Scenic Rim Retaining Wall Builders000
A row of galvanised posts concreted in along a sloping block

Company

4.7 Excellent29 Google reviews100% RecommendFacebook7 Facebook reviews
Two people, one job at a time

Company

Scenic Rim Retaining Wall Builders is Jake and Brittany Spriggs, based at Gleneagle, Queensland, working the same hills and clay as the people we build for. Jake has more than 12 years in the industry, and he and Brittany started the business in 2023. It’s the two of us. Brittany takes your call and runs the office, and Jake measures your site, quotes your wall and builds it.

An excavator on site, with the posts in and the first sleepers going on
A wall turning a corner on a cut block

How we got here

Brittany and Jake met when they were both 17. Jake had not long started his landscaping apprenticeship, and even then he would tell Brittany that one day he wanted to run his own business with her working alongside him.

After finishing his apprenticeship and gaining his structural landscaping qualification, Jake set up his own fencing and landscaping business.

For years he worked as a subcontractor for builders. He would do the work, send the invoice and wait to be paid. Sometimes payment never came. By 2018 the financial impact had caught up with their young family. They lost almost everything they had worked for and had to start again from scratch.

Jake went back to work as a retaining wall builder for another company while he and Brittany rebuilt their lives. The experience changed how they thought about business, and about the responsibility that comes with someone trusting you with their home and their money.

In 2023 they were ready to build something of their own again, and started Scenic Rim Retaining Wall Builders.

This time they made a deliberate decision to do things differently. The business works only for private homeowners and builds only concrete sleeper retaining walls. Jake hasn't subcontracted to a builder since.

Today they run it together. Brittany handles enquiries, phone estimates and the office, and Jake measures and quotes each wall on site, then builds it.

Their experience is also why they're careful about what they promise. They know what it's like to be on the wrong end of broken promises, unexpected costs and someone else's paperwork. They would rather give a homeowner an honest answer up front about the work, the cost and what can realistically be delivered than win a job with a number that changes later.

For Brittany and Jake, building each wall the way it was quoted, footings and drainage included, and doing what they say they will do will always matter more than being the cheapest quote.

The one we are proudest of

Ask Brittany and Jake which job they're proudest of and it's the Woodhill wall. Two tiers, built by the two of them in a week in the middle of a January heatwave, with their nine-year-old son on site learning how a retaining wall goes together.

What we are known for

Knock down and rebuilds. Taking out a wall that’s failed and building it again with the footings and drainage it was missing.

Many of the walls we're called out to failed within a year or so of being built, nearly always for the same three reasons: no drainage, hand mixed concrete and small footings. We knock the old wall down, take it away, and build it again with drilled pier holes, 32 MPa concrete from the plant, and drainage gravel behind the wall. We use the right auger for the job: 450 mm on some walls, 300 mm on others.

What we will always do

Give you a straightforward estimate

If you can tell Brittany roughly how long and how high the wall is, she’ll give you an estimate over the phone, including GST. She’ll also explain what could change the final price, such as difficult access, excavation conditions or rock, so you have a realistic idea of cost before booking a site visit. An estimate isn’t a locked quote. Jake gives you that once he’s measured the site.

Lock in your price

Once you’ve accepted your quote, the price is locked for 30 days. We don’t do builder variations. The price only changes if you ask for extra work, and then Jake agrees it with you on site and you approve a new quote before it starts.

Send you to someone else when we should

We don’t build fences, but we work closely with a fencing contractor we trust who can quote yours. One of our reviews is from a customer thanking us for splitting the job between experts.

What we do not do

We’ve narrowed deliberately. Every one of these has a reason.

Walls over 1 metre retained

We build up to 1 metre retained height and refer anything outside that. Bigger walls take a higher licence grade, heavier-duty machinery and a crew on site, which is a different business from the one we’ve chosen, and we’d rather be very good at the walls we do build. If yours is over a metre, we’ll tell you up front so you can find a contractor who builds larger walls.

Timber, rock and sandstone

We build steel reinforced concrete sleeper walls and nothing else.

Fencing

We don’t build fences. If your project needs one, we can put you in touch with a fencing contractor we trust.

Engineered walls, and council approvals

We don’t do engineering, build engineered walls or arrange council approvals. Approvals are yours to check with your local council. Where approval may be required, we’ll let you know up front, and if you’re not sure, Jake can take a look when he measures the site.

Walls in an illegal position, or unsafe sites

If a wall can’t legally go where it’s wanted, or the site isn’t safe to work on, we won’t build it.

Repairs to walls built by others

Once we alter an existing wall, we may become responsible for work we didn’t build. So we only build new walls and full replacements.

Walls under $8,000

Our retaining walls start from $8,000. If yours is likely to come in under that, we’ll tell you on the phone, so you’re not waiting on a site visit for nothing.

