Concrete retaining walls in Baldwin Park CA - built to hold your slope and drain
Soil slumping onto your patio or a slope eating into your yard? We build a poured wall that holds it back and lets water out.
Retaining walls that hold back a slope
A retaining wall holds back soil so a slope stays where it is. At All Star Baldwin Park Concrete, our concrete retaining walls in Baldwin Park, CA are poured in place as an upright stem with steel inside, standing on a footing, the wide concrete base under it. Its weight, the soil resting on that footing and the steel keep it upright.
The price comes down to the wall's length and height, how much dirt we dig out and haul away, how easily we can get in, and the ground underneath. The schedule turns on that same digging, building the forms, the pour, any permit, and curing, the wait while the concrete gains strength before we put soil back against it.
I come out myself to walk the slope with you and write the estimate, so you'll see in writing what's included and what isn't before anything gets dug. When the work starts, I'm on site running our crew.
What a concrete retaining wall can fix
Dirt sliding onto your slab
When mud keeps washing off a slope onto your patio, driveway or walkway, a wall gives that slope a hard edge to stop against. You're not sweeping up after every rain, and the slab below stays clear.
A slope you can't use
A steep yard is hard to plant, play on or set furniture on. Cutting into the slope and holding it with a wall gives you a level strip you can actually use, for a patio, a garden bed or just room to walk.
Runoff wearing away the bank
Where water is eating at the bottom of a bank or pushing dirt toward a fence or the house, a wall holds the soil in place. With a planned drain behind it, the water goes somewhere that can take it.
Do you need a wall, a slab or both?
If the problem is dirt that won't stay put, you need a retaining wall. If the ground is already level and you want a hard surface on it, that's flatwork, the trade word for slabs like patios, driveways and walks, and it's a different job.
Plenty of jobs need both. A pool set into a sloped yard usually needs a wall to hold the hill before we pour the concrete pool decks around it. A garage or room cut into a bank works the same way, with the wall built ahead of the concrete floor installation.
If the cracks are in the house itself and not in a wall outside, that's a foundation question, and our foundation raising page is the better place to start. When you're not sure, I'll tell you which job it is when I walk it.
What to settle before we start digging
Where the water goes
The water behind a wall is the first thing I plan for, since trapped water pushes on the wall every time it rains. Before we dig, we agree where the drain lets out so it lands somewhere that can take it, not against your house or a neighbor's fence.
Footing first, face second
When a budget gets tight, the footing and the drain are what people want to trim, because they're buried by the end of the job. I'd rather spend there and keep the face plain, since a nice finish won't save a wall sitting on a thin base.
Getting in and cleaning up
Digging out for a wall means equipment, a pile of dirt and a path across your yard. We'll go over how we get in, where the soil goes and what's nearby, like sprinklers, fences or trees, so we can leave your yard the way we found it, apart from the new wall.
Retaining walls in Baldwin Park
Building permits, plan checks and inspections in Baldwin Park go through Baldwin Park Building & Safety. Whether your wall needs a permit depends on the job, so we ask the city, and when it does, we take care of the permit as part of the job.
The state maps ground that can give way in an earthquake, and the city uses those maps in permitting, so a lot inside a mapped zone may need the ground looked at first. We work here and in nearby cities like West Covina and El Monte. Tell us what sits above your slope and where water runs in a storm.
Questions people ask about retaining walls
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in Baldwin Park?
A concrete retaining wall in the Los Angeles area usually costs about $20 to $45 per square foot. Where yours lands depends on the height, how much digging and hauling it takes, how easy it is to get in and the ground under it. I'll give you a written price for your wall at the estimate.
Why do concrete retaining walls fail?
Poor drainage is by far the most common cause, according to research on walls that hold back earth, and left alone those early problems can turn into failure. Weep holes, small openings that let water seep out through the face, are likely to clog over a wall's life, so we favor drains that can be cleaned out down the road.
How does the soil in my yard change a concrete retaining wall?
Poured concrete walls do best on firm ground that carries weight well. Where the ground is soft or prone to settling, the wall may need piles, posts driven down to firmer soil, or ground improvement, and piles raise the cost a lot. On tight lots with little room to dig, walls pinned into the hillside or built off steel posts are generally used instead.
Who issues building permits in Baldwin Park?
Baldwin Park Building & Safety issues building permits in the city. Their number is 626-813-5265, and they're open Monday through Thursday, 8 am to 5 pm, and closed Fridays. If your wall needs a permit, we handle it, so you'd only call them with your own questions.
Will my new concrete retaining wall crack?
Concrete can show fine hairline cracks as it cures and ages, and on a well-built wall those are usually cosmetic. What keeps a wall standing is the steel inside it, a solid footing and a drain that lets water out, so those are the parts I spend the most time on.
Is there a California license for concrete contractors?
Yes, the state licensing board has a concrete contractor class covering contractors who form, pour, place, finish and install concrete work. It's fair to ask anyone bidding your wall which license they hold and whether they carry insurance. We're licensed and fully insured.
Tell us about your retaining wall
Send the wall's rough length, height and a few photos of the slope. We reply within one business day to set up a free, no-obligation estimate at your property.
(626) 412-8829Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM