Retaining walls.
That's all we do.

A wall built with the right base prep, drainage, and reinforcement should last 50–75 years with no meaningful maintenance. The walls that fail in 5–15 years almost always failed for the same reason: water. Skip the drainage chimney, skip the daylighted drain tile, or skip the geogrid above 3 feet, and the wall is on borrowed time from day one. Every wall we build gets the full six-layer system because that's what makes the difference between a wall and an expensive landscape feature.

It depends on the municipality and the height. As a rule of thumb, walls under 4 feet of exposed face usually don't require a permit, walls between 4 and 6 feet often do, and walls over 6 feet almost always require a permit and stamped engineering from a licensed PE. Pittsburgh, Mt. Lebanon, Fox Chapel, and most surrounding municipalities all have their own thresholds and rules. We handle the permitting and PE coordination as part of our process whenever it applies — you don't have to chase any of it.

Properly-engineered residential walls in our area generally start around $80 per square foot of wall face for Versa-Lok and segmental block, $95+ for boulder walls, and $120+ for poured concrete. A typical 30-foot-long, 4-foot-tall Versa-Lok wall comes in around $9,500–13,500 with our standard six-layer build. Add-ons like wall lighting, premium capstone, integrated steps, or engineered tall walls move the number up. We have a $7,500 project minimum. Use our online calculator for a real ballpark, then we'll give you a precise quote after walking the site.

Most residential walls go from excavation to completed cap in 5–10 working days, depending on length, height, access, and weather. Engineered walls with permits add 2–6 weeks of front-end time for design, PE stamping, and municipal approval. We give you a real schedule when we sign the contract — not a vague window — and we keep you posted if anything changes.

Almost always water, not weight. When water builds up behind a wall with nowhere to drain, it creates hydrostatic pressure — and during a freeze-thaw cycle, that pressure expands and contracts dozens of times a winter. That's what cracks block, blows out timber, and leans walls forward. The fix isn't a thicker wall; it's a properly-built drainage chimney behind the wall and a perforated drain tile that daylights out so the water has somewhere to go. We never build a wall without it.

Almost never the right answer. A failed wall failed for a reason — usually no drainage and no proper base — and rebuilding on top of the same broken foundation just buys you a few years before the new wall fails too. We tear out failed walls completely, fix the underlying drainage and base prep issues, and rebuild from the dirt up. It costs a little more upfront and saves a second wall replacement down the road.

Yes — we warranty our workmanship for 5 years on every wall we build, and we stand behind the manufacturer warranties on the block systems themselves (Versa-Lok carries a lifetime structural warranty on their block). If something we built moves, cracks, or fails because of how we built it, we make it right.

Spring through late fall, with the sweet spot being May through October. We can build in winter when the ground isn't frozen solid, but excavation gets harder and concrete work has temperature constraints. If your project involves engineering and permits, we recommend starting the design conversation 1–3 months before you actually want crews on site so the permitting timeline doesn't push your install into bad weather.

Yes — we coordinate stamped engineering from licensed PEs for any wall that needs it (typically anything over 4 feet, or any wall supporting a structure), and we handle the municipal permit submissions ourselves. You don't need to figure out which forms to fill out or which engineer to call. It's all part of our process.

We work throughout the greater Pittsburgh area, including Allegheny County, Butler County, Washington County, and parts of Westmoreland County. Our primary service areas include Sewickley, Fox Chapel, Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, Cranberry, Wexford, Pine Township, Marshall Township, Peters Township, and 40+ other communities. If you're not sure whether we cover your area, just ask — we'll let you know on the first call.