Concrete retaining walls in Norfolk VA - a wall that drains and stays put
Soil slumping onto your patio or water pooling behind an old wall? We build concrete walls that hold the ground and let water out.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free estimates at your property.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What does it take to build a concrete retaining wall in Norfolk?
A concrete retaining wall holds back soil where your yard changes level. Groundwork Norfolk Concrete builds them in Norfolk on a solid footing, with the drains planned first to keep water from collecting behind the wall.
Most calls start with a slope creeping onto a patio or driveway, or an old wall that's leaning, cracked or pushing mud out at the bottom after a rain. The price moves with the wall's length and height, how easy the site is to reach, how complex the design is and how much drainage your ground needs. The schedule turns mostly on any permit and on how long the new wall has to sit before we fill in behind it. The written estimate I leave you spells out the prep, the pour and anything you'll need to plan around, so you have your own number before you decide.
How we build concrete retaining walls
I start with the water, because water building up behind a wall is what ruins it, so before anything else I work out where rain and runoff come from and where they'll leave. Then we dig out and pack the base for the footing, the wide concrete foot under the wall that keeps it from tipping or sliding when the soil leans on it, and we set the steel and forms for the wall itself. We favor drains you can get to and keep clear, because weep holes, the small openings that let water seep out through the face, tend to clog over time and get forgotten. Soil only goes back behind the wall once it has gained enough strength or is well braced, and design guides say heavy machines should stay back from the top by a distance equal to the wall's height, so we plan the fill-in around both. If the budget gets tight, I'd rather trim the face finish than the footing or the drains, because nobody sees those on day one but they do the real work.
A retaining wall usually makes room for something else. Leveling a slope for a pool often leads to concrete pool decks up against the wall, and a flat pad cut into a hill can carry a shed or workshop with concrete floor installation. When we plan the wall and the slab together, we set the grades and drainage once, so water off the new surface doesn't end up behind the wall.
Poured concrete wall
A poured wall suits a bigger grade change or a spot carrying more weight, like next to a driveway, because it goes in as one solid piece tied to its footing. It needs a truck and forms, so it fits yards where we can get equipment in.
Reinforced concrete block wall
A block wall suits a lower wall or a tight backyard, because the block goes up by hand where a truck can't reach. We run rebar upright through the block, steel bars that resist the pull the packed soil puts on the wall.
If an old wall is leaning, bulging or pushing mud out at its base, call (757) 731-7228 before the next long rain adds more water behind it.
What happens after you call us about a retaining wall?
Here's how a retaining wall job runs with us, from the first call to the day I walk the finished wall with you. Most of the thinking happens before anyone picks up a shovel.
Call or send the form
Call (757) 731-7228 or use our contact form, and have the wall's rough length and height and a few notes on where water collects. Photos of the slope sent to office@concretenorfolk.com help me come out with the right questions.
I walk the site with you
I measure and ask a lot of questions about where the water goes and how you'll use the ground above and below the wall. You get a written estimate covering the prep, the drainage, the pour and anything you'll need to plan around, so you see where the money goes before you commit.
Our crew builds the wall
We handle any permit and inspections the job needs, then our own crew does the work. I'm on site for the pours and the tricky parts.
We walk the finished wall
Before we call it done, I walk the wall with you and show you where the drains come out and how to keep them clear. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Get a written estimate for your retaining wall
Send the form and expect a reply within one business day to set a time. I'll come out for a free estimate at your property, walk the slope and write up what we'd do and why, with no pressure and no obligation.
(757) 731-7228What changes a concrete retaining wall job in Norfolk
The City of Norfolk asks owners to start a retaining wall with a Building Permit, though a short wall may be exempt, so whether yours needs one comes down to how much soil it holds back. When that isn't clear, we ask the city's Building Permit team before we start, not after, and when a permit is needed, we pull it and set up the inspections.
The ground is the other thing we plan around. Soil maps show far more of Norfolk as poorly drained than well drained, and where heavy, long rains are expected, design guides suggest a continuous drain along the back of the wall as well as drains through it, because water can't be allowed to collect behind the face. On a lot of Norfolk yards that means both kinds of drain. We're based in Norfolk and work in the cities around it, on both sides of the state line, and we plan walls the same way on jobs in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach.
Retaining wall questions we hear in Norfolk
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in Norfolk?
A retaining wall in Norfolk usually costs about $40 to $43 per square foot, which is the going rate around here, not a quote from us. Where your wall lands depends on the site, how complex the design is and how much work it takes to build. I'll write up your own figure at the estimate, after I've measured and seen where the water goes.
Do I need a permit for a short retaining wall in Norfolk?
It might not need one, going by the city's FAQ, which exempts walls supporting less than 2 feet of unbalanced fill, the extra soil piled on the high side. The city's pages don't all agree on that cutoff, so check your own wall by emailing planreviewpermits@norfolk.gov or calling 757-664-6565 and leaving a detailed voicemail with a callback number. If you hire us, we sort that out for you.
What causes a retaining wall to fail?
Poor drainage is by far the most common cause, and the trouble it starts can end in the wall failing outright if nobody deals with it. If you're comparing bids, the first thing worth asking each contractor is how their design relieves the water pressure behind the wall.
Who should get the permit for a retaining wall in Norfolk, me or the contractor?
The city highly recommends that the contractor doing the work get the permit and be listed as the responsible party. If you do the work yourself, you can get the permit, but you also submit an affidavit accepting responsibility for all of it. On our jobs, we pull the permit and list ourselves as the responsible party.
Does a retaining wall contractor need a license in Virginia?
Yes, Virginia's Board for Contractors licenses businesses that build or repair on property owned by someone else. The license class sets the dollar value of projects a contractor can take on, and the specialty sets the type of work allowed. We're licensed and insured.
How do I know if my retaining wall needs waterproofing?
Design guides say waterproofing the back face should be considered where heavy rain is common or where the backfill, the soil packed behind the wall, lets little water through. With ground as wet as much of Norfolk's, I look at the soil you have and what we'd backfill with before it goes into the estimate.
Concrete work that often goes with a retaining wall
If your wall is leveling ground for a pool, the deck around it needs to shed splash and rain away from both the water and the wall.
Once a wall gives you level ground, a poured floor turns it into usable space for a shed, workshop or storage building on a properly packed base.
Call about your retaining wall today
Drainage is far easier to get right while the wall is still on paper than after it's poured, so call (757) 731-7228 or send the form and we'll plan it first.