Clay behind a wall will push it over.
Nashville clay holds water. That water sits behind a retaining wall and pushes. We build Techo-Bloc segmental retaining walls with a drain and stone behind the face so the water leaves. Walls over about 4 feet usually need an engineer. FWF Construction LLC, TN GC #75052. 26+ years, since 2000. Call or text (629) 231-1117. We quote on site. No published prices.
Middle Tennessee clay does not drain. Rain goes in and sits. If you stack block in front of that wet clay and walk away, you built a dam. The water has nowhere to go, so it pushes the wall.
A retaining wall has to hold the grade and let the water out. The face is the part you see. The job is the drain behind it.
We install Techo-Bloc SRW, segmental retaining wall block. That is the line we use. We do not invent a color or a block name on this page.
This is not a curtain drain on the high side of a house. It is not a French drain under a wet patio. Those pages move water in the yard. This page is the wall that holds the yard, and the drain that keeps the wall from failing.
Why a wall fails without a drain
Water in clay is heavy. It does not soak through. It loads the back of the wall. That load is hydrostatic pressure. The block can be perfect and the wall still leans, stains, or kicks out at the base.
You see it first as wet faces and silt streaks. Then the joints open. Then the wall moves.
A wall with no drain, or a drain that dead-ends, fails the same way. You did not move the water. You stored it.
The fix is not more glue and not a prettier face. The fix is clean stone behind the block, a perforated pipe at the base, and a place for that pipe to daylight. Fabric keeps clay out of the stone. If the pipe cannot daylight, we say so on the walk. We do not bury a wet end and call it done.
We do not put a fabric sock on the pipe. The sock clogs in this clay. The stone and the fabric do the filtering.
Walls over about 4 feet
Walls over about 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, usually need a permit and an engineer. A shorter wall that holds a driveway, a slope, or a structure can need the same paper.
We tell you on the walk. We pull the permit in our name when the job needs one. FWF Construction LLC. TN GC #75052.
The engineer sets the grid, the buried depth, and the backfill. We build to that. We do not guess a tall wall from a catalog page.
A short gravity wall and a tall soil-reinforced wall are different jobs. If your lot needs the tall one, we say so before anyone orders block.
How we build one
We walk the lot. Cut or fill. What sits above the wall. Where the water wants to go.
Then we set the base, set the Techo-Bloc units, and build the drain with the wall, not after the wall is already leaning.
Clean stone goes in behind the face.
A 4-inch perforated pipe sits at the base.
The pipe has to daylight.
We wrap the stone so clay stays out.
We backfill and leave the grade ready for seed or sod.
If the yard above the wall is still feeding water toward the house, that is a curtain drain or a French drain, not more block. One crew. We will tell you which trench you actually need.
No published Wallaby prices. Height, length, access, cut vs fill, and whether an engineer is in the job all change the number. You get a real number after we stand on the lot.
No other client names. No street addresses.
If the wall is already moving, send photos after a hard rain. Call or text (629) 231-1117.
Retaining wall FAQ
Why do retaining walls fail in Nashville?
Clay holds water. That water sits behind the wall and pushes. A wall with no drain, or a drain that cannot daylight, stores the load until the face leans, stains, or kicks out.
Do I need a drain behind the wall?
Yes. Stone and a 4-inch perforated pipe at the base, with a daylight. The face is not the drain. Skip the drain and the wall is a dam.
Do walls over 4 feet need an engineer?
Walls over about 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, usually need a permit and an engineer. A shorter wall that holds a driveway, a slope, or a structure can need the same. We tell you on the walk.
Do you install Techo-Bloc?
Yes. Techo-Bloc SRW is the segmental retaining-wall line we install. We pick the unit on the walk. We do not name a color on this page.
Is a wall drain the same as a French drain or a curtain drain?
No. A curtain drain cuts off water on the high side of the house. A French drain collects water already in a wet spot. A wall drain sits behind the block so the wall does not hold a tank of clay water.
How much does a retaining wall cost in Nashville?
It depends on height, length, access, cut vs fill, and whether the wall needs an engineer. We do not publish Wallaby prices. Call or text (629) 231-1117. We quote on site.
Are you licensed?
Yes. Wallaby Land Works is a division of FWF Construction LLC. TN GC #75052. 26+ years, since 2000. Call or text (629) 231-1117.
One crew for the whole job
Curtain Drains
Water on a slope that walks to the house. We cut it off on the high side.
See details →French Drains
Wet patio, low spot, water already in the yard. Pipe and stone to daylight.
See details →Grading & Drainage
Pads, driveways, and the grade the wall sits in.
See details →Drainage Walk
Length, daylight, and clay. Curtain, French, or regrade. What we measure before we write a quote.
See details →Serving Nashville & Middle Tennessee
Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, and Sumner counties and the surrounding area.
Tell us about your property
Send a few details and we'll set up a free on-site quote, a real number, not a guess. Most quotes booked fast.
Wallaby Land Works · A division of FWF Construction LLC
Serving Nashville & Middle Tennessee
Phone / Text: (629) 231-1117
Hours: Mon–Sat 7am–6pm · Sun closed