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Walls & steps
A wall is a drainage structure that happens to hold soil.
Walls rarely fail because the block was wrong. They fail because water behind them had nowhere to go and pushed.
Retaining walls
Turning a slope into usable yard
A back garden on a grade is a garden nobody uses. Terracing it into one or two level areas gives you somewhere to put a table, a shed or a play area — and stops the soil arriving on the patio every spring.
- Base course buried below finished grade
- Clear drainage stone and filter fabric behind the block
- Drainage pipe daylighted where it can actually discharge
- Courses stepped back to spec, compacted backfill in lifts
- Engineered design where the height calls for it
Steps & seat walls
The parts people touch
Steps are where bad workmanship becomes obvious and dangerous: uneven risers, treads that hold water, a handrail nobody planned for. They get set out properly, with equal risers and a fall that sheds water.
- Garden steps in natural stone or manufactured block
- Front entry steps and landings
- Seat walls around patios and fire-pit areas
- Pillars, caps and lighting built into the wall
Warning signs
When an existing wall needs attention
| What you see | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| The wall leans out at the top | No drainage behind it — water pressure is pushing |
| Blocks stepping out of line | Base course was not buried or not level |
| Soil washing out between blocks | Missing filter fabric behind the face |
| Wet patch below the wall after rain | Drainage is blocked rather than absent |
| Cracks in a patio above a wall | The wall is moving and taking the patio with it |
A leaning wall does not stabilise on its own. It gets slower and then sudden.
Free estimate
Send a photo of the slope.
We will tell you whether it is a wall job or a grading job.