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Concrete retaining walls in Highland IN - a wall that drains and holds the slope

Soil sliding toward the patio or an old wall leaning out? We build concrete walls around drainage so they hold the slope back.

Request an estimate(219) 533-1721
A rectangular swimming pool is surrounded by gray concrete decking and coping, with lounge chairs and a black fence beyond.

Why do retaining walls lean, and how do you build one that won't?

A concrete retaining wall in Highland, IN holds back the sideways push of soil where your yard changes level. It also has to handle water building up behind it, frost, and any weight from cars or buildings above. Built with a footing sized for the job and a way for water to get out, it keeps the slope from creeping into your yard.

Usually the call starts with a bank that keeps washing onto the patio, or an old wall that's tipping forward with water sitting at its base after every rain. The price moves with how tall and long the wall is, how much ground it holds back, how easy it is to get equipment to it and whether an old wall has to come out first, while the schedule turns on the design, any permit and the weather. If something in the budget has to give, I'd keep the footing and the drain and go plainer on the face, because nobody sees those on day one but they decide how the wall looks a few winters from now. When I walk the site, I put in writing what your price includes.

Why Highland homeowners call us for retaining walls

You get the same person from the first walk of your yard to the last pass on the finish, and a straight answer if a plan for your slope won't hold.

  • I see every job myself

    I walk your slope before any price, and I'm on site with our crew for the prep, the pour and the finish.

  • In business since 2017

    We've run this business for 9 years, and I learned the trade working under an old-school finisher before that.

  • Licensed and insured for your job

    We're licensed and insured for the digging, forming and pouring that go into a wall at your house.

  • Straight talk on bad plans

    If a plan for your wall won't hold up a few winters from now, I'll tell you why before you spend anything.

  • Call the person who answers

    I answer most of the calls at (219) 533-1721, so you can describe your slope to the one who'll come walk it.

Concrete retaining walls we build

The right wall depends on how much ground it holds, where water runs and what will sit above it, so we settle the design and drainage before anyone talks about finishes.

  • Poured walls for a real grade change

    Where your yard drops a few feet, we pour a wall on a footing, the wide base it stands on, with rebar, the steel that takes the push of the soil, sized from a real design instead of guessed from the height. If you might add a driveway near it later, tell us now, because new backfill, a car's weight or water left to build up behind the wall can undo its design however strong the concrete is.

  • Replacing a leaning or failing wall

    We start with how water gets out from behind the new wall, because that's where most walls give out, so the drain and clean backfill come before we worry about the face. When the old one comes out, what's behind it usually tells us where the water was going.

  • Walls that go with a pool or patio

    Cutting into a slope for a pool usually leaves a bank on the uphill side, so we plan the wall with the concrete pool deck and give water off the deck somewhere to go besides behind the wall. Doing them together means the drain and the deck slope work as one.

  • Walls for a walkout or lower level

    When you dig out for a walkout, a lower garage or a basement entry, the wall holding the dirt back and the concrete floor installation that follows have to drain together. We plan them as one job so water doesn't end up on the new floor.

What happens when you call about a retaining wall?

We plan the work around your yard and how you use it, and around what the design and any permit need before we can pour.

  1. You get in touch

    Call (219) 533-1721 or use the form, and we'll get back to you to set up a time for me to come see the slope.

  2. I walk the site

    I look at the ground, where the water runs now and how you use the yard above and below the wall.

  3. Your written estimate

    You get a written estimate that spells out what's in the price, from the footing and drain to the finish on the face.

  4. Building and care

    I'm there with our crew from the base prep to the final finish, and before we leave I go over how to care for the new wall.

Questions about a step? Call and talk it through.

(219) 533-1721

Retaining wall questions we hear

How much does a concrete retaining wall cost near Highland, Indiana?

Retaining wall construction in Chicago usually costs about $42 to $46 per square foot, which is the nearest market figure we have and a typical range there, not our price for your wall. Your own figure turns on the size, the drainage and the site itself, and I put it in writing after I walk it with you.

Why does drainage matter so much for a retaining wall?

Poor drainage is by far the most common reason walls that hold back earth don't perform, so the drain plan counts as much as the concrete. Weep holes, the small openings that let water out through the wall, help in theory but often clog from poor backfill, plants or animals, so ask how each design you're comparing keeps its drains working.

Can I use a block retaining wall instead of poured concrete?

It can be an option, and one block maker says there's no typical maximum height for a modular block gravity wall because it depends on each site's soil and shape. If your yard has a history of settling, it's worth knowing that Washington State highway guidance treats cantilever and rigid gravity walls as the least forgiving of settlement and doesn't use them where the ground moves.

What causes frost heave behind a retaining wall?

Frost heave needs three things at once, soil that takes frost like silty ground, a steady supply of water and freezing weather. Take away the water and you've taken away one of the three, which is one more reason we put so much into the drain behind the wall.

How long does it take before you can backfill a new retaining wall?

Soil goes back behind a new wall only once the concrete has gained enough strength and any bracing it needs is in place, and then it's packed in controlled layers. Heavy packing machines run right behind a young wall can overload it, so we keep the big equipment back.

What should I ask when comparing retaining wall bids in Highland?

Ask what design each price rests on, because height alone doesn't size a wall. The footing, the steel inside, how deep the wall is buried, the drainage and what the soil is assumed to be should all come from a project design or the code, and we'll tell you which one ours is built on.

Building concrete retaining walls in Highland

If your lot sits in a mapped A zone, a local floodplain permit needs a Floodplain Analysis and Regulatory Assessment, a report you get from the Indiana DNR's floodplain portal, which also shows the FEMA and DNR flood maps for anyone to look up. Whether your wall needs a building permit from Highland is a question for the city's building office, so we check with that office before we set a date, and if a permit is needed we take care of the paperwork and line up the inspections. Indiana's residential code covers construction on homes and the structures that go with them, and Lake County's Planning Commission handles the county contractor license, so it's fair to ask anyone bidding your wall about both.

We're based in Highland and work in the cities around it on both sides of the Indiana and Illinois line. Most walls we're called about hold back a side yard, a low corner by a garage or the bank behind a patio, and we plan the drain the same way on jobs in Munster and Lansing.

Ask Highland Concrete about your slope

Call (219) 533-1721 or send the form before you plant or pour anything near the slope, so the wall and its drain can go in first.

Request an estimate(219) 533-1721