Who we are and what we do
Retaining Wall Mandurah is a referral service for homeowners, landlords and small builders who need a retaining wall built, fixed or replaced anywhere around Mandurah and the Peel. You tell us about the job, we pass it to an independent local contractor who works on that kind of wall, and they come out, measure up and give you a written quote. The quote is free and you are not obliged to go ahead.
We cover the whole City of Mandurah, from Madora Bay and Lakelands in the north through the town centre, Halls Head and Falcon, down to Dawesville and Wannanup, plus the Shire of Murray around Pinjarra, Ravenswood and the Yunderups.
Why walls here are their own problem
Most of the Peel sits on sand. Along the coast it is pale, loose dune sand with shell through it. A little inland it turns yellow-brown and sits over limestone ridges, which is why some Halls Head and Falcon blocks hit rock a short way down. East of the estuary, towards Pinjarra, the ground changes again to heavier river soils that hold water in winter.
Each of those behaves differently behind a wall:
- Loose coastal sand runs. If there is a gap between blocks or sleepers, sand will find it and trickle out, and the ground behind slumps.
- Sand over limestone can be excellent for footings once you reach the rock, but uneven rock means some footings end up deeper than others.
- Clay-loam near the rivers drains slowly, so water pressure behind a wall builds up after rain unless drainage is built in from day one.
- Canal and estuary lots often have the water table close to the surface, which changes how deep you can dig and what footing makes sense.
The wall that is right for a dune block in Silver Sands is not automatically the right one for a paddock-edge block outside Pinjarra. That is the main reason every job gets looked at on site before it is priced.
The usual jobs
Most calls fall into a handful of patterns:
- Levelling a sloping back yard so there is room for a lawn, a patio or a shed.
- Boundary walls where one lot sits higher than the next, often on newer estates where the developer built up the pads.
- Pool surrounds where the ground has to be held back around the shell and the fence line.
- Front-yard terraces and garden beds, usually limestone, to break up a steep frontage.
- Driveway cuts where the slab has been dropped below the natural ground.
- Failed walls: leaning, cracked, bulging or leaking sand, sometimes after a heavy winter.
You can read more about each material on its own page: limestone walls, concrete sleeper walls, timber walls, block and masonry walls, repairs and rebuilds and site prep and earthworks.
How a job runs from first call to handover
First contact. Call or use the form. Say roughly how long and how high the wall is, what is above and below it, and send a photo if you can. Mention anything nearby: a pool, a boundary fence, a shed, the neighbour's house, a canal edge.
Site visit. The contractor looks at the height of ground being held back, the soil, the levels at each end, the access for a bobcat or mini excavator, and where the spoil will go. They will also look at what is already there. An old wall sometimes has to come out before a new one goes in.
Written quote. It should name the wall type and finish, the footing, the drainage, the backfill, the number of courses or sleepers, how spoil is handled and whether permits and engineering are included or left to you.
Approvals, if needed. Taller walls and boundary walls may need a building permit, and some need an engineer's design. The contractor can tell you what usually applies; the council decides.
Build. Set-out, excavation, footing, first course, drainage, backfill in layers, compaction, capping. Most residential walls take a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on length and weather.
Handover. Walk the wall with the contractor. Check that the levels match what was quoted, that weep holes or drainage outlets are clear, and that the site has been cleaned up.
What we will not do
We will not tell you a wall can go in without a look at the ground, and we will not quote a price over the phone. We do not run the crews ourselves, so we will not claim we do. And we will not promise council approval, because that is a decision for the City of Mandurah or the Shire of Murray, not for us or for the builder.
What we can do is put you in touch with someone local who builds walls in Peel sand week in, week out, and make sure you know what a complete quote should contain before you sign anything.
Before you call
A few things make the first conversation quicker:
- An approximate length and the highest point of the wall, even if it is a guess.
- Whether the wall is on a boundary, and whether the neighbour knows.
- Photos from both the high side and the low side.
- Any plans, survey or engineering you already have, especially on a new build.
- Whether there is a pool, septic system, soak well or underground service near the wall line.
If you are on a canal, beside the estuary or on a very sandy coastal lot, it is worth reading our guide to retaining walls on sandy and canal-side blocks first.
