Concrete retaining walls in Costa Mesa CA - a wall that drains and holds the slope
Slope creeping or soil washing onto your patio? We build poured concrete walls that hold the ground and drain the water behind it.
- Licensed and fully insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What goes into a concrete retaining wall in Costa Mesa?
We build concrete retaining walls in Costa Mesa, CA, and across the cities around it in Orange County. These are poured walls that hold back the earth on a slope, so the ground behind them stays put and the water behind them has somewhere to go.
Most calls start with a slope that's sliding, a yard you'd like flat or an old wall that's started to lean. The price moves with the wall's length and height, how much digging the slope needs, whether an old wall has to come out first and how the drain behind it is built. The schedule mostly turns on whether the city needs a permit for your wall and how easily a truck and crew can reach the spot. Your estimate lays out each of those parts separately, so you can see where the money goes.
How do you know your slope or wall needs work?
Wall leaning or bulging out
If the top of a wall is tipping toward you or the face has a belly in it, the soil and water behind it are usually pushing harder than the wall was built to take. That kind of movement rarely stops on its own, and a wall that keeps going can take the fence and the slope down with it.
Water pooling at the base
Puddles along the bottom, wet stains on the face or weep holes that stay dry after rain usually mean the drain behind the wall is clogged or was never put in. Water that can't get out builds up behind the wall, and trapped water is a common reason walls end up leaning.
Soil washing down the slope
If every rain sends dirt onto your patio, your walkway or against the house, the slope needs something holding it. Waiting usually means more cleanup after each storm and wet soil piling up where you don't want it.
How we build a concrete retaining wall
The drain behind the wall gets as much of my attention as the wall itself, and we build it so it can be cleared later. We dig out the slope and the footing, the concrete base the wall stands on, then set the forms and the rebar, the steel bars that let the wall take the push of the soil. The concrete shows up soft in the truck and runs down a chute into the forms, and it has to cure, which is the wait while it hardens, before any soil goes back against it. Behind the wall we lay a drainage layer with a pipe at the base that can be cleaned out, because the small weep holes through the face tend to clog over time. When a budget gets tight, the drain is the first thing people want to cut since nobody sees it once the dirt is back. I keep it, because most of the failed concrete I tore out in my old job failed from what was under or behind it, not the concrete itself.
A wall often goes in so a sloped yard can be used for something else. If you're leveling ground for a pool, we can pour the deck too as part of our concrete pool decks work. If the wall is cutting a flat spot for a shop, a garage or a room, the slab inside it falls under our concrete floor installation work.
Get a free estimate for your retaining wall
We reply within one business day to set up a visit. The estimate is free, done on site at your slope, and comes with no obligation to hire us.
(949) 543-1664- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–11 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
- service@costamesaconcrete.com
- Costa Mesa, CA 92626
What happens when you call us about a retaining wall?
Here's how a retaining wall job runs from your first call to the day the concrete goes in, and who you'll deal with at each step.
Call or send the form
Call (949) 543-1664 or send the form, and we'll get back to you to set a time to see the site. A rough idea of the wall's length and height helps us plan the visit.
I look at the slope
I come out myself, look at the slope, where the water runs and how you'll use the yard. You get an estimate with each part of the job spelled out, the drain included, so you know what you're paying for before anything starts.
We schedule and file permits
Once you say go, we get the job on the schedule and take care of the city paperwork where your wall needs it. When there's a permit, it sets when we can start, so that comes first.
Our crew builds the wall
Our own crew digs, forms and pours, and I'm there when the concrete goes in. Soil goes back behind the wall only after the drain is in and the concrete has had time to cure.
Why Costa Mesa owners call Premier Costa Mesa Concrete for retaining walls
If you've got a slope that needs holding, call (949) 543-1664 or send us the details and I'll come take a look.
I write every estimate myself
I come out myself to look at the slope and write the estimate, and our own crew does the work with me on site for the pours. The person who priced your wall is standing there when it goes in.
In business since 2017
I started this business in 2017 after years of upkeep work for a property management company, fixing concrete that had already failed. That's why I'd rather change the plan or tell you no than build a wall I'd be back fixing later.
Licensed in California, fully insured
We're licensed and fully insured. A retaining wall means moving a lot of soil close to your house and your property line, so that's worth having in place before anyone starts digging.
Retaining walls and the yard work around them in Costa Mesa
In Costa Mesa, permits go through the city's Building Safety office. Whether your wall needs a permit isn't something I'll guess at from the driveway, so when it's unclear we check with the city before we start, and when it does need one we pull it and handle the filing. The city also puts out a Retaining Wall Specification among its building handouts, and its zoning rules have a separate Fences, Walls, Landscaping standard, so a wall has a zoning standard to meet as well as the building permit. I'll go over the city's wall requirements with you before we dig, because moving a wall on paper is a lot cheaper than moving it after the pour.
California's state maps also mark areas where the ground may turn loose and lose its strength in a strong earthquake, which is called liquefaction. A property in one of those seismic hazard zones may have to have that hazard looked into and dealt with as part of the permit, which can add a step before we pour. We plan walls the same way on jobs in Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
Questions about retaining walls in Costa Mesa
(949) 543-1664How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in Costa Mesa?
Poured concrete retaining wall installation in Costa Mesa usually runs about $50 to $54 per square foot for walls up to 3 ft tall. That usual range doesn't cover taking out an old wall, stamped or multi-colored concrete, curved walls, taller walls or yards with tough soil, so any of those can move your number. Our free estimate puts a figure on your wall. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
Why does drainage matter so much behind a retaining wall?
Poor drainage is by far the most common reason retaining walls don't hold up the way they should. Water that collects behind a wall adds its own push to the soil's, and even a moderate rise in groundwater can sharply raise the sideways load and the risk of the wall tipping or sliding. That's why the drain is the part of any quote worth reading as closely as the concrete.
How do I make sure the drain behind my retaining wall won't clog?
Ask whether the perforated pipe at the base of the wall, often called a French drain, is wrapped in filter fabric, which keeps it from clogging. That pipe lies flat along the bottom of the drainage layer and collects the water that reaches it, so if it clogs, the water stays behind the wall.
Where do I apply for a retaining wall permit in Costa Mesa?
You apply with the City of Costa Mesa, and owners submit plans and apply through the city's online portal, called TESSA. If we're building your wall, that filing is ours to take care of.
How do I know if a contractor can legally build my retaining wall in California?
In California, anyone who contracts for a project that needs a building permit must hold a current, valid license from the Contractors State License Board. The same goes for any job worth $1,000 or more in labor and materials combined.
Can you take out my old retaining wall and build a new one?
Yes, we can take out an old wall and build the new one in its place, and the removal shows up as its own line on the estimate. It isn't part of the usual per-square-foot range above, and what we find under and behind the old wall often tells us why it failed.
Concrete work that often goes with a wall
Concrete floor installation
Pouring a garage, shop or room on ground the wall has leveled? We place the slab on a packed base so the floor sits flat.
Concrete pool decks
A wall that holds a slope can free up room for a pool deck with a texture that grips wet feet and sheds water away from the pool.
Service areas for retaining walls around Costa Mesa
Premier Costa Mesa Concrete is based in Costa Mesa, CA, and builds retaining walls across the cities around it in Orange County, including Irvine and Santa Ana. These 12 cities have their own pages, and they aren't the only places we work.
Costa Mesa, CA
Send photos of the slope you want held
Have the wall's rough length and height and a few photos of the slope ready when you call or write, since walls here are priced by the square foot and those numbers get us started.