Tiered Retaining Wall — Terraced Yard With Two or Three Short Walls
The backyard drops away too fast to mow and one big wall would need an engineer and look like a dam — two or three short walls with beds and steps between them hold it and make the slope usable.
JMB Builders builds tiered retaining walls across the Twin Cities metro: a steep backyard or walkout slope held by two or three short walls with planting terraces between them, not one tall wall. Each tier gets its own compacted base, drainage stone and pipe, so Minnesota frost has nothing to grab. Tiers spaced well apart often stay below the height where the city requires an engineer; close-set tiers are engineered as one. Priced per project after a site measure.
- Priced per project after a site measure
- Each tier on its own base with its own drainage
- Steps and planting terraces between the walls
- Close-set tiers are engineered as one tall wall
- Licensed MN contractor BC809005
A tall retaining wall is expensive, needs an engineer's design and a permit almost everywhere, needs geogrid laid deep into the slope, and it puts a blank face in front of your windows. Splitting the same grade change into two or three short walls changes all of that. Each wall holds less soil, so each can be built in the simple range. The terraces between them become beds, a lawn strip, a patio or a fire pit level. Steps go through the walls where you want to walk. The yard stops being a slope you look at and becomes levels you use.
The spacing between tiers is the whole trick. The upper wall sits on the soil the lower wall is holding, so if it is set too close it loads the lower wall and the two act as one tall wall, which is exactly how the code and an engineer will treat them. Set the upper wall back far enough, a distance tied to the height of the wall below it, and each tier stands on its own. We lay that out at the site measure so the terraces are deep enough to plant and the walls stay in the range that does not need a stamped drawing. When the yard is too steep for that, we tell you and bring in the engineer.
Every tier is built like any wall we build: a trench, compacted class 5, a level buried first course, clean drainage stone with a perforated pipe to daylight, filter fabric, and backfill compacted in lifts. Water is the other reason tiers work. Each terrace is graded so runoff goes to the front edge and over the wall below, or into the drainage behind it, instead of soaking the soil the next wall is holding. Downspouts and sump lines above the slope get piped past the walls, not into them. Block, boulders or natural stone all work for tiers, and mixing them, boulders below and block above, is common.
What you supply
- The wall material: segmental block, boulders or natural stone, picked at a supply yard or from samples; we order and deliver it
- How you want to use the terraces: beds, lawn, a patio level, a fire pit, a play area
- Where you want to walk through: steps between tiers and a path to the top or bottom
- Access for a skid loader or mini excavator and a place to stage block, stone and drainage rock
- Plantings for the terraces, or have us plant them as a separate line
What JMB supplies
- Site measure with grade shots, a tier layout that keeps each wall in the simple range where the slope allows, and the utility locate
- Excavation of each trench and the cut behind each tier; spoils used to build the terraces or hauled
- Compacted class 5 base and a level buried first course under every tier
- Walls in block, boulders or stone with the setback or batter each material needs
- Clean drainage stone, perforated pipe to daylight, filter fabric and compacted backfill behind every tier
- Geogrid on any tier that needs it, and downspout or sump lines piped past the walls
- Steps between tiers on their own compacted base, and terraces graded to drain to the front edge
- An engineer's design and the city permit when the tiers are close enough to act as one tall wall or hold a driveway or structure
- Photos of the finished terraces in your job folder
How it is priced: per project
Quoted in writing from your photos within one business day. What moves the number:
- Total grade change and how many tiers it takes; more tiers means more base and drainage but less height per wall
- Wall material: standard block vs. large block, boulders or natural stone
- Terrace depth: deep terraces mean more excavation and soil moved, shallow ones may push the design toward engineering
- Steps between tiers and how many; each set has its own base
- Soil and water: clay slopes need more drainage stone and longer pipe runs
- Machine access down the slope; a steep yard sometimes means working from the bottom and hauling up
- Whether an engineer's design and a permit are required for the layout or for a driveway or structure above
- Finishing the terraces: topsoil, sod, edging, mulch and planting as separate lines
Send a photo from the bottom of the slope looking up at the house and one from the top looking down, and tell us how you want to use the levels. We schedule the site measure from that.
How long it takes
Our estimate: a two-tier yard in block runs about one to two weeks; three tiers with steps and terraces, two to three weeks. Engineered layouts add design and permit time. Planting and sod come after the walls.
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
Two-tier walkout backyard
The walkout grade held by a lower wall at the patio and an upper wall partway up the slope, with a planted terrace between. Steps through one wall to the lawn above. The most common tiered job in the metro.
Three tiers on a steep lot
A slope too steep to mow split into three levels: lawn or patio at the bottom, two planted terraces, steps zigzagging or straight through. Each tier short enough to stay in the simple range where the setbacks allow.
Boulder lower tier, block upper tiers
Boulders take the biggest load at the bottom where the look is natural, and block above where the face meets a patio or the house. Both on the same base and drainage detail.
Terraced front yard
A front yard that drops to the sidewalk, split into two short walls with beds between so the house is not sitting on top of a single tall wall. Right-of-way and setback rules at the sidewalk are checked with the city.
Convert one tall failed wall into tiers
A leaning tall wall comes out and the grade is rebuilt as two shorter walls set apart. Often the way to fix a wall without redoing an engineered tall wall, when there is room in the yard for the terrace.
Tiered Retaining Wall — Terraced Yard With Two or Three Short Walls: questions, answered
Why build two short retaining walls instead of one tall one?
A tall wall usually needs an engineer's design, a permit, geogrid laid deep into the slope and much more excavation, and it looks like a dam. Two or three short walls each hold less soil, so each can often be built in the simple range the block maker's tables cover. The terraces between them become beds or lawn, steps go through them, and the yard becomes levels you can use instead of a face you look at.
How far apart do tiered retaining walls need to be?
Far enough that the upper wall does not sit on the soil the lower wall is holding. The rule of thumb ties the setback to the height of the lower wall: the taller the lower wall, the deeper the terrace above it has to be. Closer than that and the two tiers act as one tall wall, and the code and an engineer treat them that way. We lay out the spacing at the site measure so the terraces are deep enough to plant and each wall stands on its own.
Do tiered retaining walls need an engineer or a permit?
Not when each tier is below the height where your city requires an engineer and the tiers are set far enough apart to stand alone. When the yard is too steep for that spacing, when the tiers hold up a driveway, patio or building, or when the city flags the layout, an engineer designs it and we pull the permit. We check your city's rules at the site measure and tell you which case you have before we quote.
What goes between the tiers of a terraced yard?
Whatever you want to use: planting beds are the most common because they take up runoff and hide the top of the lower wall, but a lawn strip, a paver patio, a fire pit level or a play area all work. Each terrace is graded so water runs to the front edge and over the wall below or into the drainage behind it, never down into the backfill of the next wall. Topsoil, sod, edging, mulch and plants are quoted as their own lines.
How do you get from one terrace to the next?
Steps built through the wall, on their own compacted base, in the same block or in stone slabs, placed where you would actually walk. A straight run through both tiers is the shortest; offsetting the steps from tier to tier makes a longer, gentler path and breaks up the wall faces. A ramp cut diagonally across the terraces works where a mower or a wheelbarrow has to get up.
Can tiered walls be built in boulders or natural stone instead of block?
Yes, and mixing them is common: boulders on the lower tier where the load is highest and the look is natural, block or cut stone on the upper tiers near the patio or the house. Boulders and outcropping need a skid loader or mini excavator to reach each tier, which on a steep yard can mean working from the bottom up. The base, drainage stone, pipe and fabric are the same behind every material.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and for the builders and dealers we sub for. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
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 27, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All pavers pages
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