Concrete retaining walls in Bellingham WA - a wall that drains and holds your slope
If your slope keeps slumping or the old wall is leaning, we plan the drainage first and pour a wall that suits your ground.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
- We reply within 1 business day.
Is a poured concrete retaining wall right for your slope in Bellingham?
A concrete retaining wall in Bellingham is a wall poured in place on a footing, a wide concrete base. It's built with rebar, steel bars that help it resist the push of the soil, and it holds up ground where there isn't room for a safe slope. It can also firm up a slope that's barely holding or repair one that has already given way.
Most people call us when a slope has started creeping onto the lawn, a bank is crowding the driveway or an old wall is leaning out. The price moves with how long and tall the wall is, how much drainage it needs behind it, how easily we can get forms and a concrete truck to the spot, and what the ground under the footing turns out to be, which I can only judge once I've seen it. The schedule turns on the permit side, the weather around the pour and whether the design needs an engineer's input first. Your written estimate spells out the scope, so you'll know exactly what's included before you decide.
How do you know your slope or old wall needs attention?
The wall is leaning out
If the top of the wall tips toward you or the face bows in the middle, the soil behind it is usually pushing harder than the wall was built for, often because water is trapped back there. A lean tends to grow, and once a wall gives way you're paying to clear the fallen soil as well as to rebuild.
Water at the base
Wet ground, green staining or a steady trickle at the foot of the wall means water is working its way through instead of being carried off by a drain. Left alone, that water keeps adding weight behind the wall and can wash soil out from under the footing.
A slope sliding into the yard
If a bank drops dirt onto your patio or driveway after every heavy rain, there usually isn't enough room for the slope to hold itself up. It loses a little more ground each season, and the fix gets bigger the closer it creeps toward the house.
How we build concrete retaining walls
I start by walking the slope with you to see where the water comes from and where it goes. I also look closely at the ground before I recommend a poured wall at all, because some sites are better served another way. We plan the drain before anything else, and we favor drains with a cleanout, an access point for flushing the pipe, so the drain can be cleared years from now instead of being buried for good. Then our crew digs out for the footing, sets the forms and rebar, pours the footing and the wall, and gives the concrete time to cure, to gain its strength, before we lay drain rock and pipe behind it and backfill in layers. If the budget is tight, I'd rather you spend it on the footing and the drain than on a fancy face, because nobody sees them once the soil goes back and they're what keep the wall standing.
A wall often makes room for flat ground, and that's usually where the next pour goes. Once the slope is held, we can lay concrete pool decks on the new level, or take on concrete floor installation for a shed or shop on the terrace above.
Low garden and terrace walls
These suit a yard that needs a level bed, a flat lawn or a step in grade, where the wall holds back a modest amount of soil. They're a good fit when you want a clean concrete face that holds its line better than stacked timbers usually do.
Taller walls on steep lots
These suit a hillside, a bank beside a driveway or a slope that has already slid, where there's no room to lay the ground back. They take more steel, a bigger footing and careful drainage, and we check with the permit office what a wall that size needs before we design it.
Get a written estimate for your retaining wall
We reply within one business day and set a time for me to come out. The estimate is free, given on site and in writing, and there's no pressure to book.
Call (360) 312-3799- Based in
- Bellingham, WA 98225
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–9 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call about a retaining wall in Bellingham?
Here's how a wall job runs from your first call to the final walk-through, and who handles each part along the way.
Call us or send the form
Thank you for reaching out. We get back to you, ask a few questions about the slope and set a time for me to come out.
I walk and measure the slope
I look at the ground, measure, check where the water runs and ask how you'll use the space above and below the wall. You get a written estimate with the scope spelled out, so you can see what the drain, the footing and the wall each involve before you commit.
We handle permits and groundwork
Once you're ready, we sort out the permit side with the right office, then dig out for the footing and set the forms, steel and drain. Anything I couldn't judge on the first visit, like what sits under the topsoil, gets checked before the pour.
Pour, backfill and walk through
We pour, backfill behind the wall and leave your yard as tidy as we found it. Before we go, I walk you through caring for the new concrete, including how to keep the drain clear.
