Concrete Retaining Walls in San Rafael CA - soil that stays put and water that drains
Leaning wall, slumping slope or a yard you want leveled? We pour reinforced concrete walls with drainage built in, so the soil stays put.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- We respond within 1 business day.
What goes into a concrete retaining wall in San Rafael?
A concrete retaining wall holds back the sideways push of soil and anything sitting behind it. In San Rafael, that usually means turning a slope that creeps downhill into flat, usable ground, with a footing, steel and drainage built to carry the load.
Most calls start with something you can see, like an old wood wall leaning out, soil washing onto the patio after a storm, or a slope you'd like to turn into a level yard. The price turns mostly on the wall's height and length, how much soil has to come out, how our crew gets to it, what sits near the top and the drainage behind it. The schedule turns on whether the wall needs a permit or an engineer, and on the weather for digging and pouring. Premier San Rafael Concrete Company is licensed and insured. We're based in San Rafael and take jobs from Petaluma down to Berkeley. After I look at your slope, I send a written estimate that lays out each step, so you see your own number before anything starts.
How we build concrete retaining walls
Before I price a wall, I ask what will sit near the top of it, like a fence, a driveway or a pool, because that load decides how the wall has to be built and whether an engineer needs to look at it. Then we lay it out, dig down to firm ground and pour a footing, the wide concrete base the wall stands on. Rebar, the steel bars that hold the concrete together when the soil leans on it, runs through the footing and up into the wall. We form and pour the wall itself and let it cure, the wait while concrete hardens and gains strength, before anything pushes on it. Then we lay a drain pipe along the back and backfill with gravel so water has a way out. Drainage is part of every wall we price, and the footing and drainage are also the first things people want to cut when the budget gets tight. I won't cut them. Nobody sees them once the wall is backfilled, but they're what keeps it standing, and a nice face on a wall with no way for water to get out just cracks and leans sooner.
A wall usually changes what you can do with the ground around it. The level space it gives you is often where a concrete pool deck goes. When we cut into a slope next to the house, the room that opens up may need concrete floor installation.
A single poured wall
One reinforced wall on its own footing suits a shorter stretch of slope where you want the most flat ground at the top, like a parking pad or a level lawn. It's the simpler build, but a tall one is more likely to cross the city's four-foot permit line and need an engineer, which I cover below.
Stepped terraces
Two or more shorter walls with planting between them suit a long, steep slope, because each wall holds back less soil and the hill turns into usable beds. They take more length and more digging, and the gap between them changes how the city measures them, which the questions below explain.
If a wall is leaning, bulging or cracking wider each winter, call (628) 234-2042 before the next rains, because the pressure behind it keeps building while water can't get out.
What happens after you call about a retaining wall?
Here's how a wall goes from your first call to backfill, with me on the job at each step, and where the city's permit review fits into the schedule.
Call and send a few photos
Call (628) 234-2042 or send the form with the height you have in mind, a few photos of the slope and a note about any fence, driveway or pool near the top. We get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
I measure and write it up
I come out myself, measure the slope, ask what the wall has to hold back and send a written estimate that lays out each step, drainage included. You see where the money goes before you decide anything.
Permit, pour, backfill, clean up
Before we dig, I settle the permit, the layout and where the water goes, and when a permit is needed, the city lists 2 to 6 weeks for residential reviews, so that wait often sets the start date. I'm on site with our crew from forms to finish, and we clean up once the wall is backfilled and drained.
Get a written estimate for your retaining wall
We reply within one business day to set a time, then I come out, measure and send a written estimate that lays out each step. It's free, done on site and comes with no pressure to book.
(628) 234-2042Concrete retaining walls on San Rafael slopes
The City of San Rafael issues building permits for retaining walls over four feet tall and for any wall holding up a surcharge, which is extra weight pushing on it, like a driveway or a fence on top. The four feet is measured from the bottom of the footing, not from the ground you see. Hillside lots, with a slope of 25 percent or more or the city's -H hillside overlay, also need design review from the Planning Division. On other lots, a wall over four feet isn't allowed in the setbacks, the open strips the city keeps along your property lines. A wall in the public right of way along the street needs an encroachment permit from Public Works, and moving 50 cubic yards of earth or more, cut and fill together, needs a Public Works permit too. I check with the city whether your wall needs a permit for your address, and when it does, we handle the application. The city's retaining wall handout is where you can check its current requirements.
A lot of our wall work here is on hillside lots, and a federal landslide map for Marin County notes that slow slide areas found before building can be left alone or stabilized through careful design of cuts, fills, retaining walls and drainage. So the first thing I look at is whether the slope seems to be moving, and if it does, I'll tell you up front that the job needs an engineer rather than pour a wall and hope. We see the same steep, wet ground on jobs in San Anselmo and Mill Valley.
Retaining wall questions from San Rafael homeowners
Do terraced retaining walls need a permit in San Rafael?
They can, depending on how far apart they sit. The city measures terraced walls separately at the base of each one only when there's a landscaped gap of at least four feet between them, and closer than that it adds the heights together. Two 3-foot walls set 2 feet apart count as one 6-foot wall and cross the four-foot permit line, so we lay out terraces with that spacing in mind.
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in San Rafael?
In the San Francisco Bay Area, concrete retaining wall installation usually runs about $20 to $50 per square foot, for work that typically covers site prep, digging, steel, ready-mix concrete and gravel backfill. Where your wall lands in that range depends on its height, how hard the site is to reach, what sits near the top and whether it needs an engineer. Your own figure comes from the written estimate after I measure.
Can a fence or driveway sit near the top of a retaining wall?
It can, but the city says anything pushing sideways on a wall, like cars, a pool, porch footings or a fence on top, needs an engineer's evaluation. As a general rule, those loads sit at least twice the wall's total height back, so a 4-foot wall keeps them at least 8 feet away. If yours has to sit closer, plan on an engineer's design before we pour.
How can I tell if my retaining wall drainage is failing?
Cracks or bulges can mean water pressure has built up behind the wall, mineral stains on the face show moisture seeping through, and standing water at the base can point to a clogged drain pipe. Ask any builder where the wall's drain pipe sends the water, since a working drain carries it away from the wall.
What is the best way to drain a concrete retaining wall?
Give the water behind it a way out before it collects. A trade group's guide for concrete masonry walls says every wall needs that, and where heavy, long rains are expected, a continuous drain along the back may tie into the drains through the wall. Marin's winter storms are that kind of rain, so plan on more than a few holes through the face.
Do I need a licensed contractor to build a retaining wall in California?
For almost any poured wall, yes. California licenses concrete contractors under a class that covers forming, pouring, placing, finishing and installing concrete, and the minor work exemption only covers jobs up to $1,000 that need no permit, where the unlicensed person has no employees. A poured retaining wall of any real size runs past that, so ask to see a license before anyone digs.
Related concrete services for hillside yards
A pool and its deck push on the ground around them, so if one is planned near a new wall, we plan the two together at the estimate.
A lower-level room dug into a hillside lot needs a floor that stays dry and flat, and that starts with the base and drainage under it.
Get your retaining wall planned before you dig
Call (628) 234-2042 or send the form, and I can flag a permit or engineer question before I'm standing in your yard.