Form, Function, Affordability: Understanding Retaining Wall Costs in Overland Park

In the rolling hills of Overland Park, backyards everywhere have a new level of backyard living thanks to retaining walls. GD Services is a trusted authority when it comes to building, maintaining, and replacing these crucial parts of any home in our area for many reasons. So get to know the options, value, and retaining wall costs in Overland Park.

True to Form

How do we know so much about Overland Park? Because our pros live here! From Nall Avenue to Nall Hills, we’re the pros that JoCo trusts to design, build, and maintain commercial and residential retaining walls. George Dille is your go-to throughout your project, so here’s how he keeps quality and retaining wall costs in Overland Park in check.

The Shape of Your Land

For starters, George will walk through your job site alongside you while explaining how and why he suggests a retaining wall installation or repair. While he does this, he’s also carrying a specialized tool that measures elevation and slopes to plug into our CAD program and create a 3D design of your land. With the design created, we’ll discuss options for how and where we’ll build that wall.

The Shape of Your Wall

As we discuss the desired colors and overall look of your retaining wall, we’ll also be discussing the designs you don’t see. Before we lay the first stone, we dig, plot, and install a support system to ensure your wall stands tall through it all. This process involves half the time of building the wall because we believe preparation leads to perfection. Our painstaking preparation leads to low maintenance and high quality. 

Dependable Functionality

Prep work is just as rigorous as it is important. This is because your retaining wall will be doing so much more than leveling up your backyard. A typical 4-foot-high retaining wall that’s 15-feet long needs to be built to support up to 20 tons of soil pressure. With each additional foot of height, tons of pressure get added to the equation. Good thing we perform under pressure!

For Your Yard

No matter where and why you need one, retaining wall costs are the only limit to how you can level up your yard. To add beauty and functionality to your space, we can pair a patio on top or below a retaining wall. While some retaining walls are built just to be another pretty face, we build ours to keep you enjoying your great outdoors for years to come.

For the Environment

You may own it, but your yard belongs to the environment first and foremost. We keep Mother Nature in mind just as much as retaining wall costs in Overland Park. To do the right thing for your land and your wallet, we design specialized drainage systems and make sure to retain the natural contour of your yard to keep the green grass growing. We also install high-quality PVC or NDS piping to ensure your drainage stays clear and easy to maintain year after year.

Keeping Quality Affordable

Every homeowner deserves quality and affordability. So our team at GD Services keeps costs low and quality high by expertly planning every aspect of your retaining wall from start to finish. If you’ve got champagne taste on a seltzer budget, we can help you get the best of both worlds.

Size and Scope

For starters, we’ll discuss how big you want to go. We’re more than happy to build a 12-foot-high wall that will need to retain over 100 tons of soil pressure. However, if your budget won’t let us do it right, we scale down expectations. Instead of one 12-foot wall, we may suggest four -3 foot-high retaining walls in a staggered pattern to get a similar effect and keep costs in check for prep and finishes. It may not be the first thing that comes to your mind, so we ensure you’ll enjoy the outcome before we dig the first shovel of dirt.

One Step at a Time

We won’t lie to you, the beginning phases of your retaining wall project will look worse before it gets better. We take precise measurements and considerations when digging the footing of your wall to keep Johnson County ordinances happy while ensuring maximum durability. The depth of the footing will largely depend on the size and scope of your project, which is why we include these factors in retaining wall costs in Overland Park. By taking your project in small pieces rather than all at once, you can enjoy your yard more and avoid pinching pennies.

Design

As we mentioned earlier, we create a 3D model of your land to simulate possible designs and options for materials. We typically opt for locally sourced, hand-cut limestones for our high-end builds. But we also provide complete systems from Belgard to create beautiful, modern patterns. These choices may be more expensive than your run-of-the-millstones. 

But we put our trust in local quarries and national suppliers like Belgard for the same reason customers trust us. We only source the best options to always provide customer support and quality long after we build your retaining wall. Service after the sale is what makes GD Services a standout retaining wall builder in Johnson County.

Build

Half of your retaining wall build will happen underground as we create a sturdy footing for your wall to stand tall. The location and slope of your land will be what determine the function of what stands above ground, as we can use the same materials for freestanding walls as well. 

Our crew uses a specialty stone cutter to uniformly cut natural stone and create corner cuts to account for any pressure that your retaining wall will have to endure. We also create easy-to-maintain channels for water to flow through, while keeping frost lines in mind. This combination of forethought and attention to detail is what makes our builds worth every penny of the total retaining wall cost in Overland Park.

We build every retaining wall to NCMA standards and make sure to loop in county officials whenever necessary. Typically, anything over 4 feet high will need to be assessed and provided a permit before we break ground. This is why we mention everything from timelines to average retaining wall costs in Overland Park during the initial consultation. Timelines vary depending on the desired wall, but we suggest allowing 3 months of lead time for us to properly schedule your project and get all the necessary permits.

Maintain

We’ve talked plenty about building a new retaining wall, but when it comes to repair or replacement, retaining wall costs in Overland Park can get pricey if not maintained properly. Just because we use high-density plastic tubing and stones with lifetime warranties doesn’t mean other contractors do the same. There’s a reason we repair just as many retaining walls as we build from scratch. Here are a few signs your retaining wall could use some TLC:

• Crack Kills

If the cuts in your stonework are not made properly, your wall can crack and buckle under the pressure. Look for developing cracks in the face and edges of your retaining wall to identify this issue. We mitigate this issue by precisely plotting every cut and notch by hand. Measuring twice and cutting once is key to building value in your property.

• The Water Works

Your retaining wall is not built to be a water feature, so if you see water or rust marks throughout your stones, contact our team immediately. This is typically a simple fix by either cleaning, placing, or replacing drainage pipes behind and around your retaining wall.

• On Another Level

While your retaining wall should add new elevations to your yard, it shouldn’t make things uneven. If one or two stones get out of place, it can mean bad things are behind your retaining wall. If left unchecked, a failed footing can lead to a total collapse over time. To put things back together right, our crew will replace the affected section and install an improved support system throughout your wall.

• Starting Over

If you’re reading this because your retaining wall failed, we’re sorry for your loss. It’s never fun to notice something that doesn’t look right on your property, especially when it could cost you thousands. While the exact causes of retaining wall failures are almost always different, our solutions remain the same. Starting from square one can be difficult, but with GD Services, timelines, outcomes, and retaining wall costs in Overland Park are clear and easy. 

Get Started

You’re just a few clicks away from a yard to be proud of! From high end patios and lighting, to outdoor kitchens and reliable retaining walls, GD Services can do it all. Give our pros a call with any questions about your project. Or schedule your in person consultation to get a simple, accurate quote. We’re excited to upgrade your great outdoors!

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