Masonry Contractor in Yorba Linda - Walls and Stonework Built for Sloped Yards

Much of Yorba Linda sits on slopes, and on a hillside yard the soil behind a wall keeps trying to move downhill, getting heavier when water soaks into it. That's why so many backyards here have retaining walls stepping down to a flat patio, and why the ones that fail usually lean at the top or bulge in the middle. When we build here, we size the footing for the slope, put gravel and a drain behind the block so water has a way out, and step the wall down with the grade instead of fighting it. On repairs I look at the drainage first, because a new wall with the same wet soil behind it ends up the same way.

A lot of the houses here have been standing for decades, and their original block walls, brick planters and wall caps are where the mortar wears out first. We match the block size, the face and the mortar color to what's there, so a repaired section doesn't stand out from the rest of the wall.

When a job here needs a permit, it comes from the city's Building Division, whose permit list covers fences and fireplaces along with new buildings and additions, so a taller block wall or a new fireplace often goes through that office. The city now books appointments in place of walk-in service for over-the-counter plan reviews and code consultations, so on a permit job the paperwork usually sets the pace more than the building does, and we get on the city's calendar early. We're licensed and fully insured, and when a job needs a permit we pull it, set up the inspections and meet the inspector on site, and if we're not sure what applies we ask the city before we start. The price moves with the wall's height and length, how deep the footing has to go and whether we're matching old block or stone, and I put all of it in a written estimate so you can see what the work includes.

We come up from Corona on the 91, and on the hill streets here the first question is often how to get block and concrete into the backyard, through a side gate, over a wall or by hand down a slope. Narrow side yards and steep driveways mean more carrying, which adds to the cost, so I look at access during the estimate instead of guessing. We do the same kind of hillside wall work over in Chino Hills.

Yorba Linda is mostly homes, from older tracts on the flatter ground to newer houses on bigger lots that climb into the hills. Many of those lots back onto the city's trails, which are built for horses as well as hikers and bikers, and yards along them often have long rear walls and gates that take more knocks than a typical side wall.

It's a quieter, more residential place than Chino, a short drive north, with less flat ground and more slope to work around. Most of what we do here comes back to that slope, setting walls that sit right on a hill and drain, and making repairs match a house that's been there a while.