Concrete retaining walls in Simi Valley CA - a wall that holds your slope and drains
Is your slope creeping onto the patio or washing out after rain? We build concrete walls that hold the soil and let the water out.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free quotes on site.
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What goes into building a retaining wall in Simi Valley?
A concrete retaining wall in Simi Valley is a poured or block wall built to hold back the soil and slope behind it. Ours start with where the water goes, because water trapped behind a wall is what usually brings it down.
Most people call us when a hill is creeping toward the house, an old wall has started to tip, or they want flat ground where there's a slope now. The price mostly follows the wall's height and length, how hard the site is to reach with equipment, and what the soil turns out to be. The schedule usually turns on whether the wall needs a permit, and your written estimate lays out both for your wall.
How do you know your slope or wall needs work?
Top of the wall leaning
If the top of your wall has started to tip toward you, the soil and water behind it are pushing harder than the wall was built to hold. A lean usually keeps going, and the longer it goes, the more of the yard comes down with it when it lets go.
Mud on the patio after rain
Soil washing down a bare slope onto your patio or walkway means water is carrying the hill away a little at a time. Every storm takes more, so the cleanup and the slope repair both get bigger the longer you wait.
Damp cracks along the wall
Cracks that stay wet or stain after rain, or drain holes at the base that never run, usually mean water is stuck behind the wall. That trapped water is pressure, and a wall carrying it gets weaker every wet season.
How we build concrete retaining walls
I start every wall by working out where the water goes, because the runoff coming off the slope above decides most of the design. Then I look at the height, the slope and the ground behind the wall so we pick the right type. Our crew digs out and packs the base for the footing, the wide concrete foot the wall stands on. They set the forms and the rebar, the steel bars that keep the concrete from cracking apart under load, then lay in gravel and drain pipe behind the wall. We pour, let the concrete cure, which is the wait while it gains strength, and backfill only after the drainage is in and checked. If a budget has to give somewhere, I'd rather trim the face finish than the footing or the drainage, because you can redo a face later and you can't redo what's buried.
A wall is often the first step of a bigger yard job. Holding back a slope can open up level ground for concrete pool decks, and walls cut into a hillside sometimes make room for a garage, shop or addition that needs concrete floor installation.
Poured concrete wall
This is one solid wall, formed and poured with steel inside, and it suits places where the wall has to meet a house, a driveway or a pool edge cleanly. It takes more forming work up front, and you get a smooth, tight face that can be finished to match.
Segmental block wall
Interlocking concrete blocks are stacked in courses, usually stepped back a little into the hill, and they suit longer runs and yards where you want a textured look. Taller block walls get reinforcing laid back into the soil, so the ground behind them matters as much as the blocks.
Get a free written estimate for your retaining wall
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time. I'll come out, look at the slope and the ground, and give you a free written estimate with no obligation.
(805) 261-5009- Based in
- Simi Valley, CA 93065
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–9 PM, Sat–Sun: 8 AM–10 PM
What happens when you call about a retaining wall in Simi Valley?
Here's how a wall job runs from your first call to backfill, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send a message
Tell us what's going on with the slope and we'll set a time for me to come out. A few photos of the hill and any old wall help me show up with better questions.
I walk the site
I look the site over, ask a lot of questions and give you a written estimate that spells out the wall type, the drainage and what's included. If something can't be known until we dig, the estimate says so instead of guessing.
Permit, then site prep
Once you say go, we sort out any permit with you and then prep the site. That's digging out, packing the base and setting up the footing.
Crew builds, I check in
Our crew lead runs the work day to day, and I stop by at the steps that matter most, like the steel before the pour and the drainage before backfill. Every wall is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Why Simi Valley homeowners call Custom Simi Valley Concrete for retaining walls
I walk every site myself
I do every estimate in person, and on a Simi Valley hillside lot I want to see where the water comes off the slope above before I put a number on paper. After that, a crew lead runs the job and I stop by at the steps that matter most.
