Concrete retaining walls in Montrose CO - a yard that stays put and drains well
Soil creeping down the slope or an old wall leaning out? We build concrete walls planned around your ground and where the water goes.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What kind of retaining wall does your Montrose yard need?
Concrete retaining walls hold back soil where your yard changes level, and here in Montrose, CO, we build them as poured concrete or as stacked concrete block, sized to your slope, the ground under the wall and where the water runs.
Most calls start with dirt washing onto a concrete patio or driveway after every storm, an old wall starting to lean, or a sloped yard you'd like to make usable. The price moves with the wall's height and length, whether it needs a reinforced design, how easy the spot is to reach and how much drainage goes in behind it, and the schedule mostly turns on what the office for your address asks for and on the weather. I'll walk the site with you and give you an estimate that spells out what I see and what we'd build, so you have your own number before you decide anything.
How can you tell your slope or wall needs work?
Wall leaning or bowing
If the top of the wall tips out past the bottom, or the face bulges in the middle, the soil behind it is pushing harder than the wall was built for, usually because water is trapped back there. Leaning only goes one direction, and a wall that falls takes part of the yard above it along.
Wet stains and new cracks
Damp patches, a white crust or fresh cracks on the face mean water is working through the wall instead of draining around it. The longer that goes on, the more pressure builds behind the wall every wet season.
Dirt washing down slope
Mud on your patio, sidewalk or foundation after a storm means the slope has nothing holding it, or the wall is too short for the grade. Each storm moves a little more soil, and it ends up wherever the water goes, sometimes against your house.
Gaps opening at the base
When the ground at the foot of the wall sinks, or a gap opens between the wall and the soil, the base under it is settling. A wall on a soft base keeps shifting with the dirt, and fixing that later usually means taking the wall down.
How we build concrete retaining walls in Montrose
Most of my questions on a wall are about where the water will go and what's under it, because those decide the design more than the look does. Once that's settled, we dig down to firm ground, pack the base and set the footing, the solid strip the wall stands on, then build the wall in poured concrete or stacked block. Behind it we lay gravel and a drain pipe so water has a way out, and we backfill in layers so the soil packs down instead of slumping later. A taller wall or a sloped yard gets a reinforced plan, with rebar, the steel bars that hold poured concrete together, or reinforcement tied back into the soil behind block, and I'll explain why on your job. If the budget gets tight, the face finish is the place to trim, not the base or the drain, because those are buried on day one and they're what keeps the wall standing.
A wall often clears room for other work. If you're leveling the yard for a pool, we can pour the concrete pool deck on the flat ground the wall creates, and if the wall is cut in to make space for a shop or shed, our concrete floor installation work gives that building its slab.
Poured concrete wall
This suits walls that carry real load near a driveway or the house, or where you want a smooth, solid face. We build forms, set the steel and pour it as one piece.
Stacked block wall
Concrete blocks set without mortar suit garden beds and lower walls on firm ground. They can go in without heavy machines, which helps in a tight backyard.
Terraced walls
Two or more shorter walls stepped up a long slope can take the place of one tall wall. They suit big grade changes and leave you planting room on each level.
Get a retaining wall estimate for your slope
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I'll come out, look at the slope and the drainage, and give you a free quote on site with no pressure to book.
(970) 964-6176- hello@montroseconcrete.com
- Based in
- Montrose, CO 81401
- Hours
- Mon–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call about a retaining wall?
Here's how a wall job runs from your first call to the last walk-around, and what you'll know at each step.
Call or send a message
Tell us your address and a little about the slope, and we'll set a time to come out. The address matters early, because it decides which office we'll check with.
Walk the site together
I come out, look at the slope, the soil and where the water runs, and ask how you'll use the ground above and below the wall. Then I go over the estimate line by line, so you can see what the base, the drainage and the wall itself each add to the price.
Check, prep and build
Once you're ready, we check with the office that covers your address, mark out the wall and prep the site. Then we build the base, the drain and the wall in that order, since the parts you won't see are the ones holding it up.
Walk through care together
When the wall is done, I show you where the drain lets out and what to keep clear of it. A drain that stays open is the easiest way to keep water from backing up behind your wall.
Why Montrose homeowners call Montrose Concrete for retaining walls
The owner walks your slope
I come out to look at the job myself, and I'm on site with our crew when the wall goes in. The person who planned your drainage is the one watching it get built.
