Retaining Walls in Tacoma
Tacoma is built on hills. Between the North End bluffs, the slopes above Commencement Bay and the sloped lots in University Place and Gig Harbor, plenty of yards drop off faster than you can comfortably walk them. A retaining wall holds that soil in place. It turns a slope you can’t use into flat ground you can, and it keeps a hillside from creeping toward your driveway, patio or house.
We build new retaining walls in poured concrete and block, and we repair walls that have started to lean, bulge or crack. Most wall jobs are modest and specific: a two- or three-foot wall to level a backyard, a wall along a driveway cut, terraced garden beds on a slope, or a replacement for an old timber or rockery wall that’s giving way.
We’re licensed and insured, and we work throughout Tacoma and Pierce County. Call for a free, no-pressure estimate. We’ll look at the slope, the soil and where the water goes. We’ll tell you whether your wall needs a permit or an engineer, and give you a clear price. If an existing wall can be saved, we’ll say so before we talk about replacing it.
Built to Drain: Retaining Walls for Tacoma’s Wet Ground
Most retaining walls that fail around here aren’t too thin. They fail because water had nowhere to go. After a Pacific Northwest winter, the soil behind a wall is soaked and heavy. Without drainage, that weight pushes on the wall until it leans, bulges or cracks, and freeze-thaw cycles widen every crack. So every wall we build starts with the water:
- Solid footing. We dig past loose topsoil and set the wall on a compacted base, so it doesn’t settle or tip forward.
- Drainage behind the wall. Drain rock and a perforated pipe collect the water behind the wall and carry it to a safe outlet. Poured walls also get weep holes.
- Compacted backfill. Soil goes back in thin layers and is compacted as we go, so it doesn’t slump and load the wall later.
- The right wall for the job. Block walls suit garden terraces and backyard leveling. Poured concrete walls handle heavier loads, like a wall beside a driveway or next to a garage.
Permits and engineering. In the City of Tacoma, a retaining wall generally needs a building permit in any of three cases: it’s taller than 4 feet measured from the bottom of the footing, it holds up a load such as a driveway, a building or a fence on top, or it sits in a critical area such as a steep slope. Walls like that usually need an engineered design too. Pierce County and neighboring cities set their own rules. We’ll tell you at the estimate whether your wall needs a permit or an engineer, and walk you through the process if it does.
Leaning or cracked wall? A wall that’s tipping forward usually has a drainage or footing problem. Sometimes the fix is new drainage and a partial rebuild. Sometimes the whole wall has to come out. We’ll tell you which. If the ground movement has reached a slab or your house, see concrete leveling and foundation repair. For cracked steps and flatwork nearby, see concrete repair.
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