Scenic Rim Retaining Wall Builders000
Walls holding something above them: a driveway, a shed pad, a slab.
Structural

Structural retaining walls

4.7 Excellent29 Google reviews100% RecommendFacebook7 Facebook reviews

Structural

Walls holding something above them: a driveway, a shed pad, a slab.

  • Driveways, shed pads and slabs
  • No driveway, shed pad or slab within 1.5 metres above
  • You'll know at the first phone call
Talk to us about your wall0488 844 741
A long timber look concrete sleeper wall with steps, running along a slope

Talk to us about your wall

Six short questions, about two minutes. Your details come first, so if anything cuts out halfway we can still call you back.

Step 1 of 6 / You

Your name and number are saved when you press Next, so we can call you back if you don't finish. Sending this agrees to our privacy policy, including the overseas handling it describes.

*Mandatory field

4.7 Excellent29 Google reviews100% RecommendFacebook7 Facebook reviews

What it is

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. We don't take on walls with a driveway, shed pad or slab within 1.5 metres above them, because those need engineering, so we'll tell you at the start if yours is one of them.

What decides this job

The 1.5 metre rule

We don’t take on walls with a driveway, shed pad or slab within 1.5 metres above them, because those need engineering. We’ll tell you at the start if yours is one of them.

When we can build it

Where the load sits further back than that, and the wall is no more than 1 metre retained, it’s a wall we build.

Approvals

Check with your local council about approvals before you build. We don’t arrange approvals.

What goes in

Galvanised steel posts in pier holes drilled with the right auger for the job, 450 mm on some walls and 300 mm on others, concreted with 32 MPa concrete from the plant. Then steel reinforced concrete sleepers, with geofabric, a 100 mm socked ag pipe and 20 mm drainage gravel behind the wall.

Know roughly how long and how high? Brittany can give you an estimate over the phone.

Talk to us about your wall0488 844 741
Reviews
4.7 Excellent29 Google reviews100% RecommendFacebook7 Facebook reviews

29 people have written about what it was like, and they all write about the same things.

The thing people tell us most is that they can’t believe it’s only the two of us. After that, it’s how fast Jake works, how clean he leaves the site, and the quality of the wall.

Reviews published on Google. Names as the reviewers gave them.

Why people trust us with this

Walls holding something above them: a driveway, a shed pad, a slab.

The honest answer comes first

We don't take on walls with a driveway, shed pad or slab within 1.5 metres above them, because those need engineering. You'll hear that before you spend anything.

A load changes how the wall is built

A wall holding a driveway is doing a different job from a garden wall, and it's priced and built as one.

Footings sized on site

The right auger for the job, 450 mm on some walls and 300 mm on others, and 32 MPa concrete from the plant. The depth is worked out on site rather than guessed in an office.

Drainage under load

Geofabric, a 100 mm socked ag pipe and 20 mm drainage gravel. Water behind a loaded wall is what brings it down.

Licensed and insured

QBCC licensed for structural landscaping, with $20 million public liability behind the work.

Approvals are yours to check

Check with your local council about approvals before you build.

Talk to us about your wall0488 844 741
Walls we've built

Some of the walls we've built, and where they are.

Knock down and rebuild of a failing timber wall, Fernvale
Fernvale

Knock down and rebuild of a failing timber wall, Fernvale

Knock down and rebuild of old timber walls, Dugandan
Boonah

Knock down and rebuild of old timber walls, Dugandan

Concrete sleeper retaining wall, Pacific Pines
Pacific Pines

Concrete sleeper retaining wall, Pacific Pines

Side yard run, backfilled, Scenic Rim
Scenic Rim

Side yard run, backfilled, Scenic Rim

Sleeper wall and stairs, Scenic Rim
Scenic Rim

Sleeper wall and stairs, Scenic Rim

Wall built to carry a pergola, Oxenford
Oxenford

Wall built to carry a pergola, Oxenford

How a wall gets built

Most of the work is finished before a single sleeper is visible.

This is how Jake builds a knock down and rebuild, which is most of what we do. Three of the four stages are hidden the day the job's finished, which is why two quotes can look the same and be thousands apart.

  1. 01

    Old wall out, set out, holes dug

    The old wall comes down and is disposed of. Then Jake sets out, runs string lines for the heights and lengths, marks every post and drills the holes with the right auger for the job: 450 millimetres on some walls, 300 millimetres on others.

