Please note: this page contains reviews and opinions sent in by Berkeley Parents Net subscribers. Your own experience may be different. Please always check references before hiring!

I am looking for a reliable, resonably priced person to redo a retaining wall that is currently in need of replacing. I have checked in the achives and everything is a bit out dated. I live in Lafayette. Thanks in advance for your recommendations. Carole

I need to have a 3 ft wooden retaining wall and fence built in front of my house in Montclair. I do not want to pay a full contractor to do it -- I do not have that kind of money, and after all, he would pocket half the money and sub the job out. I would like to hire a reputable crew (probably Mexican or Central American) who can do this work. Can anyone recommend a person or crew who can take on this sort of project? rogert

I'd like to put in my 2 cents here in response to the frequent inquiries I see by people looking for someone to build them an "inexpensive retaining wall".

Any structure that is actually a retaining wall is either: a) going to cost a good chunk of change, or b) not going to last very long and could cause damage to property as it fails. Choice b) is equivalent to tossing your money down the toilet. Actually, a) and b) are not mutually exclusive- I've seen plenty of supposed "retaining walls" that cost the homeowner plenty of money to have built, and then failed within a few short years.

A retaining wall holds back soil, that for several months of the year is wet soil, and here, is most commonly heavy clay soil. Any "load" that a retaining wall carries has to be engineered into its design- this includes all the weight uphill of the wall, often including an uphill neighbor's house.

Any retaining wall over 3' high has to legally be reviewed and 'wet-stamped' by a civil or structural engineer, and installed under permit. Skipping the permit is very very unwise. It provides you with objective third-party review of your plan and oversight of the construction process.

To protect your investment and your property, please don't cut corners when it comes to retaining walls! They are as critical as your house foundation. Don't let any builder try to talk you out of proper permitting telling you that the permit just costs money- it is in fact a very cheap way to hire what amounts to an outside consultant for your project, and any respectable builder who really knows what they are doing will be just fine with that.

You don't always get what you pay for- in this case you can spend a lot and not get what you thought you paid for at all. But the wall will likely hold up just long enough for an irresponsible builder to slip away out of sight. Cecelia

We are looking for someone to replace/augment a four foot high very long retaining wall that has limited access. There was only one recommendation listed and it was two years old. We'd appreciate any recommendations of workers who could do this with or without permits. Thanks.