Concrete retaining walls in Petaluma CA - a wall that holds the slope and drains
A slope crowding your yard or an old wall leaning out? We pour reinforced concrete walls with the drainage planned behind them.
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Is a poured concrete retaining wall right for your sloped yard?
A concrete retaining wall is reinforced concrete poured on a wide footing, with rebar, the steel bars inside, bent up from the footing into the wall. Allied Petaluma Concrete builds these walls in Petaluma, CA, to hold back a slope and give you level ground you can use.
Most people call us when a hillside is crowding the back of the house or an old wall has started to lean. On a tight lot where you can't dig far back into the slope, a poured wall can hold the same height in a much thinner section, because the steel and the footing do the work. The price moves with the wall's height and length, the digging for the footing, the steel, the drainage, whether an engineer and a permit are involved and whether the concrete truck can reach the spot. The schedule usually turns on the engineering and the city's review more than on the pour itself. Your own figure comes in a written estimate that lists what's included.
How can you tell a slope or an old wall needs attention?
An old wall leaning out
If the top of an old wall is tipping toward you, the water and soil behind it are usually winning. A lean tends to keep growing, and the further it goes, the less of the wall is worth saving.
Cracks running through the wall
A crack that keeps widening, or one side pushed out past the other, usually means the wall is moving and not just drying out. Waiting lets water into the crack and turns a repair question into a rebuild.
Soil washing onto your patio
When every storm leaves mud on the patio or the slope keeps creeping toward the house, the ground needs something to hold it. The longer that goes on, the more soil you lose and the closer it gets to your foundation.
How we build concrete retaining walls
I start by walking the slope with you to see what the wall has to hold, where the water runs when it rains and what sits above it, and if there's a driveway, pool or building up there, I'll tell you early that an engineer will likely need to design the wall. Our crew then digs out for a wide footing, sets the forms and ties the rebar, bending it up from the footing into the wall and tying more in a grid so the steel carries the load. The drain behind the wall gets as much of our attention as the concrete, so we lay it out to be kept clear over the years, because a clogged drain lets water build pressure the wall was never meant to carry. After the pour, the forms stay on while the concrete cures, the slow hardening that gives it strength, and then we backfill behind it. If the budget gets tight, I'll tell you to save on the face finish and not on the footing or the drain, because those are buried on day one and they decide how the wall holds up.
A new wall often makes room for flat ground, and we can pour what goes on it. On a level pad above or below the wall, we handle concrete floor installation for a shed, studio or workshop, and if the wall is part of a backyard pool project, our concrete pool decks can be planned with it so the water off the deck goes where the drain can handle it.
Get a free written estimate for your retaining wall
We reply within one business day and set a time for me to see the slope. The estimate is free, done on site and written out with what's included, and there's no obligation to book.
- support@petalumaconcretecontractor.com
- Based in
- Petaluma, CA 94952
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call about a retaining wall?
From your first call to the final walk-through, here's who does what and where the city's review can stretch the calendar.
Call us or send the form
You call or send the form, and we get back to you to set a time for me to come out. If you're not sure yet whether you need a wall at all, that's a fine reason to call.
I visit and write it up
I walk the slope with you, ask how you'll use the space and send a written estimate that lists what's included. You'll know what you're paying for and why before you decide anything.
We build after city approval
If the wall needs a permit, the city says some are issued over the counter or within a few days, while most take a few weeks or even several months, so we set the date once approval is in hand. Our crew does the work, and I walk the finished wall with you before we pack up.
Why Petaluma homeowners call Allied Petaluma Concrete about walls
If there's a slope you'd like to deal with, call (707) 283-3110 or go to our contact page, and I'll come take a look.
I come out to every job
I look at each wall myself and write the estimate, and our own crew does the forming, pouring and finishing. You talk to the person who saw your slope, and the people building the wall work from that same plan.
Running this business since 2013
I learned concrete on a flatwork crew, the folks who pour driveways, patios and sidewalks, and came back to the trade in 2013 to start this business, so we've been at it 13 years. I'd rather tell you plainly what a wall will and won't do than promise more than concrete can give.
Start dates set around Petaluma's approval
When a wall needs a city permit, we help with the application and plan our start around the city's approval and inspections. That keeps the crew from showing up to dig before the paperwork allows it.
Licensed and fully insured
We're licensed and fully insured, which matters when a crew is digging into a slope next to your house. Our work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Retaining walls, permits and drainage in Petaluma
The City of Petaluma issues building permits for new structures, and its list of examples names building a fence or a deck, not a retaining wall. That leaves the question open for your wall, so before we set a date, it's worth asking the city's building staff at building@cityofpetaluma.org, and the city's permit process page lays out how they handle applications. I'll bring it up at the estimate so it's settled before anyone digs.
An older city planning report states there are no state-delineated Alquist-Priolo fault zones, the fault areas the state maps, within Petaluma's Urban Growth Boundary, and we still build the wall to its design either way. On jobs around here we see plenty of backyards that climb right behind the house, with little room to dig back. We're based in Petaluma and work in the cities around it across the North Bay, and we build walls the same way in Novato and Santa Rosa.
Questions about retaining walls in Petaluma
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in Petaluma?
Price pages for San Francisco put a retaining wall at about $20 to $60 per square foot, and those pages differ widely from one another. That's San Francisco pricing, not a Petaluma price and not ours, so the number for your wall comes from the written estimate I send after seeing the site.
What causes a concrete retaining wall to crack and lean?
Poor drainage is by far the most common cause of trouble with retaining walls, and left alone it can go all the way to failure. A poured wall built with too little steel or no drainage cracks and leans, and the fix is usually tearing it out, which is why the drain and the rebar are the last places I'd cut.
When does a retaining wall need an engineer?
A wall usually needs an engineer once there's extra load above it, such as a driveway, parked cars, a pool, a building or a steep slope that keeps climbing, because that load lowers how tall the wall can safely be. One trade group also calls an engineer essential where the soil is especially unfavorable or piling has to go under the wall. It's better to plan for that design step from the start than to find out after the forms are up.
How does the Petaluma permit process work for a retaining wall?
A Petaluma permit takes an application and a fee, and in most cases plans from an architect or engineer that city staff review and approve. Whether your wall needs a permit at all is the first question for the city's building staff, as I mentioned in the Petaluma section above.
How do I compare retaining wall quotes from different contractors?
Treat the drainage plan as a core part of every bid, and ask each contractor how the drains will be kept working over the years. Weep holes, the small openings that let water seep out through the face of the wall, are likely to clog over time, and drains that can be maintained are more reliable. It's also fair to ask about licensing, since the state contractor license board's concrete classification covers contractors who form, pour, place, finish and install concrete.
Does the concrete truck need to reach my backyard for a retaining wall?
Not always, but it helps your budget if it can, because a pump truck adds to the cost when the concrete truck can't get close to the wall. Check the route from the street to the work area early, and I'll look at it with you during the estimate.
Related concrete work for sloped yards
Concrete floor installation
When a new wall leaves you a level pad, a poured floor turns that ground into a solid base for a shed, studio or workshop.
Concrete pool decks
If the wall is holding ground near a pool, a deck poured as part of the same plan can slope its runoff away from both.
Service areas for retaining walls around Petaluma
Allied Petaluma Concrete is based in Petaluma, California, and builds retaining walls in the cities around it across the North Bay. Twelve cities have their own page on this site, including Rohnert Park and Sonoma, and they aren't the only places we work.
Petaluma, CA
Send us photos of your slope
Photos of the slope, the wall's rough length and height, and any driveway, pool or building above it let me spot the engineering and drainage questions before I come out.