The Essential Guide to Buying, Installing, and Maintaining Retaining Wall Blocks in San Diego

It sounds like your goal is a retaining wall for your San Diego home. It’s important to understand any permits needed, and if you are working with a contractor, make sure they are licensed and insured. We wrote an article about retaining wall permitting in San Diego you can read here. Let’s get started with the guide to help you with your retaining wall build, whether it is DIY or you’re having a team like Designs 4 You Remodeling handle the project.

The Many Types of Blocks for Retaining Walls

When building a retaining wall, it’s important to know what type of material and structure you want to match the aesthetic value of the wall and your landscape. The many types of different retaining walls include those made with cinder blocks, custom concrete blocks, stones, wood, bricks, steel, and more! It’s really up to your functional needs, as well as what type of visual face you want on that functional need. Safety is always first and make sure you have your wall properly planned and engineered, especially in areas of San Diego that have heavy slope which requires a retaining wall, such as a canyon area.

Buying Retaining Wall Blocks and Material in San Diego

You have a few solid options when it comes to buying retaining wall bricks in San Diego. If you’re using a design and construction company like us, be sure to review materials with your project manager before purchasing your own, as often we can get discounts and provide important advice when it comes to choice and sourcing. Your first choice is the most dependable, ask an expert to purchase the retaining wall blocks. Not only can a team like ours purchase and deliver them for you, but we’ll also install and clean them for you, and deal with any initial issues found such as defects.

Popular San Diego suppliers of retaining wall blocks include:

• RCP Block & Brick
• Home Depot
• Lowes
• Southwest Boulder & Stone
• VERSA-LOK

Maintaining Your Retaining Wall

Maintenance for most types of retaining walls is relatively simple. You’ll want to keep it clean and make sure that dirt/silt/belongings don’t pile too high directly against the wall. It’s recommended to pass over the wall twice, to properly remove all crud and dirt that has accumulated. If you cover your wall, then you won’t be able to see if it cracks in the future, and you’ll miss out on allowing the sun to dry any habitually wet spots that may weaken the wall over time. For cleaning of most retaining walls, you’ll want to use a garden hose or even pressure washer on low settings if available for any tough spots. If you want to go above and beyond, they even have products made specifically for retaining walls, called Wet & Forget’s. It’s a bleach free cleaner safe for most types of hardscaping. Certain types of retaining walls, such as concrete retaining walls, should likely be sealed to protect it from elements and damage over time. This is especially important in many areas of San Diego that receive a heavy amount of salt air from the ocean. Let us know if you have any questions about sealing your retaining wall or anything else related.