Patios and paving
Retaining Walls
Retaining walls built with proper foundations and drainage, for terracing a sloping garden.
- Free written quotes
- Fixed price, not an estimate
- Worksop and across the county
Get a price for retaining walls
Friendly advice, no obligation. We will come out and measure up.
- Custom solutions
- Quality you can see
- Local and reliable
- Adds value
A retaining wall is not a garden wall with soil behind it. It is holding back the weight of that soil, and that weight goes up enormously when the ground is saturated. Retaining walls fail because of water pressure behind them far more often than because the wall itself was badly built.
So the two things that matter are the ones you cannot see once it is finished. First, a foundation sized for what the wall is holding, dug down to firm ground. Second, drainage behind the wall: a free-draining stone backfill, a perforated land drain at the base taking water to a proper outlet, and weep holes through the wall so water has a way out rather than building pressure.
We build retaining walls up to normal garden terracing heights. Above about a metre, or where a wall would be holding up a neighbouring property, a driveway or anything structural, it needs designing by a structural engineer, and we will tell you that rather than build it and hope. That is not us passing the job on, it is the point at which a wall stops being landscaping.
What’s included
What you get for the price
The quote covers the foundation and the drainage behind the wall as well as the wall itself. Those two are what make it last, and neither is visible once the job is finished.
- A concrete foundation dug to firm ground and sized for the retained height
- Free-draining stone backfill behind the full height of the wall
- A perforated land drain at the base, taken to a suitable outlet
- Weep holes through the wall so water can escape
- Coping or capping to finish the top and shed water off it
What affects the price
Why we quote per job
There is no useful price per square metre for this, because these change the number more than the material does:
- The retained height, which drives the foundation size and everything else
- Length of the wall and whether it steps or curves
- The walling material, from concrete blocks rendered, through brick, to natural stone
- How much excavation and cart away the terracing needs
- Whether an engineer design is required, which is the point where a wall stops being a landscaping job
Above roughly a metre, or where a wall holds up a neighbouring garden or a driveway, it needs designing by a structural engineer. We will tell you if yours does.
How it works
Retaining Walls, step by step
- 01
Assess the ground
We look at the retained height, the slope and where water currently runs, and tell you if it needs engineer design.
- 02
Written quotation
A fixed price naming the foundation, the wall construction and the drainage behind it.
- 03
Excavate and found
Dig out to firm ground and pour the foundation.
- 04
Build and drain
The wall goes up with the land drain and free-draining backfill placed as we build, not shovelled in afterwards.
- 05
Cap and finish
Coping bedded on, backfill finished to level, and the area cleared.
Why us
Why people pick us for this
The base is specified
Our written quote names the sub-base depth and the materials, so you can see what is going under the surface and compare quotes on the same terms.
A fixed price
The written price is what you pay. If something genuinely unforeseen turns up once we open the ground, we stop and talk to you before doing anything about it.
You deal with the person doing the work
No sales visit followed by a different crew. The person who quotes the job is on site doing it.
Straight advice
If the job you have asked for is not the right answer, or a clean would do instead of a replacement, we will tell you before you spend the money.
Retaining Walls across Nottinghamshire
We are based in Worksop and cover the towns below, plus the villages around them.
- Worksop
- Mansfield
- Chesterfield
- Newark on Trent
- Nottingham
- Lincoln
- Derby
- Grantham
Common questions
Retaining Walls questions
How high can you build a retaining wall?
Why do retaining walls fail?
Do I need permission?
Related services
- Patio PavingNew patios, paths, steps and retaining walls, plus cleaning and restoration of existing paving.View
- New PatiosNew patios in porcelain, natural stone or concrete paving, laid on full mortar beds.View
- Patio CleaningCleaning, re-pointing and sealing for patios that have gone green or lost their joints.View
- Paths and StepsGarden paths and steps built to consistent, safe dimensions and matched to your paving.View
Want a price for retaining walls?
We will come out, measure up and put a fixed price in writing. No charge for the visit.