    A drilled hole gets to depth and gives the post the footing it needs. Hand dug holes often don't.

  2. 02

    Posts concreted, then left to set

    Galvanised steel posts go in and get concreted with 32 MPa concrete from the plant. Never hand mixed and never rapid set. Then the concrete's left to set before a sleeper goes anywhere near it.

    Bays run 1.6 to 2.4 metres depending on the wall.

  3. 03

    Sleepers in

    Steel reinforced concrete sleepers from a supplier who warrants them for 50 years. We don't use seconds, or sleepers light on reinforcing bar.

    The bar inside the sleeper is the one part of the wall you'll never see, and the part you're really paying for.

  4. 04

    Drainage behind the wall

    Geofabric behind every wall, a 100 millimetre socked ag pipe, and the space behind the sleepers backfilled with 20 millimetre recycled drainage gravel.

    We use 100 millimetre socked ag pipe, the size engineered walls are drawn with, even on walls that don't need engineering. Soil backfill holds water against the wall until the pressure pushes it over, which is why ours is gravel.

Jake measures it on a Saturday, and the quote you accept is locked for 30 days.

Talk to us about your wall0488 844 741

The other three

Boundary
Boundary

Long runs that have to stay dead straight, often with a fence going on top.

Terrace
Terrace

Turning a slope into flat ground you can use, in steps rather than one tall wall.

Rebuild
Rebuild

Knocking down a wall that's failed and building it again properly, with footings and drainage.

Method

Not answered here? Call us on 0488 844 741.

What people ask about how it’s built

We use the right auger for the job: 450 millimetres on some walls, 300 millimetres on others. The posts are concreted with 32 MPa concrete from the plant, and how deep they go depends on the wall and the ground, which Jake works out on site.

We never hand dig, hand mix or use rapid set. Those are where many failed walls went wrong, and none of it shows the day the wall is finished.

Geofabric behind every wall, a 100 millimetre socked ag pipe, and 20 millimetre recycled drainage gravel filling the space behind the sleepers.

We use 100 millimetre socked ag pipe, the size engineered walls are drawn with, even on walls that don't need engineering.

Soil holds water against the back of the wall, and that water pressure is what pushes walls over.

Gravel lets the water drop to the ag pipe and drain away. It's one of the cheapest things to leave out and one of the most expensive to put right later.

Why walls fail

Yes. The post holes still have to reach depth, so rock means rock breaking, and that adds time and cost.

If you know there's rock, tell Brittany when you call. It's priced into your quote, and once you've accepted it the price is locked.

Because a post that's loaded before its concrete has set can move, and a wall is only as straight as its posts. So the posts get concreted, the concrete's left to set, and the sleepers go in after.

It's part of why a normal wall takes two to three days rather than one.

Yes. Fence brackets fix to the wall's steel posts and the fence stands on those. The brackets go on before the top two sleepers, so tell us when you ask for the quote, not once the wall is up.

We fit the brackets as part of the wall. The fence itself is a fencer's job, and we can put you in touch with one we trust.

Fence brackets, in order

About 1100 millimetres. That's what our 1.7-tonne machine needs to get through, and it's worth measuring at your narrowest point before you call anyone.

Tight but workable access adds machine time, and hand labour if Jake has to put the sleepers in by hand, which adds cost. If the machine can't reach the wall, we can't take the job, and we'll tell you on the phone before booking a site visit.

No. We build concrete sleeper retaining walls only.

That means no turf, plants, garden beds, fencing, timber, rock or sandstone walls. We're retaining wall builders, not landscapers, and the quote covers the retaining wall.

Next

Tell us about the block

Six short questions, about two minutes. Brittany calls you back, then Jake comes out and measures the wall. Quotes are locked for 30 days, and the price only changes if you ask for extra work and approve it first.

Talk to us about your wall
0488 844 741
A long timber look concrete sleeper wall with steps, running along a slope

Talk to us about your wall

Six short questions, about two minutes. Your details come first, so if anything cuts out halfway we can still call you back.

Step 1 of 6 / You

Your name and number are saved when you press Next, so we can call you back if you don't finish. Sending this agrees to our privacy policy, including the overseas handling it describes.

*Mandatory field

Speak to us0488 844 741Talk to us