Concrete Retaining Walls in Helena MT - a wall built and drained for your slope
If your slope keeps sliding or an old wall is leaning, we build a poured wall with a deep footing and drainage behind it.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free in-person estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
What goes into a concrete retaining wall in Helena?
A concrete retaining wall in Helena is a poured wall standing on a deep footing, with steel inside and drainage behind it, that holds back a slope so your yard stays where you want it. Most of what makes it last is the part you'll never see once the dirt goes back.
Most calls start with a slope that keeps washing onto a lawn, a patio or a driveway edge, or with an old timber or block wall that's started to lean. The price moves with how tall and how long the wall runs, what the soil underneath is like and what the wall has to hold back. The schedule turns on the weather, any permit the city wants and curing, the wait while the concrete hardens before we put dirt back against it. I'll walk your site and give you your own number in the estimate.
How can you tell a slope or an old wall needs attention?
Wall leaning or bulging
The top of the wall is tipping toward the yard, or the middle is pushing out. That usually means the soil and water behind it are pushing harder than the wall was built for, and once a wall starts moving it rarely stops on its own.
Wet stains and white crust
Water seeps through cracks or the face and leaves a white, chalky film when it dries. That usually points to drainage behind the wall that's plugged or was never there, and every winter that trapped water freezes and opens the cracks a little wider.
Dirt washing out underneath
After a rain you find soil spilling through gaps or out from under the bottom of the wall. The ground the wall stands on is being carried away, and it gets worse with every storm.
Slope creeping into the yard
There's no wall yet, but the hill keeps sliding onto your lawn, patio or driveway. The longer it goes, the more dirt there is to haul off and the more slope there is to rebuild before we can start.
How we build a concrete retaining wall
I start by walking the slope and working out where your water goes, because a wall is only as good as its design and the drainage behind it, so we build to a plan for your site and not just to a height. We dig the footing trench below the frost line, pack the bottom firm, and set rebar, the steel bars that let the wall carry the hill's weight without cracking apart, then form and pour the footing and the wall. Once it's cured, we lay drainage gravel behind it with a filter to keep dirt out of the stone, run perforated drain pipe to outlets we leave where you can reach them, backfill in layers and shape the ground so surface water runs away from the wall. Tell us early if a driveway might go in nearby, because changing the backfill or adding weight beside the wall can undo a design even when the concrete itself is strong.
A wall usually makes room for flatwork, the slabs that lie level on the ground, above or below it. Leveling a sloped backyard often leads to concrete pool decks, and the flat pad a wall creates is a good spot for a shed or shop slab through our concrete floor installation work. If the budget gets tight, I'd keep the money in the footing and drainage and save a decorative face for later, because once the backfill's in, nobody fixes what's buried without tearing the wall out.
Low wall for beds or a yard step
This suits a short change in grade, like a raised garden bed or a step between two parts of the yard. It's a smaller dig, but it still gets a footing and drainage, because even a short wall holds wet soil.
Taller poured wall holding a slope
This suits hillside lots where the yard falls away from the house or toward it. The footing and steel are sized to the plan for your site, which is why this kind of wall is mostly design and groundwork.
Wall beside a driveway or parking spot
This suits a wall with cars parked above it or next to it. That extra weight goes into the plan from the start, which is why we ask about driveway plans before anything is drawn up.
Get a retaining wall estimate based on your slope
We reply within one business day to set a time, then I come out, walk the slope and write up a free estimate on site. There's no obligation to go ahead.
- Based in
- Helena, MT 59601
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 7 AM–10 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–11 PM
What happens after you call about a retaining wall?
From your first call to the last load of dirt, here's how a retaining wall job runs with us, and what you'll know at each point.
Call or send the form
Tell us where the wall would go, its rough height and length, whether you're on a corner lot and any driveway plans nearby. We'll set a time for me to come look.
I walk the site with you
I look at the slope, the soil and where water runs, and listen to what you want the wall to do. Your estimate lays out the wall we'd build, the footing and drainage behind it and the price, so you can hold other bids to the same design.
We sort permits and timing
If you go ahead, we sort out the permit side and plan the pour around the weather. Cold snaps and heavy rain are the usual reasons a date moves.
We build, backfill, clean up
My crew and I dig, pour and let the wall cure before any dirt goes back against it. Then we backfill, shape the ground and clean up before we leave.
