Retaining walls for Asheville's hillside homes

How it works

1. Call or send a request

   Tell us your town and what's going on with your slope or wall.

2. We connect you

   Your call goes to an independent retaining wall contractor that serves Asheville and Buncombe County.

3. They call you back

   They walk the site and quote the work directly.

Who is this for?

Homeowners and property owners in Asheville, Weaverville, Black Mountain, Swannanoa, Arden, Fletcher and the surrounding mountains who need a new retaining wall, have a wall that's failing, or have a slope that eroded or slid. Asheville sits at about 2,100 feet in a ring of mountains, and a lot of its homes are built on cut-and-fill lots where a good wall is what holds the yard, the driveway or the house pad in place.

What kinds of walls work here?

• Segmental block walls. Interlocking concrete blocks, often with geogrid reinforcement layered into the backfill for taller walls. Common for driveways, yards and terraces.
• Natural stone and boulder walls. Stacked fieldstone or large boulders that fit the mountain setting. Good for landscaping and moderate heights.
• Poured or reinforced concrete walls. Used where loads are high, such as walls supporting a driveway, parking pad or foundation.
• Timber walls. Lower cost up front but a shorter life in a wet climate. Often what's failing on older properties.

The right choice depends on height, what the wall is holding up, how much water moves through the slope, and access for equipment on a steep lot. More on building a new wall.

Why do retaining walls fail?

• Water. Most failures come down to drainage. Without gravel backfill, a drain pipe and weep holes, water builds up behind the wall and pushes on it, especially in heavy mountain rain.
• Too tall for the design. Walls built higher than their design allows, or without reinforcement, tend to bulge and lean.
• Extra weight on top. Driveways, parked vehicles, sheds or a slope above the wall add load the wall may not have been built for.
• Rotting timber. Older landscape-timber walls rot from the inside and lose strength.
• Storm damage. Saturated ground, undercutting by streams and slides can damage walls that were otherwise sound.

Warning signs

• A wall leaning outward or bulging in the middle
• New cracks, or blocks and stones shifting or falling out
• Soil washing out at the base or through gaps
• Cracks in a driveway, patio or yard above the wall
• Standing water or wet soil behind the wall after rain
• Fences, posts or trees above the wall starting to tilt

After Helene

Hurricane Helene in September 2024 triggered more than 2,000 landslides in western North Carolina, and in Buncombe County alone, 145 landslides damaged 245 homes, according to reporting by BPR and WUNC. Many properties are still dealing with eroded banks, undercut slopes and damaged walls. A contractor can rebuild a wall or stabilize a bank, but if a slope is still moving or the damage is large, a geotechnical engineer should be involved first. More on storm damage and slope repair.

Do I need a permit or an engineer?

Often, for taller walls or walls that support a driveway, structure or steep slope. Requirements depend on the wall and on whether you're in the City of Asheville or another part of Buncombe County, so check with the local permitting office or ask your contractor to. Buncombe County also has steep slope and high elevation rules for building on steep ground. See the Asheville retaining wall guide for details.

Are you a wall contractor?

No. Asheville Retaining Wall Pros is a referral service. We connect you with an independent contractor that serves your address, and that contractor designs, quotes, builds and warranties the work. Read our tips for hiring a retaining wall contractor before you sign.

Areas we cover

• Asheville
• Weaverville and Woodfin
• Black Mountain and Swannanoa
• Arden and Fletcher

Planning ahead? Read our Asheville retaining wall guide.