poured concrete retaining wall
Some walls are not candidates for block. When a wall is tall, when a driveway or a structure sits close behind it, or when the space to build a reinforced mass behind the wall simply is not there, reinforced concrete does what a segmental wall cannot. It is a different job: forms, steel and a pour, usually with an engineer's drawing behind it. We'll tell you at the estimate if this is the direction your site points.
Segmental walls work by building a reinforced mass of soil behind the face, which means they need room behind the wall to do it. When that room does not exist, when the wall is tall, or when a driveway or structure sits close enough behind it to add a surcharge load, reinforced concrete does what a block wall cannot.
It is a different kind of job: forms, steel, a pour and a cure, usually with an engineer's drawing behind it. It takes longer and costs more, and on the right site there is no substitute.
The footing goes to bearing depth, steel is tied to the design, and the wall is formed and poured as a single structural element. Weeps and drainage are cast in rather than added, and backfill goes in in controlled lifts so the wall is never loaded unevenly while it gains strength.
Because it is engineered work, the scope is fixed early. Where a site does have room behind the wall, segmental block is usually the more economical answer, and drainage still governs how long either lasts. Failing concrete walls are their own repair conversation.
Most often on constrained sites in Pittsburgh and Shaler, plus Sewickley, Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Fox Chapel.
How long does it take? Longer than block - forming, pouring and curing each take their own time.
These usually come up on the same job, and we can handle them in the same visit:
Terracing a slope, levelling a yard, or holding a cut for a patio or driveway. Base and drainage quoted with the wall.
Learn More →French drains, wall drains, downspout routing, swales and regrading. Often the actual fix when a wall is only the symptom.
Learn More →Leaning, cracked, bulging or sliding walls. We find out why it moved before we price the fix.
Learn More →Free - No Obligation
Send a few details and we'll come look at it. Photos help - a picture of a lean or a crack tells us more than a paragraph.