Concrete retaining walls in Fayetteville AR - a slope that stays where it belongs
Slope creeping into your yard or an old wall leaning out? We pour reinforced walls with drainage behind them, so the ground stays put.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Expect a reply within 1 business day.
What goes into building a concrete retaining wall with drainage behind it?
A concrete retaining wall in Fayetteville is a reinforced wall poured on a footing to hold back the sideways push of a slope, so you get flat, usable ground and soil that stays where it is. It usually comes with digging out, a drain behind the wall and regrading at the top.
Most people call when a bank keeps washing into the yard, an old wall has started to lean, or they want flat ground where there's a hill. A poured wall is formed to fit your slope, with the steel and the footing working as one piece, and the weight of the soil sitting on the back of the footing does most of the work of holding it up. The catch is that it takes real forms and a crew that knows how to place concrete, and fixing one later is a big, messy job, so I'd rather plan it right once than patch it twice. The price moves mostly with how tall and long the wall is, how easy it is to get forms and a truck to it, whether it needs an engineer and whether you want a decorative face. The schedule mostly turns on permits, engineering and inspections. I'll measure it and send you a written estimate with your own number.
How can you tell a slope or an old wall needs attention?
Old wall leaning out
If the top of a wall is tipping toward you or the face is bowing, the soil behind it is pushing harder than the wall was built to take, often because water has built up back there. A wall that's moving rarely stops on its own, and the longer it goes, the more dirt there is to deal with when it finally gives.
Water at the bottom
Wet stains on the face, mud at the base or weep holes that stay dry after a hard rain usually mean water is stuck behind the wall instead of getting out. It's a lot cheaper to sort out the drainage now than to rebuild a wall after it starts to move.
Slope sliding into the yard
Dirt washing onto your patio, a bank you can't mow or a fence post creeping downhill means nothing is holding that slope. Each heavy rain takes a little more ground with it, and it's easier to build against a hill that's still where it was.
Work that often goes with a wall
Concrete floor installation
Leveling a slope with a wall usually makes room for a shop or shed floor, and planning both at once keeps the water moving the right way.
Concrete pool decks
On a sloped lot, a pool deck often needs a wall on the low side to hold up the ground it sits on.
How we build a concrete retaining wall
On a wall, the drainage behind it matters more than anything you see out front, so I work that out first and plan drains that can be cleaned out later. Then we dig out for the footing, set the rebar, the steel bars that keep the concrete from pulling apart under the soil's push, and form and pour the footing before we form and pour the wall on top of it. We let it cure, the slow hardening that gives concrete its strength, before we strip the forms, lay the drain with its cleanouts, backfill with stone that lets water reach it and grade the top so runoff heads away from the wall. When a wall needs an engineer's design, we build to it.
A lot of walls get built because someone wants flat ground for something else. If the wall is making room for a shop or shed, we can handle the concrete floor installation as part of the same project, and on a sloped backyard the wall often holds the ground for one of our concrete pool decks. Planning them together means one drainage plan for the whole slope instead of two that fight each other.
Plain formed wall
A straight wall with a smooth or lightly textured face suits most yards, because it's the simplest to form and puts your money into the footing and the drain. It's what I'd pick when the wall's job is holding dirt and nobody's going to stare at it.
Decorative face
If the wall faces your patio or the street, we can form a texture or pattern into the face or stain it. It costs more to form and finish, and it doesn't do a thing for the water behind it.
Get a written estimate for your concrete retaining wall
We'll reply within one business day to set up a free on-site estimate, with no pressure and no obligation. If you'd rather talk it through, call (479) 598-4435.
Call (479) 598-4435Why Fayetteville homeowners call AJ Fayetteville Concrete Construction for retaining walls
I walk the job myself
I come out to look at the job, and I'm on site running it while our crew handles the prep, forming, pouring and finishing. You get the same person answering your questions at the estimate and on pour day.
Learned on a public works crew
I learned concrete pouring sidewalks, curbs and the odd wall on a city public works crew, where the ground and the water got sorted out before anything else. I started this business in 2020 to bring that same careful work to homes and businesses.
Licensed and insured on your job
We're licensed and fully insured. That matters on a wall, where we're digging into your yard with heavy equipment close to your house and your neighbor's.
Built where the city allows
In Fayetteville, a wall can't sit in a utility easement without written permission from every utility, and it has to stay at least 2 feet back from the right of way. I check where those lines fall on your lot before we set a single form, so you don't end up paying to move a wall.
If you've got a slope that won't stay put, tell us about it and I'll come walk it with you.
What happens after you call about a retaining wall?
Call or send the form
Call (479) 598-4435 or send the form, and tell us roughly where the wall would go and what the slope is doing. We'll set a time for me to come out.
I walk the slope with you
I measure, look at where the water comes from and where it goes, and talk through what you want the wall to do. Then I send a written estimate you can take your time with.
We sort out permits first
Once you say go, I check with the building office in your city, and if a permit's needed, we handle the paperwork and line up the inspections. That keeps the work going in the right order.
We build it and walk it
Our crew preps and forms the site, then we pour and finish the footing and the wall. When we're done, I walk it with you and show you where the drain cleanouts are.
Common questions
What does a poured concrete retaining wall cost in Fayetteville?
Poured concrete retaining walls in Fayetteville usually cost about $30 to $40 per square foot of wall face, which is the height times the length of the side you see. That local figure covers digging out, site prep, building the forms, pouring, basic finishing and cleanup, so it's worth checking that every bid includes the same. It leaves out tearing out an old wall, stamped or multi-colored concrete, curved walls, walls taller than 3 feet and yards with difficult soil, so if your job has any of those, your number can land outside it.
What causes a retaining wall to fail?
Poor drainage is by far the most common cause, and the trouble can grow into an outright failure if nobody deals with it. Weep holes, the small openings through the face, often clog from bad backfill, plants, animals or trash, and then the water has nowhere to go. That's why the drain is the first thing I look at on an old wall that's moving.
When does a retaining wall need an engineer in Fayetteville?
When a wall over 4 feet tall is part of a city grading plan, a licensed professional engineer has to design and inspect it. Those grading plans cover building a single-family home on a site in the city's Hillside/Hilltop Overlay District, in a floodplain, on a slope of 15% or more, or with a wall over 4 feet. If you're not sure whether your lot is one of those, I'll go over it with you at the estimate.
What license covers retaining wall work in Arkansas?
Arkansas has a home improvement license, and retaining walls are one of the work categories listed on the state's application. A Limited license covers residential projects under $50,000, counting labor and material, while an Unlimited license covers projects of any size. On a bigger wall, it's fair to ask whether a contractor's license covers the full price of your job.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall in Fayetteville?
If the wall is over four feet high, yes, the City of Fayetteville requires a permit application to build it. For a shorter wall, we still check with the city before we set a date.
How do I compare retaining wall bids in Fayetteville?
Start with the drainage plan, because that's where most walls go wrong and it's one of the most important parts of any bid. Drains built to be maintained drain a wall more reliably than weep holes, which are likely to clog over the years, so ask each contractor what kind of drain they're putting in and how you'd clear it later. If a bid doesn't mention drainage at all, that tells you something too.
Get a price on your retaining wall
Have the wall's rough height and length and a few photos of the slope ready when you call (479) 598-4435, send the form or email team@fayettevilleconcreteconstruction.com, because they let me see where the water's coming from before I drive out.