Retaining Walls in Dallas, TX

A retaining wall does one job, and it needs to do it for years. It holds soil on a slope so your yard stays put through the next hard Dallas rain. Our crew builds walls across Dallas and the wider Dallas County area, from the hills of Oak Cliff and Kessler Park to Lake Highlands and the streets near White Rock Lake. The ground under most of these yards is Blackland Prairie clay. That clay swells when it rains and shrinks when it dries out, and it moves more than the sandy soils in other parts of Texas. A wall that ignores that movement will lean, crack, and bulge within a few seasons. If your fence line looks wavy or your slope is shedding dirt onto the sidewalk, the soil is already on the move. We plan every wall around how the ground actually behaves on your lot.

We start by reading the slope and where water wants to travel after a storm. Then we set a footing that carries the load, add drainage behind the wall so water has a clear way out, and stack the wall so it sheds pressure instead of trapping it. Most Dallas wall failures we get called to fix trace back to one missing piece. That piece is drainage. Water builds up behind a wall, the clay turns heavy, and the wall slowly gives way. We build ours with gravel backfill, a drain pipe at the base, and weep points across the face, so a summer downpour drains through in hours instead of sitting there and pushing. The block, stone, or poured face is what you see, but the work behind it is what makes the wall last.

• Footings sized and set for Blackland Prairie clay, so the wall moves with the wet and dry seasons instead of cracking apart on you.
• Drainage built into the back of every wall, with gravel, a base pipe, and weep points that give storm water a fast way out.
• Your choice of poured concrete, block, or natural stone, matched to your slope, your budget, and the look of your street.
• Tiered walls for steep Dallas lots, which break one tall grade into shorter runs that hold better and drain cleaner.
• Clean site work at the end, with the soil graded back, the base swept, and the extra dirt hauled off before we leave.

Height and setback matter here too. A short garden wall along a flower bed is a simple build. A wall holding up a driveway or a back yard that drops toward a creek is a much bigger one. Taller walls need engineering and sometimes a permit from the City of Dallas. We handle that talk for you rather than leave you to chase it down. We also build steps, seat walls, and planter walls into the same run when it fits, so the finished yard looks planned instead of patched together. For steep lots we often tier the grade, breaking one tall wall into two or three shorter ones that hold better and drain cleaner. Tell us what the slope is doing and we will tell you straight what the wall needs, and what it does not.

If a slope in your Dallas yard is sliding, pooling, or pushing against an old wall that is starting to lean, call us and we will come look. We will walk the grade with you, show you what is failing and why, and lay out the fix in plain terms with no pressure. One local crew builds the wall and answers the phone when you have a question later.