Why Bellingham homeowners call Craftsman Bellingham Concrete Company for retaining walls
The owner comes out and works
I come out to look at every job and give the estimate myself, and I work the job alongside our crew. The person who planned the drain behind your wall is there when it goes in.
In business since 2020
I started out pouring walks and patios for neighbors in Bellingham, learned the trade one job at a time and made it a full business in 2020. Six years on, we're known for careful groundwork, which on a wall is the part you can't see once it's built.
We're licensed and insured
That matters on a wall job, because there's heavy digging near your house and a concrete truck on your property. Ask about it when I come out, and I'll answer plainly.
If a slope is moving or an old wall has you worried, call (360) 312-3799 or send us your project details, and I'll come take a look.
Retaining walls, slopes and permits in Bellingham
The City of Bellingham takes applications for building and land-use projects by email at permits@cob.org, and the city's permit center is the place to ask whether your wall needs a permit and how its height affects that. We check with you first whether your lot is inside city limits or in the county. Then we handle the paperwork with that office when the job calls for it, or give you what you need from our side if you'd rather apply yourself. If your property is in a landslide hazard area, the city requires a geotechnical report, a study of the ground by a licensed engineer, and its recommendations for the footing, the wall and the drainage shape the design from the start. The city's code also prefers a retaining wall that keeps the natural slope in place over regrading the hill into a new one, so on those lots we design around the ground you have.
We work across Whatcom and Skagit counties, and the calls are much the same in Sudden Valley and Sedro-Woolley: a backyard cut into a hill, a bank leaning over a driveway, an old wall pushed out of line. Outside Bellingham, permit questions go to a different office, and we work out which one with you before any design starts.
Questions about concrete retaining walls in Bellingham
Call (360) 312-3799How much does a poured concrete retaining wall cost in Bellingham?
Poured concrete retaining wall installation in Bellingham usually costs about $41 to $44 per square foot. That's the going rate in the area, not our price, and your own wall can land differently once I've seen the ground and the access. Your written estimate shows what's included for your site.
What causes a concrete retaining wall to fail?
Poor drainage is by far the most common reason retaining walls perform badly, and if nobody deals with it, those problems can grow until the wall fails outright. That's why the drainage plan is the part of each bid to read most closely. If a bid says little about drainage, ask before you sign.
What is the best way to drain a concrete retaining wall?
A drain that can be maintained is the more reliable choice, because weep holes, the small openings that let water seep out through the face of the wall, are likely to clog over the wall's life. When you compare bids, ask whether each design includes a maintainable drain.
Will my Bellingham lot need piles for a retaining wall?
Usually not, if the ground under the wall carries weight well, because that's the kind of site poured walls suit best. Where the ground won't bear the load or is likely to settle, a wall may need piles, posts set deep into firmer ground, or other foundation work, and piles add a good deal to the cost. I can't tell which your lot is from a photo, so we'll check that for you on site before recommending anything.
Is a poured concrete retaining wall better than an MSE wall?
A poured wall is the right pick where an MSE wall, another common type of retaining wall, won't work on the site, but it generally costs more. If your site could take either, I'll tell you plainly, and I'd lean toward the lower-cost option unless the ground or the space calls for poured concrete.
Can you pour a retaining wall in winter in Bellingham?
It can be done, but concrete industry guidance treats a pour as cold weather work when the air falls to 40°F, or is expected to fall below it, while the new concrete is still being protected as it cures. For a wall in the colder months, ask how the fresh concrete will be protected, and I'll explain how we'd handle it before we set a pour date.
Related services for the ground around your wall
Concrete floor installation
When a new wall levels a spot for a shed, shop or garage addition, a poured floor gives that space a hard, level surface you can work on.
Concrete pool decks
If the terrace behind your new wall is meant for a pool, the deck around it needs its own base, slope and joints planned to shed splash water.
Service areas for our retaining wall work
Craftsman Bellingham Concrete Company is based in Bellingham, Washington, and the nine cities listed here each have their own page, from Blaine in the north to Mount Vernon in the south. We work in other cities nearby as well, so call if yours isn't listed.
Bellingham, WA
Send us photos of your slope
Have the wall's rough length and height, a few photos and whether your lot is in a landslide hazard area ready, so the first visit gets straight to the right questions.