Concrete retaining walls in Brookline MA - a wall that holds the slope and drains it
Slope creeping into the yard or an old wall leaning out? We build concrete walls with a real drain, sized to the height you need.
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How do you hold back a slope that keeps sliding?
A concrete retaining wall holds back the ground behind it so it can't tip over or slide, and we build them in Brookline sized to the height of your slope and drained from the base so the hill stays where you want it. We're based in Brookline and work in Cambridge, Newton, Quincy and plenty of the other cities around it.
Most people call because dirt is washing onto the driveway, the yard is too steep to use, or an old wall has started to lean, which usually means water has been getting behind it for years. The price moves with how tall and how long the wall is, how much digging and hauling the slope takes, and how easily a concrete truck can reach the spot. The schedule turns mostly on whether the wall needs a permit and on the weather for the pour. Your own figure comes from the written estimate after I've seen the slope.
How we build a concrete retaining wall
First we dig out where the wall will stand, because the ground and the water behind it decide everything else. How tall the wall has to be shapes how we build it. Engineering guides put plain gravity walls, which hold by their own weight with no steel, at up to about 3 feet, and say the most common wall from about 4 to 25 feet is a reinforced cantilever wall, a T-shaped footing and stem tied together with rebar, the steel that takes the pull concrete can't. We set the forms and steel, pour, and put a real drain at the base before any backfill goes in, backfill being the gravel and dirt that go back behind the wall. Drainage guides describe that drain as a perforated pipe wrapped in filter fabric, with weep holes, the small openings through the face, only as a backup since they can clog or freeze, so we don't lean on weep holes alone. Water behind a wall is what pushes it over, and concrete doesn't get a second draft.
A wall is often the first step of something else. If you're cutting into a hill to make room for a concrete pool deck, we plan the wall and the deck together so the runoff from one doesn't end up behind the other. When the wall opens up a walkout basement or a lower-level room, we can handle the concrete floor installation inside as well.
Building concrete retaining walls in Brookline
Brookline's Building Department issues the permits to build here, and state guidance requires one for retaining walls more than 4 feet tall. That 4-foot line is the state's, so the building office has the final word on your wall, and we check with them before we book the job. When a permit is needed, we pull it ourselves and keep you posted on where it stands. Some houses here also fall under the Preservation Commission, which runs its own permit review for local historic districts, so it's worth finding out whether yours is one of them before the plan is set.
A lot of the walls we're called about here hold a front yard up above the sidewalk or line a driveway cut into a hill, on lots without much room to work. Access matters as much as height, because the truck or the pump has to reach the forms. We see the same tight, sloped lots on jobs in Newton and Quincy.
- Call (617) 274-7964
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–9 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–10 PM
- Brookline, MA 02445
What happens when you call Essential Brookline Concrete Company in Brookline?
Call and describe the slope
You call or send the form, and I come out myself to look at the job. I'll ask what's under the slope, where the water goes and what the wall has to hold up.
Get a written estimate
You get it in writing, with what's included and what isn't, so you can hold it up line by line against any other bid. It also says what kind of wall your height calls for and how we'll drain it.
Settle the permit and date
We sort out the permit side and the timing before we book a pour. Brookline generally takes 7 to 10 days to review and approve a building permit application, so we plan that wait into the schedule.
Build it, then walk it
Our crew does the work with me on site, inside Brookline's contractor hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. When we're done, I walk the wall with you and tell you how to treat it.
Why Brookline homeowners call Essential Brookline Concrete Company for retaining walls
The owner comes out first
I look at every job myself, and our own crew does the work with me on site. The person who told you about the drain is standing there when it goes in.
In business since 2013
I learned concrete mixing and screeding on my father's jobs, and I started this business in 2013. Most of our calls come from people who've had concrete fail on them once, and a leaning wall is about the worst way to learn that lesson.
Licensed, insured and easy to check
We're fully licensed and insured. Massachusetts requires Home Improvement Contractor registration for work on an owner-occupied home of one to four units, and state guidance calls for a Construction Supervisor License on walls over that 4-foot line, which you can look up with the state before you sign.
Written contract that matches the estimate
Massachusetts law requires a written contract with certain required terms for home improvement work estimated at $1,000 or more. Our estimate already spells out what's in and what's out, so the contract says what we talked about in your yard.
On a retaining wall, the part that matters most ends up buried behind it. Tell us about your wall and I'll come take a look.
Request an estimateGet a written estimate for your retaining wall
We reply within one business day to set a time, then I come out myself, look at the slope and where the water runs, and leave you a written estimate. It's free, done on site, and there's no pressure to book.
- Fully licensed and insured.
- Phone
- (617) 274-7964
- Location
- Brookline, MA 02445
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–9 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–10 PM
Questions about retaining walls in Brookline
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost near Brookline?
Installing a poured concrete retaining wall in the Boston area usually costs about $31 to $97 per square foot. Where yours lands depends mostly on its height, which decides whether it needs steel, plus how much digging there is and how easily a truck reaches the spot. The written estimate gives you your own figure, and the work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
What's included in the price of a concrete retaining wall?
For a 3-foot wall, one Boston price guide expects site prep, excavation, filter fabric, ready-mix concrete, gravel backfill and reinforcement to be part of the price with no extra fees. Our estimate lists what's in and what isn't, so you can check any bid against that.
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall in Brookline?
You do if the wall is more than 4 feet tall, because state guidance requires a building permit at that height. For a shorter wall, the Building Department decides, and we ask them about your wall before we book the job.
Can I pull the permit for a retaining wall myself in Brookline?
You can if you live in a one- or two-unit home, though Brookline typically issues building permits to state-licensed construction supervisors. An owner who pulls their own permit may become liable for the contractors and can lose the protection of the state's home improvement contractor law, which is one reason we pull it ourselves.
What causes a concrete retaining wall to tip over?
Water is usually what pushes a wall over, because even a moderate rise in groundwater behind it can double or triple the sideways load on the wall. That's how a wall that stood fine for years starts to lean or slide, and it's why we build the drain in from the start.
How long does it take to build a concrete retaining wall in Brookline?
Most of the calendar time usually goes to the permit, if the wall needs one, and to the weather for the pour, not to the digging. Once it's poured, the concrete needs time to cure, the slow hardening that gives it its strength, before the backfill goes against it. Your estimate lays out the timing for your wall.
Other concrete work around the wall
Concrete floor installation
When a wall goes in to open up a walkout basement or a garage-level room, the floor inside needs the same care with its base and the water.
Concrete pool decks
A pool deck set into a hillside often needs a wall behind it, and planning both together keeps runoff away from the pool and the deck's edge.
Get your retaining wall planned right
Call (617) 274-7964 or send the form with the wall's planned height and length and a few photos of the slope, so I come out already knowing what to look for.
Request an estimateCall (617) 274-7964