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We build sturdy brick retaining walls in Allentown, PA that control erosion while adding structure and style to your landscape. From low garden walls to taller engineered systems, we design each wall with proper drainage, footing, and layout so it looks great and performs reliably for years.
Legendary Masonry Allentown provides professional brick retaining walls throughout Allentown, PA, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area. Our licensed, insured crew delivers safe, clean, on-time work with a free estimate before anything begins. Call 484-284-5120 or request your free quote.
Brick Retaining Walls That Match Allentown Properties
Brick retaining walls in Allentown are usually working hard in the background. They hold back sloped yards in West End neighborhoods, keep parking areas stable around older row homes near Center City, and clean up steep transitions behind split-level homes built in the 60s and 70s. Legendary Masonry Allentown designs each wall around the real conditions on your lot, not a generic plan pulled from a catalog.
We start by walking the property, checking slope, drainage paths, nearby foundations, and existing cracking or settling. On many Allentown lots, the challenge is managing runoff from uphill neighbors or alleyways. We look for where water naturally wants to travel so your new brick retaining wall does not become a dam that traps water against your house or garage.
From there, we talk through what you want the wall to do. Some homeowners need a structural solution to stop soil movement at a driveway. Others want more usable flat yard for kids or a patio. The purpose, height, and location of the wall all affect how it needs to be built and what permits or engineering may be required in the city or surrounding townships.
Design Options, Brick Types, and How We Match Existing Masonry
A brick retaining wall can look sleek and modern or fit right in with a 100-year-old Allentown brick twin. Legendary Masonry Allentown sources brick from regional suppliers to match the color, size, and texture of your home or existing garden walls.
Common options we discuss with homeowners include:
• Face brick only: A structural concrete or block core with brick used as a facing. This is common where the wall needs real strength, such as driveway edges or higher grade changes.
• Solid brick gravity wall: Thicker brick walls that rely on their mass for shorter height applications. These are useful for decorative terrace walls or smaller garden transitions.
• Mixed materials: Brick facing combined with stone caps or concrete edges for seating, steps, or planters. In Allentown, we often tie brick walls into existing slate, bluestone, or concrete walks.
We also review bond patterns (running bond, stack bond, or decorative patterns) and joint profiles. For older Allentown homes, we often use a slightly recessed or weathered joint to blend with existing work. For newer construction, tighter, cleaner joints create a more contemporary look. The choices are functional too. Different joint details shed water differently and can help reduce staining and freeze-thaw damage.
How Brick Retaining Walls Are Built Step by Step
A durable brick retaining wall is mostly about what you do that no one sees. Legendary Masonry Allentown follows a clear sequence so the wall actually holds up under Allentown freeze-thaw cycles and wet springs.
1. Layout and excavation: We stake the wall line and cut back enough soil to allow for the footing, drainage, and a safe work area. Care is taken around utilities, especially in tight city lots where gas, water, and electric lines may be close.
2. Footing or base: For structural retaining, we usually pour a reinforced concrete footing below the frost line, often 36 inches or more in this region. On shorter, non-structural landscape walls, we may use a compacted gravel base, but we are clear with you about what that can safely support.
3. Drainage installation: Before any brick is laid, we install perforated drain pipe behind the wall where needed, wrapped in filter fabric and surrounded by clean stone. We also add weep holes through the brick face at planned locations so trapped water can escape instead of building pressure.
4. Wall construction: For taller or load-bearing walls, we typically build a concrete block core, then tie in the brick facing with brick ties and proper mortar. Brick courses are checked constantly for level and plumb. We step the wall or batter it slightly if engineering calls for it.
5. Backfilling and compaction: Soil goes back in carefully, in lifts, compacted as we go. We maintain a drainage layer directly against the wall, not just random fill. This is one of the biggest differences between a wall that moves in a few winters and one that stays put for decades.
6. Finishing and cleanup: Caps, coping stones, or soldier course bricks finish the top. Joints are tooled for appearance and water shedding. We finish by restoring lawns or beds around the new wall so it does not look like a construction site when we leave.
Soil, Drainage, and Common Wall Problems in Allentown
Many of the brick retaining walls we are called to repair in Allentown failed for reasons that could have been avoided: no drainage behind the wall, poor base preparation, or walls that were simply built too tall for the way they were designed.
Local clay-heavy soils hold water. When that water freezes, it expands and pushes on retaining walls. This is why we are strict about drainage stone, pipe, and weep holes. On sloped sites around South Mountain or other hilly areas, surface runoff can hit a wall at high volume, so we sometimes add swales or surface drains to move water around the wall rather than straight into it.
Common warning signs we see include leaning or bulging sections, stair-step cracks in the brick joints, soil washing out through gaps, and heaving or settling at the top edge where patios or walkways meet the wall. Legendary Masonry Allentown will tell you honestly whether the wall can be repaired or if it is smarter to rebuild a section. Sometimes, adding tie-backs, relieving pressure by improving drainage, or rebuilding part of the footing can save a wall. Other times, especially with older, poorly built walls, a full rebuild saves you from ongoing patchwork costs.
What Affects Cost and Timing for Brick Retaining Walls
Costs for brick retaining walls in Allentown vary, but the main drivers are height, length, access, and whether engineering or permits are required. A low decorative garden wall along a front walk is a different project from a 6-foot structural wall holding up a neighbor's yard.
Height has a direct impact on excavation depth, footing size, block core requirements, and whether we need an engineer's design or city review. Access matters because many city and older suburban lots are tight. If we cannot get machinery in, excavation and material handling take longer, which affects labor costs.
Material choices matter too. Face brick with block core is usually more cost effective than full-thickness structural brick for most retaining conditions. Specialty brick, custom caps, or complex curves add time and materials. Legendary Masonry Allentown provides itemized estimates so you can see exactly how each decision affects the price.
Timing is affected by weather and site conditions. It is best to plan retaining wall work for periods when soil is not fully saturated or frozen whenever possible. We schedule realistically, explain how long excavation, concrete curing, and brickwork will take, and do our best to limit disruption to you and your neighbors, especially in denser Allentown neighborhoods where parking and access are already tight.
Planning Your Project With Legendary Masonry Allentown
Before you commit to a brick retaining wall project, it helps to gather a few key pieces of information. If you have property surveys, utility drawings, or prior engineering documents, we review those with you. Photos of the area in heavy rain are also useful because they show where water actually goes, not just where it is supposed to go.
When we visit, we will talk through how you use the space now and what you want from it. For example, if you are trying to flatten a slope for a patio in the backyard of a 1950s ranch, we might design a two-tier retaining system instead of one very tall wall, which can look better and manage soil pressure more safely. If you rely on driveway access off a rear alley, we consider vehicle loads and snow plow impact on the wall.
Legendary Masonry Allentown handles the full process, from layout and excavation to final cleanup, and we coordinate with engineers or the city when required. Our goal is a brick retaining wall that looks like it belongs on your property and that continues to function through Allentown winters, heavy summer storms, and the everyday use of your yard or driveway.
