Retaining wall construction in San Angelo TX - a wall that holds the slope and drains
A slope washing onto your patio or an old wall leaning? We build walls that hold the ground and drain the water behind them.
- Services
- 16
- Service areas
- 1
Get an estimate for your retaining wall
I measure the slope, check what sits above it and talk through wall types with you.
Request an estimateWhat does it take to build a retaining wall that lasts?
Retaining wall construction in San Angelo means building a wall of block, stone, concrete, timber or railroad ties that holds a slope in place, so the ground above stops creeping down and the yard below is yours to use. Most of a good wall's life gets decided below grade, in the base and the drainage, before anyone sees a single course.
Most people call us when a slope keeps washing onto a patio or driveway, when an old wall has started to lean, or when they want a flat spot in a yard that runs downhill. Masterwork San Angelo Concrete & Masonry builds these walls across San Angelo and the cities around it. The price moves with the material, the wall's height and length, whether a driveway or a building sits above it and how much bad ground has to come out. The schedule turns on any city permit, utility marking and how long the digging and base take. You get the figure for your own wall at the estimate, once I've seen the slope.
How we handle retaining wall construction
We plan where the water behind the wall will go before we plan the wall itself, because wet soil pushes harder on a wall and can wash out the ground it stands on. Then we pick the wall type from how steep the slope is and what sits above it, since a flower bed and a parking pad ask very different things of a wall. Utilities get marked before anyone digs. After that we dig down to firm ground, pack the base and set the first course dead level, because every course above it copies whatever mistake is in that one. We backfill with drainage stone and compact the soil in layers as the wall goes up so nothing settles later, then cap it and clean up.
A retaining wall is often one piece of a bigger yard. If your slope already has an old brick or stone wall that's still sound underneath, masonry restoration may get you more years out of it than tearing it down. And when the new wall is making room for a level patio, we can handle the fireplace installation that goes on it, laid out with the wall so the footings and drainage work together.
Retaining wall construction and permits in San Angelo
In San Angelo, building permits go through the city's Building Permits & Inspections office, and you apply by emailing a completed building permit application and drawings to its Permits Department. Whether your particular wall needs a permit isn't something I'll guess at from the curb, so we ask the office before the plan is final, and you can call it yourself at 325-657-4210. When a job does need a city permit, we handle the paperwork with the office and plan our work around its inspections.
On jobs across San Angelo and the cities near it, we see a lot of older timber or railroad-tie walls bowing out, and patios or drives cut into a slope with nothing holding the cut. We look hard at what's above and below those before we price a new wall, because the replacement has to carry the same load the old one gave up on.
Why call us for retaining walls
The owner is on your job
I come out to look at each job myself, then work on site with our crew while it's built. The person who planned your drainage is the one standing in the trench checking it.
Trained by a strict mason
I learned under an old-school mason who made me tear out any joint that wasn't straight and lay it again. I started this business in 2021 to work that carefully under my own name, and a retaining wall gets the same standard.
Licensed and insured for every dig
We're licensed and fully insured. A retaining wall means a deep trench near your house, fence or property line, so you want that cover in place before the first shovel goes in.
Planned to the city's codes
The City of San Angelo lists the International Residential Code and International Building Code among its adopted codes. When a wall needs drawings, we plan it to those from the start, because changing a plan on paper costs a lot less than changing a wall.
- Phone
- (325) 292-0348
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
- Location
- San Angelo, TX 76903
On a retaining wall, the part that matters most is the part you'll never see again once it's backfilled. Request an estimate with the wall's rough length and height and a few photos of the slope, or call (325) 292-0348.
Get a price on your retaining wall
Estimates are free, done on site and come with no obligation. We reply within one business day, and then I come out myself to walk the slope with you before giving you a number. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
- Phone
- (325) 292-0348
- Location
- San Angelo, TX 76903
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 6 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 7 AM–11 PM
- Credentials
- Licensed and fully insured.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a retaining wall cost in San Angelo?
A retaining wall in San Angelo usually costs about $15 to $40 per square foot of wall face, and the material you pick moves it the most. That's the going rate in the area, not our quote, and one local cost report, pricing a poured concrete wall about 3 feet high, leaves out removing an old wall, extra height, terraces, curves, decorative finishes and landscaping. We give you a number for your own wall at the estimate.
What is the best type of retaining wall for a steep slope or a tall wall?
Reinforced block is usually the right wall once it's taller than a plain gravity wall can hold on its own weight, or when there's a slope or a load above it. Industry installation guidance also points to reinforced block on difficult foundation soils. The reinforcement is geogrid, a plastic mesh laid in layers back into the soil behind the block, so the wall and the ground behind it work as one.
Is a block retaining wall better than railroad ties or timber?
For a wall you want to forget about, yes. The concrete block industry's design manual says block resists cracking and won't splinter or decay the way treated timbers and railroad ties do. Timber can look cheaper up front, but a wall you have to replace isn't the cheap one.
Do I need an engineer for my retaining wall in San Angelo?
Some walls do, and industry guidance says to check the local code rules before any size of project to find out whether yours is one of them. A wall without engineering is built to the block and geogrid makers' design charts, and an engineered wall is built strictly to its approved documents. We settle which one yours is before we draw it up.
What kind of soil is bad for building a retaining wall on?
Organic soil and expansive soil, the kind that swells and shrinks with moisture, are rated unsuitable foundation soils in industry installation guidance. One block maker's steps call for firm, solid soil at the bottom of the base trench, and say heavy clay, wet soil or ground that's been dug before comes out entirely and gets replaced with compacted granular base, which is crushed stone packed hard. Nobody knows for sure what's under your wall until the trench is open, so I'll tell you at the estimate how we'd handle bad ground if we hit it.
How long does it take to build a retaining wall?
Laying the block is usually the quick part, since the block industry's design manual puts an experienced crew of three or four at about 300 to 500 square feet of block wall a day. Most of the time goes into what comes first, like any permit, the digging and base work, and utility marking through 8-1-1, which needs a few days before anyone digs. Booking that call early keeps it from holding up the start.
Related masonry work
Masonry restoration
If your yard already has an old brick or stone wall that's crumbling on the surface but sound underneath, restoring it can keep its character and save tearing it out.
Fireplace installation
A new retaining wall often creates the level ground for a patio, and a fireplace built along with it turns that space into somewhere you'll actually sit in the evening.