Why Helena homeowners call Helena Concrete for retaining walls
The owner walks every site
I come out myself to look at the job and write the estimate, and then I'm on the wall with a small crew. The person who told you where the drain outlets would go is the one who sets them.
Taught on my dad's crews
I grew up pouring concrete beside my dad around Helena and started Helena Concrete in 2021 after years on his crews. He taught me to slow down on the prep, and on a wall the prep is most of the job.
Licensed and insured for your job
We're licensed and insured. That matters on a retaining wall, because it means heavy digging and heavy concrete close to your house and your property line.
Footings dug for Helena frost
The city's Building Division lists a minimum footing depth for frost here, and we dig to it before anything gets formed. A footing that sits too shallow can heave when the ground freezes, and the wall moves with it.
On a retaining wall, I'd rather spend the time on the footing and the drain outlets than come back later to a wall that's moving. Tell us about your wall or call (406) 324-9341, and I'll come take a look.
Retaining walls and the work around them in Helena
If your house sits on a corner lot, the city doesn't allow walls, fences, structures or landscaping that would block the view for drivers or people walking. So we look at the sight lines near the corner before we settle where the wall goes, and if it's close, we check with the city before we dig.
A lot of yards here sit on slopes with topsoil and loose fill near the surface, and a poured wall doesn't forgive ground that sinks under it. As general guidance, a highway design manual puts cantilever walls, the common poured kind that stands on a wide footing, among the least tolerant of settlement, which means sinking of the wall itself. One installation guide also calls organic and expansive soils, the kind that swell when they're wet, unsuitable to build a wall on. So we dig past soft or organic dirt to firm ground and pack the base before the footing goes in, the same as we do on jobs in Helena Valley Southeast and Helena Valley Northwest.
Questions about retaining walls in Helena
How much does a concrete retaining wall cost in Helena?
There isn't a set price for a retaining wall in Helena, because each one is priced from the design for its site, and we give you that number in the estimate after I walk it. As general guidance, a highway design manual notes that walls that are tall but short in length cost more, since equipment has little room to work, and remote or hard-to-reach sites cost more too. Call (406) 324-9341 and I'll come out and price yours.
How do I compare retaining wall bids in Helena?
Ask each contractor what design their price is based on, because wall height alone doesn't size a concrete wall. The footing size, the steel, how deep the wall sits in the ground, the drainage and what's assumed about your soil all come from a project design or a code that applies, so two bids for the same height can be two very different walls.
How deep does a retaining wall footing have to go in Helena?
The City of Helena Building Division lists a frost depth of 42 inches minimum to the bottom of a footing, so a wall footing here goes at least that deep. That puts a good share of the digging well below grade, and the Building Division is the place to confirm the depth for your lot.
What causes a concrete retaining wall to leak or crack in winter?
Water building up behind the wall is usually the cause, because that pressure greatly increases the load the wall carries and can push water through or freeze and crack the concrete. That's why the drain outlets have to keep working for the life of the wall, so check them each spring and after heavy rain and clear any that are plugged.
Who issues building permits in Helena?
Helena's building official issues the permits needed to build, alter, repair, move or tear down a structure, through the city's Building Division. You can ask them whether your wall needs one at 406-447-8438 or CityBuilding@helenamt.gov. We find out which office covers your address and take care of the paperwork when your job calls for a permit.
Does a retaining wall contractor need a license in Montana?
Yes, every construction contractor in Montana now has to be licensed with the Montana Department of Labor & Industry. You can check a contractor's license on the state's Licensee Lookup System before you sign anything.
Related concrete work around a new wall
Concrete pool decks
Leveling a sloped yard for a pool means a deck comes next, and it needs a textured surface and drainage that sends splash water away from the wall.
Concrete floor installation
Once a wall gives you flat ground for a shop, shed or garage, you'll want a floor poured on a packed base so it stays level under use.
Retaining wall service areas around Helena
Helena Concrete is based in Helena, Montana, and builds retaining walls across Helena and the cities around it in the valley. The four areas below have their own pages, including Helena Valley West Central and Helena Valley Southeast, and we work beyond them too.
Get your retaining wall planned right
Have the wall's rough height and length handy when you call or write, and we can talk through your slope before I ever come out.