Retaining Walls in Washougal, WA
Rock, wind and river ground. Segmental block, natural stone and boulder walls engineered to hold Clark County grades and drain properly behind the face.
Free Estimate in WashougalRetaining Walls in Washougal: what is different here
Washougal ground varies more than almost anywhere else we work. Some lots have basalt within a foot of the surface, which makes excavation slow but gives you excellent bearing. Others down near the river are soft alluvial soil where footing preparation is the entire job.
Boulder walls suit a lot of Washougal properties. They handle the rocky, wooded character of the area, they need less precise excavation than block, and on a large rural lot they look far more at home. They do need machine access and more depth than block, which is the trade-off.
Where a wall sits on an exposed site, we account for Gorge wind loading on anything built on top of it — a fence or pergola on a wall is carrying more lateral load here than the same structure would in Ridgefield.
How we build it
- Compacted crushed rock footing on undisturbed soil
- Buried base course for stability
- Clean drain rock and filter fabric behind the full face
- Perforated drain pipe daylighted to a real outlet
- Geogrid soil reinforcement where the design requires it
- Honest guidance on when an engineer and permit are needed
A retaining wall is a structure, not decoration. It is holding back tons of saturated clay, and in this climate that clay is saturated for six months of the year. The walls that fail around here almost always fail for the same reason: nobody dealt with the water behind them.
Around 40 minutes east, at the mouth of the Gorge. Estimates in Washougal are free, and the price we put in writing is the price.
Full detail on how we build retaining walls · Everything we do in Washougal
Retaining Walls we have built
Retaining Walls in Washougal: questions we get
How tall can a retaining wall be without a permit?
The common threshold across Washington jurisdictions is about four feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall — but if the wall carries a surcharge such as a driveway, a slope or a structure above it, engineering is usually required at a lower height. Requirements differ between Clark County and individual cities, so always confirm with the building department that covers your address.
Why is my existing wall leaning?
Nine times out of ten it is water. If there is no drain rock and pipe behind the wall, saturated clay pushes against the back of it every winter and the wall slowly rotates forward. The other common causes are a footing set on soft or uncompacted soil and a missing buried base course. A leaning wall does not correct itself and gets more expensive the longer it sits.
Can you build a wall against my property line?
Often yes, but setbacks, easements and the drainage outlet all need checking first, and the excavation behind a wall usually needs more room than people expect. If the wall would affect a neighbor’s grade we will raise it before we quote.
Retaining Walls in Washougal
Free on-site estimates across Clark County. We walk the property with you, tell you what it actually needs, and put a fixed price in writing.