Retaining Wall Installation — Block Walls Built and Repaired
A slope that will not hold, a bed that spills onto the driveway, or a block wall that is leaning out after ten winters — built or rebuilt on a base with drainage behind it.
JMB Builders does retaining wall installation across the Twin Cities metro and north to St. Cloud: segmental block walls for garden beds, terraced yards, driveway edges and walkout grades, and repair of walls that are leaning or bulging. Every wall gets a compacted base, a leveled first course, drainage stone and a perforated pipe behind it, and a cap. Priced per project after a site measure. Tall walls need an engineer and a permit; we bring both in.
- Priced per project after a site measure
- Compacted base, drainage stone, perforated pipe
- Tall walls: engineer and permit brought in
- Leaning walls rebuilt on a new base
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
A retaining wall holds back soil, and soil pushes hardest when it is wet and frozen. Walls fail for two reasons: the base under the first course was not deep or compacted, so the wall settles and tips; or there was no drainage behind it, so water sat in the backfill and the frost pushed the wall out. Every wall we build addresses both, whether it is a knee-high garden wall or a terrace.
The build: excavate a trench for the base, compact class 5, set the first course dead level and partly buried, then stack the block with the setback the block is designed for. Behind the wall goes clean drainage stone with a perforated pipe at the bottom that drains to daylight, and filter fabric between the stone and the soil so the fine soil does not clog it. Taller walls get geogrid laid back into the soil on set courses. A cap unit glued on top finishes it.
Wall height matters. Short garden walls and most yard terraces are within what a contractor can build on judgment and the block maker's tables. Tall walls, walls with a slope or a driveway above them, and walls that hold up a structure need an engineer to design them and a permit from the city, and we bring both in rather than guess. We tell you which one you have at the site measure.
What you supply
- The block style and color, picked at a supply yard or from samples; we order and deliver it
- Where the wall goes and roughly how high, and what is above it: lawn, a bed, a patio, a driveway
- Access for a skid loader and a place to stage pallets of block and a pile of drainage stone
- What you want on top: a bed, a fence, a patio, or just lawn to the edge
What JMB supplies
- Site measure, grade check and the utility locate before we dig
- Excavation of the trench and the cut behind the wall, and haul-off of spoils
- Compacted class 5 base and a first course set level and buried
- Block stacked with the designed setback, pinned or lipped, corners and curves cut with a saw
- Clean drainage stone, perforated drain pipe to daylight, and filter fabric behind the wall
- Geogrid on the courses that need it, backfill compacted in lifts
- Cap units glued on, and the top graded to drain over the wall, not into it
- An engineer's design and the city permit when the wall's height or load calls for it
- Photos of the finished wall in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Length and height of the wall; height is priced by the face area but taller walls also need more base, stone and grid
- Block choice: a standard landscape block vs. a large or natural-stone-look unit
- What is behind and above the wall: lawn is simple, a driveway, patio or slope adds engineering and grid
- Soil and drainage: clay that holds water needs more stone and a longer pipe run to daylight
- Corners, curves and steps built into the wall, which all mean cuts
- Access: skid loader to the wall, or block carried by hand
- Whether an engineer's design and a permit are required
- Removing a failed wall, timber or block, before the new one goes in
Send a photo along the length of the wall area and one from above or below it, and say what is above it. We schedule the site measure from that.
How long it takes
A garden or bed wall: one to three days. A yard terrace or driveway wall: about a week. Engineered walls add the design and permit time before we start.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized quote within one business day. We only come out to measure first when the job needs a tape measure — no pressure, no games.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Garden bed retaining wall
A low wall that holds a bed or raises it off the lawn or driveway. A compacted base, a buried first course, drainage stone behind, and a cap. Curves and corners follow the bed.
Terraced slope
A steep backyard split into two or three low walls with beds or lawn between them, instead of one tall wall. Each wall has its own base and drainage. Often the way to keep a wall below the engineering threshold.
Driveway and walkout walls
Walls that hold up a driveway edge, a walkout grade or a slope with a structure on it. These usually need an engineer's design, geogrid, and a permit; we bring the engineer in and build to the drawing.
Retaining wall repair and rebuild
A leaning, bulging or sinking wall is taken down, the block cleaned and stacked, the base rebuilt and compacted, drainage added, and the wall relaid with the setback and grid it should have had.
Replace a timber wall with block
Rotted landscape timbers pulled and hauled, the slope cut back, and a block wall built in their place with a real base and drainage. Timber walls rarely have either.
Retaining Wall Installation — Block Walls Built and Repaired: questions, answered
Does a retaining wall need a permit in Minnesota?
Short garden walls usually do not. Tall walls, walls with a driveway, slope or structure above them, and walls near a property line often do, and the height threshold and rules vary by city. Tall walls also need an engineer to design the base, the grid and the drainage. We check your city's rules at the site measure, and when a design and permit are needed we bring the engineer in and pull the permit as part of the job.
Why is my retaining wall leaning?
Almost always water. Soil behind a wall with no drainage stone and no pipe holds water; in winter it freezes and pushes the wall out, and every year it leans a little more. The other cause is a base that was not deep or compacted, so the bottom course tipped and everything above it followed. A leaning wall can be taken apart, the base and drainage rebuilt, and the same block relaid.
What goes behind a retaining wall?
Clean drainage stone, a perforated pipe at the bottom that runs out to daylight, and filter fabric between the stone and the native soil so silt does not clog the stone. On taller walls, layers of geogrid laid back into the compacted backfill tie the wall to the soil it holds. The backfill is compacted in lifts, and the top is graded so surface water runs over the wall or away from it, not down behind it.
Can you repair a retaining wall instead of replacing it?
If a few caps are loose or one section has settled, yes: that section comes apart, the base is fixed, and it is relaid. If the wall is leaning along its length, the problem is the base or the drainage and the fix is a rebuild: block down, base and drainage rebuilt, block back up. The block itself is usually reusable, so a rebuild costs less than a new wall in new block.
How high can a block retaining wall be without an engineer?
That depends on the block, the soil, what is above the wall and your city, so we do not give one number. Low garden walls are built on the block maker's tables. Anything tall, anything holding a slope, driveway or building, and anything the city flags gets an engineer's design and a permit. Terracing a slope into two lower walls is often the way to stay in the simple range and it looks better too.
Block or timber for a retaining wall?
Block. Landscape timbers rot from the back where they touch wet soil, and most timber walls were built without a base or drainage, which is why they lean. Segmental block does not rot, is designed with a setback that resists the soil, and can be taken apart and relaid if the ground ever moves. When we replace a timber wall we rebuild the base and add the drainage the old wall never had.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough. You hear back within one business day. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
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Read morePage reviewed September 24, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All pavers pages
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