Slope washing out, soil creeping onto the patio or an old wall leaning? We build poured concrete walls that hold the ground and shed water.
A concrete retaining wall holds back a slope by resisting the sideways push of the soil behind it, and at Aberdeen Concrete Company we build them for homes in Aberdeen, SD and the cities around it.
Most calls start with a yard that drops toward the house, dirt washing onto a patio or an old wall that's begun to lean. Your wall may also have to handle groundwater, frost and the weight of a driveway or building above it, so height alone can't tell us how wide the footing under it, the rebar steel that reinforces it or the drain behind it should be. Those come from a design for the job or the code that applies, and I'll tell you who's preparing yours.
The price mostly follows the wall's size, how easy the spot is to reach and how much drainage and backfill your site calls for. The schedule turns on whether your wall needs a permit and on the weather for the pour, and your estimate lays out what's included before we dig. If the wall is going in beside a new concrete pool deck, we plan the two together so runoff from one doesn't end up behind the other.
Call (605) 824-9815 or use the form and tell me about the slope and where you want the wall. I'll get back to you and set a time to come out.
I come out myself to look at the slope, where the water runs and what sits above the wall, and to hear what you want. You get an estimate that spells out the wall, the backfill and the drainage, and I'm happy to go over it line by line.
Once you say go, we take care of any permit application your wall needs and keep you posted on where it stands. Then we set a pour date that works with the weather.
Our crew and I dig, set the forms and steel, pour, build the drain and backfill, with me on site from prep through the finish. We clean up before we leave so your yard is ready to use.
Water trapped behind a wall causes more trouble than anything else, because that pressure can greatly raise the load on the concrete and lead to leaks or freeze damage. So we look at the drain as hard as the wall itself, which usually means drainage gravel wrapped in filter fabric, perforated outlets that let the water out and ground shaped so rain runs away from the top. Those outlets have to stay reachable so they can be cleared.
Frost is the other fight here. One frost line source notes that South Dakota's wind-swept prairie often goes without a snow blanket to insulate the ground, so cold can soak 3.5 to 5 feet down. Freezing ground pushes on a wall, which is called frost heave, and research on it found the most trusted fix is replacing the soil in that freezing zone with sand or gravel, so ask any contractor whether their quote includes it.
What goes into a retaining wall we build:
A wall that's standing straight with a few hairline cracks or a clogged outlet can often be cleared out and patched. If it's leaning, bulging or the ground behind it stays soggy, the trouble is usually water or an undersized footing, and patching the face won't touch either one. In that case I'd rather rebuild it with a proper drain than sell you a repair that only buys time, and I'll tell you which one I see when I'm out.
The kind of project, how easy your yard is for a truck and crew to reach, how involved the design is and the full scope of work all move the price, and tearing out an old wall adds to it. If you're trimming the budget, I'd keep the drain and the sand or gravel backfill and go simpler on the face, because nobody sees what's behind the wall on day one, but that's what keeps it standing.
I learned this trade from a contractor who made me reset forms until they were dead straight and wouldn't let a truck pour on a base he hadn't walked himself. I started Aberdeen Concrete Company in 2023 to run jobs that same careful way, with a lot more explaining, whether it's a wall or concrete floor installation.
What's under and behind the concrete matters more to me than the face you see, so I'll walk you through the plan and the price before we start and nothing catches you off guard. We work around your driveway and yard, keep you posted and clean up when we're done. Satisfaction guaranteed.
A wall is hard to fix once the soil is back behind it, so get the drain planned before anything's dug.
Send the wall's planned height and length and photos of the slope or driveway above it. I'll reply within one business day to set up a free on-site estimate, no obligation.
A retaining wall in South Dakota usually costs about $34 to $37 per square foot. That's the going rate across the state, not our price, and your own number depends on what your wall and your yard need. Your estimate shows exactly what goes into yours.
Not if the wall is 4 feet tall or less, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, because the city doesn't require a permit for those. For anything taller, check with the city's Building Inspection office, which issues building permits, takes questions about whether one is needed and charges a fee for applications. Work done without a needed permit may mean an engineering report, destructive testing or replacing parts of the work, so when your wall needs one, we handle the application and keep you posted.
Poor drainage is by far the most common reason earth retaining walls perform poorly, according to university research on these walls. That's why it pays to look at the drain system on each quote as closely as the concrete. If a quote only talks about the wall, ask what's going behind it.
A residential contractor working in Aberdeen has to be licensed through the City of Aberdeen, whether they're based in the city, elsewhere in South Dakota or out of state. We're licensed and fully insured, and it's fair to ask any contractor about both before you hire.
Ask whether the mix is air-entrained, with tiny air bubbles that give freezing water room to expand, because one concrete industry guide says its code requires that for concrete facing repeated freezing and thawing. A wall in Aberdeen sees plenty of those cycles, so it's a fair question for any contractor, us included.
Soil goes back behind a new wall only once the concrete has enough strength and bracing to take the load, so it waits on curing, the stretch while the concrete hardens. Then it gets packed in controlled layers, because heavy compaction equipment right behind a young wall can overload it.
We're based in Aberdeen, SD and work in the cities around it too. Pick your area below, or call (605) 824-9815 if you don't see yours.
