Retaining Wall Construction in Central New Jersey

What goes behind the wall matters more than the block

Every wall we build gets a compacted aggregate leveling pad, a minimum 12" zone of clean ¾" drainage stone behind the face, a perforated drain tile daylighted to grade or a pop-up emitter, and geotextile separation from native soil.

• Compacted 6" crushed-stone leveling pad, buried first course
• Clean stone backfill and perforated drain pipe with positive outfall
• Geogrid reinforcement layers on walls above 3–4 feet
• Compacted backfill in 8" lifts, never dumped and left loose
• Capstones set with flexible masonry adhesive

When you need an engineer

In most Central NJ municipalities, walls over 4 feet in exposed height — or any wall carrying a surcharge such as a driveway, pool or slope above it — require a sealed engineered design and a construction permit. We coordinate that design and pull the permit as part of the project rather than leaving it to you.

Tiering two shorter walls instead of one tall wall is sometimes cheaper and often better looking, but only if the horizontal separation is at least twice the height of the lower wall. Otherwise the upper wall surcharges the lower one and you are back to needing engineering.

Repairing a failing wall

Bulging, leaning, separated caps or soil washing through joints are all drainage symptoms. We can often rebuild only the failing section, reusing sound block, provided the base is intact. We will tell you honestly when a rebuild is the cheaper long-term answer.