Retaining Walls in Camas, WA
Terracing genuinely steep ground. Segmental block, natural stone and boulder walls engineered to hold Clark County grades and drain properly behind the face.
Free Estimate in CamasRetaining Walls in Camas: what is different here
Camas is where retaining walls stop being a landscape feature and start being the reason the yard is usable at all. On Prune Hill and the slopes above Lacamas Lake we regularly build two and three tier terraced systems to convert an unusable fall into level outdoor rooms.
Terracing has to be designed as a system. Each tier has to be set back far enough that it is not surcharging the one below it, or you have effectively built one tall wall with a decorative step in it and none of the engineering that a tall wall requires. Drainage has to be handled at every tier and carried all the way down to a real outlet.
Steep-slope and critical-area regulations apply to a fair number of Camas properties, and taller walls or walls carrying a surcharge will need engineering. We will tell you which category your project falls into before you spend money on a design that cannot be permitted.
How we build it
- Compacted crushed rock footing on undisturbed soil
- Buried base course for stability
- Clean drain rock and filter fabric behind the full face
- Perforated drain pipe daylighted to a real outlet
- Geogrid soil reinforcement where the design requires it
- Honest guidance on when an engineer and permit are needed
A retaining wall is a structure, not decoration. It is holding back tons of saturated clay, and in this climate that clay is saturated for six months of the year. The walls that fail around here almost always fail for the same reason: nobody dealt with the water behind them.
About 35 minutes east, and worth the drive for the right project. Estimates in Camas are free, and the price we put in writing is the price.
Full detail on how we build retaining walls · Everything we do in Camas
Retaining Walls we have built
Retaining Walls in Camas
Free on-site estimates across Clark County. We walk the property with you, tell you what it actually needs, and put a fixed price in writing.
Retaining Walls in Camas: questions we get
Is one tall wall or several terraces better on a Camas slope?
Terraces, usually — better structurally, often easier to permit and far better to look at. The critical detail is spacing. Terraces built too close together behave as one tall wall, with the upper acting as a surcharge on the lower, which is precisely the failure mode people think they avoided.
Will our hillside wall need an engineer?
More often than on flat ground. Height is only part of the test — a wall retaining a slope that keeps rising, or supporting a driveway or structure, carries a surcharge that brings engineering in at a lower height. On Prune Hill that combination is common.
What is geogrid and will a Camas wall need it?
It is structural mesh laid back into the retained soil in layers, tying the block and the earth into one reinforced mass. Short garden walls generally do not need it; taller walls and walls carrying a slope above usually do. On steep lots it is the difference between a wall and a stack of block.
How does basalt near the surface affect a wall build?
It affects the excavation for the footing and any geogrid layers, and it can be slow and hard on equipment. On the other hand, competent rock is excellent ground to found on. We would rather identify the likelihood at the walkthrough than discover it once the quote is signed.
Where does water from behind a terraced wall go?
It has to be handled as one system down the whole slope, not wall by wall. Water shed from the upper terrace loads the one below it, so each tier needs drain rock and a line, and the whole arrangement needs a legitimate outlet. This is the single most important part of a hillside wall design.
Do steep-slope or critical-area rules apply to walls here?
They can. Camas and Clark County both regulate work on steep slopes and near wetlands and streams, and much of the ground around Lacamas and Round Lake qualifies. A substantial wall on a hillside is exactly the kind of project that may need review before it is designed in detail.
Can you get block and drain rock to a wall on a steep lot?
It depends entirely on access, and it is the biggest cost variable in Camas. Where a machine can reach the work, a wall is straightforward. Where material has to be moved down or up a slope by hand, the labour changes the price substantially — and that has to be priced honestly at the start.
Can walls create genuinely usable outdoor space on a steep lot?
That is usually the entire point of building them here. A back yard that falls away is not small, it is unusable, and terracing converts it into level outdoor rooms. It is a significant build, but it turns dead ground into the part of the property you spend summer on.