Retaining wall construction in Wilmington NC - a wall built around where the water goes

Usually you're looking at a bank that sheds dirt onto the driveway every time it rains, an old tie wall leaning out, or a back yard you'd like flat enough for a patio or a walkway. The price mostly turns on what the wall is made of, how long and tall it is, and how much digging and drainage the spot needs, while the schedule turns on the permit check, how easy it is to get equipment back there and the weather. When I come out, I walk it with you and put the estimate in writing, so you're working from your own number instead of a guess.

Before we ever talk about block or stone, I show you where the water behind the wall is going to go, because the drain back there matters more than the face you'll look at every day. Then our crew digs out for the wall and packs a firm base so the first row sits level, since every row above it follows that one. We build up row by row, putting in the drain and clean fill behind the wall as we go and packing the backfill so the soil doesn't settle away from it. Once it's capped, we grade the ground so runoff heads where we planned, and we clean up before we leave.

A new wall often brings other work with it. If you've got an older brick or stone garden wall that's sound underneath but worn on the face, masonry restoration can save it instead of tearing it out. And once a wall gives you a flat terrace, plenty of folks want a spot to sit by a fire, which is where our fireplace installation work comes in.

Before we dig in Wilmington, there's a permit question to settle. The New Hanover County Department of Permits & Inspections issues the city's building permits, which are required for structures and accessory structures inside the city limits, and whether your wall falls under that is something we check with the county for your address instead of guessing. You can apply online through COAST, the county's permitting portal, or in person, and the city's building permit page lays out both. If your house sits in one of Wilmington's local historic districts or overlay districts, changes to structures there need a Certificate of Appropriateness. The county's Zoning Division also runs the state's coastal minor permits, known as CAMA permits, for both the county and the city, and the county has a short guide on whether a project needs a CAMA permit. We tell you which office handles your address and whether a historic district review could come into it, and we help you get the paperwork together before work starts.

A lot of what we see on jobs around here is an old timber or railroad tie wall that's started to lean, or a bank beside a driveway that loses a little more dirt with every hard rain. We're based in Wilmington and work across the cities around it, and we get the same kinds of calls on jobs in Myrtle Grove and Leland.