Applications
Four kinds of job cover everything we build. They’re priced differently and they’re built differently.
01 / BoundaryLong runs that have to stay dead straight, often with a fence going on top.
The longest runs we build, and the least forgiving. A boundary wall is looked at from both sides for the next fifty years, so the line has to be dead straight through ground that is not. Often there's a fence going on top. We don't build fences any more, but we'll put you onto the fencing contractor we work with. Talk to your neighbour before we start: we don't approach neighbours ourselves, and only need to if we have to get in through their place.
02 / TerraceTurning a slope into flat ground you can actually use, in steps rather than one tall wall.
Turning a slope into ground you can actually stand on. Two or three low walls stepping up a bank usually look better than one tall one, and the water has somewhere to go at every level rather than all of it arriving at the bottom. How close the tiers sit to each other changes whether you need 
approval, so it's worth checking before you settle on a design.
03 / StructuralWalls carrying something above them: a pergola, a shed pad, a driveway.
A wall holding something above it: a pergola, a shed pad, a driveway, a slab. A load behind a wall changes what the wall has to be, and it can change whether it needs approval. A driveway or shed pad within 1.5 metres of the wall means it has to be engineered, and we don't build engineered walls, so we'll tell you at the start if yours looks like one.
04 / RebuildKnocking down a wall that's failed and building one that won't.
Most of our work, and the thing we're known for. Jake knocks the old wall down and takes it away, then sets out the new one and digs the pier holes, usually on the first day. We don't repair walls somebody else built: once we touch one, the whole wall becomes ours, and we won't put our licence on a wall that's already failing.
Replacing a wall that failed, properly this time.
Knock down and rebuild is what we're known for, and it's most of our work.
- 01
Why the first one failed
We see a lot of walls that failed a year or so after they went in. It's nearly always the same things: no drainage, hand mixed concrete and small footings. The worst one we've replaced cost its owners about $30,000, removal and disposal included.
- 02
We don't repair it, we replace it
We don't patch somebody else's wall. The moment we touch it, the whole wall is ours, and we won't put our licence on a wall that's already failing. So it comes down.
- 03
Old wall out, new posts in
The old wall's removed and disposed of, then it's the same as a new wall: 450 millimetre holes, galvanised steel posts and 32 MPa concrete from the plant, left to set before the sleepers go in.
- 04
The drainage it never had
Geofabric, 100 millimetre socked ag pipe and drainage gravel behind the wall. That's what the first one was missing, and it's the reason this one won't be back on the list.
We don’t build the fence, and that’s deliberate.
Most retaining walls end up with a fence on top. We used to build that part too, and we stopped because of disputes with neighbours. What we do is leave the wall straight and the levels right, so the fencer who follows has nothing to fight. And we work closely with a fencing contractor we trust, who can quote the fence for you.
If the wall’s on the boundary, talk to your neighbour before we start. We don’t approach neighbours ourselves, and we’d only need to if we have to get in through their place.
Not answered here? Ring us on 0480 501 886.
What people ask about replacing a wall
Things worth walking out and looking at: it leans out at the top, sleepers bow between the posts, the ground behind it is dropping, timber is soft at ground level, or water comes out of the face after rain.
A wall that's been leaning for two years will lean for another one, right up until the day it doesn't.
No, we don't do repairs. The moment we touch a wall, the whole wall becomes our responsibility, and we won't put our licence on one that somebody else built and that's already failing.
So if your wall's failing, what we'll quote is a knock down and rebuild.
The ones we replace nearly always come down to the same three things: no drainage, hand mixed concrete, and small footings. A lot of them fail within a year or so of going in.
The worst one we've replaced cost its owners about $30,000 once the removal and disposal of the failed wall was included.
Why walls failWe do. Removing and disposing of the old wall is part of the quote.
Tell us about the block
Six short questions, about two minutes. Brittany rings you back, then Jake comes out and measures it. Quotes are locked for 30 days, with no builder variations.