In business since 2013
I spent my school summers on a concrete crew and started this business in 2013, learning the trade by pouring it and asking why. That's why you'll hear the reason behind each step of your wall, and I'd rather explain it twice than have you surprised later.
Licensed and fully insured
We're licensed and fully insured, which matters on a wall job because we're digging, moving soil and pouring right next to your house and your neighbor's. If something goes wrong on site, you aren't the one carrying it.
Soil checked before the design
This valley has mapped problem soils, covered below, so I look at what's under your wall before choosing poured, block or reinforced. Choosing after seeing the soil means the design fits the ground instead of the other way around.
If you've got a slope that's moving or ground you'd like to level, send us a message or call (970) 964-6176 and I'll come take a look.
Retaining walls, permits and soil in Montrose
Wall-building guidance says to learn the local code before any wall, large or small, because it sets what engineering the job needs. Inside city limits, the city's Building Services office issues building permits and handles plan checks and inspections, but its list names other work and not retaining walls, so whether your wall needs a permit isn't settled until someone asks the city about it. Outside city limits, Montrose County Planning & Development is the contact, and its Building Department handles plan review and inspections. Before we schedule, we check with the office that covers your address, walk you through what it asks for and help with the paperwork if a permit is needed.
The ground is the other thing that shapes a wall here. A state mapping project marked potential landslides, rockfall, swelling soil and collapsible soil on private land in the Uncompahgre River valley and the highlands nearby, and collapsible soil, ground that can drop when it gets wet, is common across the state's dry, non-mountain areas. Wall guidance calls swelling and organic soils unsuitable as the base for a block wall, so I check what's under every wall before we pick a design, on jobs in Montrose, in Delta and in the cities around them.
Questions about retaining walls in Montrose
How much does a retaining wall cost in Colorado?
Retaining wall construction in Colorado usually costs about $30 to $50 per square foot, and that's the statewide market range, not our price. Costs swing a lot with the kind of project, where the site is, how complex the design is and the scope of the work, so a tall reinforced wall on a tight lot lands differently than a low garden wall. I'll give you your own figure after I've looked at the slope.
What type of retaining wall is best for a steep slope or bad soil?
A reinforced design is usually the right call, since block wall guidance says reinforced walls fit when a wall is taller than a plain stacked wall can be, holds back a slope or sits on difficult soil. Plain stacked block suits lower, simpler walls on firm ground. I decide after seeing your slope and the soil under it, because the ground can change which design works.
Why does drainage matter so much for a retaining wall?
Poor drainage is by far the most common cause of poor performance in walls that hold back earth, so ask about the drainage plan as closely as you ask about the wall. Water trapped behind a wall adds weight and pushes on it every time the ground gets wet. When I walk your site, I'll show you where the water goes and where the drain lets out.
Who handles building permits and inspections in Montrose?
The city's Building Services office handles them inside city limits, and the county's Building Department handles plan review and inspections outside them. The city's online GIS map shows city limits if you're not sure which side of the line you're on, or give us your address and we'll find out before we schedule.
How long does it take to build a retaining wall?
Block walls go up quickly once the base and drain are in, and the concrete block industry's guidance puts an experienced crew of three or four at 300 to 500 square feet of wall a day. Poured walls take longer because forms go up first and the concrete needs curing, the wait while it gains strength, before the forms come off and soil goes behind it. I'll tell you what your schedule turns on when I see the site.
How do I get underground lines marked before a retaining wall goes in?
Call 8-1-1, the Call Before You Dig line, so underground utilities are marked before anyone digs for the wall. The city's GIS map also shows utilities and easements, which helps when you're deciding where a wall can sit on your lot.
Other concrete work that goes with a wall
Concrete floor installation
Leveling a hillside often clears room for a shop or shed, and a new concrete floor gives that space a flat, solid base.
Concrete pool decks
If the wall flattens your yard for a pool, the deck around it needs the same care with drainage, so water runs away from the edge.
Retaining wall service areas around Montrose
Montrose Concrete is based in Montrose, Colorado, and builds retaining walls in Montrose, Delta and the cities around them. The two cities below have their own pages with more on the work we do there.
Montrose, CO
Get an estimate for your retaining wall
Call (970) 964-6176 or use the form with your address, a rough length and height for the wall and a few photos of the slope, and I'll come out ready to talk about your ground.