Wednesday, 4 June 2014

Quick Guide to Estimate the Cost of Building a Retaining Wall

Most Retaining Wall Contractors will give free quotes, but it is always good to know more or less what you are in for before possibly wasting your and the contractor's time.

It's the quickest quote for me to do. All you got to know is how to calculate square meter and cubic meter.

For this guide, I'm referring to Concrete Retaining Blocks.




How do you calculate the amount of Retaining Wall Blocks you need?

You measure the length of the proposed wall and the height you want it to be. If the wall is less that 1.5m high, I'll add 0.3m to the height and 0.6m if it's higher than 1.5m.

This is because some blocks must be underground to improve the stability. Don't take short-cuts.

To get the square meter of the wall, multiply the height with the length. 

If you use Cape Brick's Retaining Wall Blocks, it takes 12 of their blocks to fill a square meter. So to get the amount of blocks for the wall, you multiply the square meter with 12.

It's about R25 per Smooth Face Block and R30 per Rockface Block, including delivery.

How do you calculate the cost of labour for Retaining Wall Installations?

My average labour cost per block is about R24. This includes supervision, labourers, fuel and admin costs. 

Factors that can influence labour costs:


  • Access to the site is difficult. Do you need a helicopter? Is it far from roads?
  • Uphill or downhill? Carting blocks uphill can be very tiresome and may ask for more labourers.
  • Filling. If there is plenty of filling, it could influence the tempo, thus will increase costs.
  • Natural obstacles. Underground water or huge boulders will influence the rate.


Extra costs that can add to your quote.

  1. Foundations - Most walls higher than 1.5m require a concrete or stabilized foundation. To be safe, work on R250 per meter.
  2. Filling - This is the most difficult calculation. I recommend you make a drawing. Work on R200 per cube, including labour.
  3. Sub-soil drains - If you use the system I recommend, you can look at R80 per meter excluding filling.
  4. Compaction - When the filling area is wider than 1 meter behind the block, I'll use a forward reverse, but don't come to close to the blocks, as the compactor will move the blocks. Rather use a hand compactor. Work on R450 per day.
All you got to do now is to add all together in an excel sheet. If you can afford what you get, you can now ask Retaining Wall Installers for quotes.

2 comments:


  1. The cost of a retaining wall depends on the type of wall, its size, the materials used to build it, and the labor retaining wall cost associated with installation. On average, a retaining wall can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $14,000 per wall. The cost of a retaining wall can range from $10 to $40 per square foot, depending on the materials used.

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