Soft landscaping

No turf, plants or garden beds. We’re retaining wall builders, not landscapers.

Our 1.7-tonne machine needs about 1100 mm of clear access. 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.

Where we work

Not sure if you’re in our area? Call us and we’ll let you know.

QBCC licence 15049372 (Jacob Spriggs) / Licensed and insured

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.

See the registerRead the journal
Questions

Not answered here? Call us on 0488 844 741.

The questions we get asked most

Check with your local council about approvals before you build. It depends on the block, so they're the ones to ask.

Most quotes aren't for a different wall. They're for a different amount of the work you can't see once it's finished: the footings, the concrete and the drainage behind it.

Walls are priced by the square metre of face, so size moves the number most. After that it's access. Our 1.7-tonne machine needs about 1100 mm of clear access, and tight access adds machine time, and hand labour if Jake has to put the sleepers in by hand. Rock that needs breaking to get the holes to depth adds to it too.

What a wall costs and why

No, and it's the thing people most often assume. We're retaining wall builders, not landscapers. The quote is the wall: the materials, the machine, the labour, the drainage behind it, and taking the old wall away if there is one.

The site cut, backfilling with soil, and any landscaping or landscaping preparation aren't in it unless they're written into the quote and priced. We'd rather you read that here than find out on the day.

No. Approvals are yours to arrange, so check with your local council, and we don't do engineering or build engineered walls.

Where approval or engineering may be needed, we'll let you know up front, so you're not three quotes in before anyone mentions it. If you're not sure, ask Jake to take a look when he measures the site.

Walls are priced per square metre of wall face, not per metre of length. A 20 metre wall at half a metre high is 10 square metres. The same wall at 1 metre high is 20 square metres, and twice the job.

If you know roughly how long and how high your wall is, Brittany can give you an estimate over the phone, including GST. It's an estimate, not a quote. Things like rock breaking or tight access can change it, and the locked price comes after Jake has measured the site. Our walls start from $8,000.

Published rates by material

A normal sized wall takes two to three days on site. A big job, like a two tier wall, can take five to ten business days. Jake is on site from about 6:30 each morning.

Weather, deliveries, rock and other trades like the concrete plant can all stretch it, and they're out of our hands. So the time we give you is our honest estimate rather than a promise.

Water. Wet soil is heavier than dry soil and clay swells when it holds water, so a wall built to hold dry ground is holding something else entirely after a wet summer.

That's why our quotes list the drainage: geofabric, a 100 millimetre socked ag pipe and 20 millimetre drainage gravel behind the wall. If a quote you're holding only says "drainage", or doesn't mention it, ask what's going in.

Why walls fail

We only build concrete sleeper walls. Timber is cheaper on the day, but it rots, and in wet clay it doesn't last. If timber is what you're after, we're not the right builder for the job.

Concrete sleepers from our supplier carry a 50 year warranty on the sleeper, and the steel reinforcing inside them is the part you're really paying for.

The material

Retaining walls are not covered by Queensland's dividing fences legislation. That Act is about fences and trees, so retaining wall disputes are decided case by case on common law.

The thread through all of it is that responsibility follows the benefit. If you cut into your land, or you filled it, the wall is usually yours.

Boundary walls

No. We specialise in concrete sleeper retaining walls only.

We can put you in touch with a fencing contractor we trust, who can quote the fence for you. We leave the wall straight and the levels right, so they have a clean start. One of our reviews is from a customer thanking us for splitting the job between experts.

How we work

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.

Yes. Our retaining walls start from $8,000.

If your wall is likely to come in under that, we'll let you know on the phone, so you're not waiting on a site visit.

We build concrete sleeper retaining walls up to 1 metre retained height, and refer anything outside that. Past a metre it stops being the same job. It takes a higher licence grade, ten metre tippers, heavier-duty machinery, a crew of three or four and a great deal more engineering paperwork. That's a different business from the one we've chosen.

We'd rather be very good at the walls we do build. If yours is over a metre, we'll tell you on the call so you can go straight to a contractor set up for larger walls.

Jake keeps working until he can't, or waits on site until he can carry on. If it's heavy enough that the machine could get bogged or deliveries can't get in, he comes back the next day once the ground has dried out.

No. We build new walls and full replacements, and we don't repair walls built by other contractors.

Once we alter an existing wall, we may become responsible for work we didn't build, and what's behind the face is the part that decides whether a wall stands. If your wall is failing, we'll quote a knock down and rebuild.

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.

Why people trust us

Jake has more than 12 years in the industry, and he and Brittany started the business in 2023.

Jake builds it

The person who quotes your wall is the person who builds it, on site from about 6:30, with no crew you've never met.

Licensed and insured

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

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 stop at a metre, and say so early

We build up to 1 metre retained and refer anything over that. You'll hear it on the phone, not three quotes later.

QBCC licence 15049372 (Jacob Spriggs)

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

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