How we build retaining walls

Retaining walls can be a fantastic addition to a yard, especially in an area as hilly as Nanaimo. They allow you to reclaim unusable space to use for lawn, garden beds, or more building space.

Retaining walls are very adaptable to the aesthetics of your yard, concrete blocks (such as Allen Blocks or Lock Blocks) are very popular on Vancouver Island. But a more natural looking option is a boulder wall, which can blend into its surrounding topography, or even into a water feature, very beautifully.

All walls need an appropriate base, we excavate down to solid ground, and fill the base with engineered road base or crushed stone. This allows us to compact the base into a dense and level foundation to set the first layer of the wall on. As the wall is built up higher, we back fill with free draining aggregate and if necessary, lay landscaping fabric to tie back into the ground.

Retaining walls in Nanaimo and surrounding areas are required to have geotechnical engineering done if they are over approximately 4 feet tall, or if they are retaining a structure. If you are considering a retaining wall, we can help plan and inform you if engineering would be necessary, or if our design choices could allow us to avoid the additional cost.