Framing first, concrete since 2017
I framed houses for years, got curious about what was under them, and learned concrete on flatwork and foundation crews before starting this business in 2017. Nine years in, I still like the walls that take some figuring, like one on a slope that has to meet a house or a pool.
Licensed and insured for wall work
We're licensed and insured. A retaining wall holds back a lot of soil right next to your house, so you want the people building it covered while they do.
The part of a wall that decides how long it stands is the drainage behind it, and you'll never see it again once it's backfilled. Get in touch and I'll come out and look at yours.
Retaining walls, slopes and permits in Simi Valley
The city's own pages don't line up on retaining walls. The planning office's FAQ says a retaining wall needs a Zoning Clearance and a Building Permit, while Building and Safety says a wall no taller than 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing, is exempt as long as nothing extra presses down behind it, like a slope, a driveway or a structure. Neither page is dated, so I don't treat any wall as permit-free until we've asked the Building and Safety Counter, which takes questions in person or at 805-583-6723. When a permit is needed, we can pull it as your contractor or help you pull it yourself. Steep yards get one more check, because outside the Valley Floor the city bars development on natural slopes of 20% or more, apart from a detached accessory dwelling unit, and in an HOA, graded slopes that steep are the association's responsibility. If your wall is headed into a slope like that, Planning books appointments for slope work at 805-583-6769, and an HOA slope means talking to the association before we draw anything.
The ground matters too. The county's soil maps show where clay soils sit in the south half of the county, with the most expansive ones generally in low-lying spots, and clay that swells when it's wet pushes harder on a wall and makes the drainage behind it count even more. State maps also mark zones for liquefaction, where shaking turns the ground soft, and for earthquake-caused landslides, and properties in those zones may need the hazard studied during permitting. We see the same hillsides and clay on jobs in Thousand Oaks and Moorpark, and we plan those walls the same way.
Questions about retaining walls in Simi Valley
Do I need a permit for a retaining wall in Simi Valley?
Plan on one until the city tells you otherwise for your wall, because its planning and building offices word the rule differently, as described above. We'll tell you which office handles yours and sort out the permit with you if it's needed.
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in Simi Valley?
A poured concrete wall about 3 feet high, materials included, usually runs about $48 to $52 per square foot in Simi Valley. That usual price leaves out tearing out an old wall, terraces, curves, decorative finishes and extra height, so a wall with any of those will come in above it. Taller or curved walls need an on-site look, and the estimate is free.
What causes a retaining wall to lean or fail?
Water is the usual cause. Water behind a wall adds load, washes out soil and weakens the ground around it, and sending it away with proper drainage parts takes that load off. So a wall plan without a drainage plan isn't finished.
What is the best type of retaining wall for a sloped yard?
One industry guide says reinforced segmental block walls suit slopes, difficult soils and walls taller than a gravity wall, one that holds soil back by its own weight, can handle. The same guide calls organic and expansive soils unsuitable to build segmental walls on, so it's worth learning what your ground is made of before choosing a type.
Can an unlicensed handyman build my retaining wall in California?
Only a very small one. In California, an unlicensed person can take a job up to $1,000, and only when no permit is needed and they have nobody working for them. Any other wall calls for a licensed contractor, and a concrete contractor's license covers forming, pouring and finishing concrete.
Should I call 811 before digging for a retaining wall?
Yes. The block wall installation guide mentioned above advises calling 8-1-1, Call Before You Dig, so underground utilities get marked before anyone excavates. A footing trench is a bad place to find a gas or water line.
Related services that often come with a wall
If the wall is clearing room for a garage, shop or addition, you'll need a level floor with a solid base poured on the flat ground it creates.
When a slope comes down near a pool, the deck and the wall have to meet cleanly and shed water away from both, which goes easier planned together.
Service areas for our retaining wall work
Custom Simi Valley Concrete is based in Simi Valley, CA, and we build walls across the cities around it, including Camarillo and Calabasas. There are 12 cities listed here, and if yours isn't one of them, ask us.
Simi Valley, CA
Talk through your retaining wall plan
Have the wall's length, its height, the slope above it and any HOA rules handy, and the first conversation gets a lot further.