you how to look after the new concrete while it cures, which is the wait while it hardens and gains strength.
Frequently asked questions
What does a concrete retaining wall cost in Washington?
A retaining wall in Washington usually costs about $35 to $45 per square foot. That's a statewide figure for retaining walls in general, and the real number moves with the kind of project, where the site is, how complex the design is and how much work is in the scope. For a price on your own wall, ask us for an estimate.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall in Moses Lake?
You need a city building permit if the wall is over 4 feet from the bottom of the footing to the top, or if a shorter wall holds back extra load like fill above it. Applications go through the City of Moses Lake Permit Portal, and the Building Department answers permit questions at 509-764-3743.
Why does drainage matter so much for a retaining wall?
Poor drainage is by far the most common reason retaining walls perform poorly, and left alone those problems can turn into outright failure. That's why the way a wall drains deserves close attention in any design or bid you're comparing.
What is the best way to plan drainage behind a retaining wall?
Decide early whether the backfill, the soil placed behind the wall, is meant to drain, because that one choice shapes the whole design. If the backfill isn't expected to drain, the wall has to be designed for water pressure as well as earth pressure, so we settle it with you and the designer before anything else.
What rules apply if my retaining wall is near Moses Lake?
A wall near the lake that isn't for shoreline stabilization has to meet the city's shoreline standards, and the setback between the wall and the ordinary high water mark, the lake's normal high water line, is a buffer planted with native vegetation. A planting plan goes to the city for review and approval, so on a lakefront lot the landscaping is part of the paperwork.
How do I keep the weep holes in my retaining wall from clogging?
Keep the backfill right, the plants back and the openings clear, because weep holes, the small openings that let water out of a wall, often stop working when poor backfill, plants, animals or trash clog them. A quick look along the base after watering or rain tells you whether water is coming out where it should.
Moses Lake, WA
Book a walk-through for your wall
Have the planned height, any fill behind or above it, and whether you're near the lake ready when you call, since those three decide the permit and the design.