Ottawa’s Retaining Wall Company
We’re one of Ottawa’s top-rated retaining wall companies with 75+ 5-star reviews.
Booking for Fall 2026 & Spring 2027
At K. Joly Contracting, we bring over 15 years of proven expertise to every retaining wall project, serving both residential and commercial clients across Ottawa. From clean, decorative garden walls and raised beds to retaining walls that support patios, steps, walkways, and major grade changes, our team builds walls that look sharp and feel solid. Driven by a commitment to quality and backed by outstanding customer reviews, we focus on the details that matter most (like proper base prep and drainage), so your wall stays stable through Ottawa’s freeze-thaw conditions.
From initial consultation to the final build, our skilled team collaborates closely with you to design a retaining wall solution that fits your property and your goals. Whether you want to terrace a sloped yard, level space for a patio, frame garden beds, or rebuild an aging wall, we’ll help you choose the right approach and integrate the wall cleanly with the rest of your landscape.
Request a Free Estimate
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 75+ 5-star reviews
Proudly Serving Ottawa Since 2009
Or call (613) 789-5659 to speak with our team today.
What Our Customers Have to Say
Reasons to Use Retaining Walls
Retaining walls are one of the best ways to solve grade changes and create a cleaner, more functional landscape, especially on sloped Ottawa properties.
- Retaining walls let you terrace a slope into flat, functional areas for patios, gardens, walkways, or lawn space.
- By holding soil in place, a retaining wall helps prevent shifting, washouts, and the gradual loss of topsoil on sloped areas.
- Proper retaining wall design includes surface grading and drainage planning so water is directed away from problem areas.
- A well-built wall system uses gravel and drain piping to move incidental water away and reduce internal forces on the wall, helping the wall and surrounding areas stay stable.
- Retaining walls create clean lines, defined planting zones, and a more “finished” look, especially when paired with interlock, steps, and garden beds.
Use Cases
Retaining walls are most useful anywhere you need to manage a grade change, stabilize soil, or create clean, usable space in the landscape.
- Great for turning a slope into flat zones for patios, gardens, walkways, or lawn areas.
- Walls help create a stable edge and a clean transition where hardscapes meet changes in elevation. (Wall design must account for nearby surfaces, drainage, and loads.)
- Ideal when you need a smooth, safe “walkable” transition between two levels in the yard.
- Retaining walls can form clean, permanent raised planters that add structure and reduce erosion around beds.
- Walls provide lateral support to hold soil in place and reduce downslope movement and washouts.
- Useful where a narrow corridor or edge needs to be held back cleanly and stay stable over time.
Permits & Safety
Retaining walls can be more than a landscaping feature, they can be a structural element that needs to be built (and sometimes engineered) for safety and long-term stability. In Ontario, a retaining wall that exceeds 1,000 mm (1 m) of exposed height may be treated as a “designated structure” when it’s adjacent to public property, access to a building, or private property where the public is admitted.
What this means for homeowners and property managers:
- Some walls require a building permit and engineered drawings (depending on height and where the wall is located).
- Guards/railings may be required in situations where people have access to the open space at the top of a designated retaining wall.
- During quoting, we’ll help you identify whether your wall may trigger permit/engineering requirements, and if it does, we can coordinate the process so the wall is built correctly and safely.
Requirements vary by site and wall height, we’ll help confirm what applies before build day.
Design & Drainage Are Key
A retaining wall is only as strong as what’s happening behind it. Proper wall design assumes water won’t be allowed to build up as hydrostatic pressure, so grading and drainage have to be planned from the start.
Here’s what we focus on to build retaining walls that stay stable long-term:
- We shape the surrounding landscape so surface water is directed away from the wall instead of collecting behind it.
- We excavate to suitable material, install granular base materials, and compact in lifts so the wall has a solid foundation.
- Many systems call for a clear-stone drainage layer immediately behind the wall to move water down and out.
- A drain pipe at the base of the gravel/drainage fill is a common detail for collecting and evacuating incidental water.
- Filter fabric helps prevent soil fines from migrating into the drainage stone and clogging the system.
- For taller walls, curves, or more demanding conditions, geogrid reinforcement may be required as part of the wall system.
Maintenance for Retaining Walls
A well-built retaining wall should perform for years with minimal upkeep, but it’s worth doing a quick check each season, especially after heavy rain or rapid freeze-thaw cycles.
- Make sure any drain outlets “to daylight” stay visible and aren’t buried, and that water can flow freely away from the wall.
- Maintain positive grading so water doesn’t pond behind the wall, cascade over the face, or erode the base. Be mindful of sprinklers/irrigation so the area behind the wall isn’t constantly saturated.
- Look for cracks, bowing/bulging, leaning, movement/settlement, or erosion at the top, ends, or bottom of the wall.
- Keep planting from interfering with the wall and watch for leaning shrubs/hedges or uprooted vegetation, these can be early signs of movement.
- Don’t add heavy structures (sheds, pools, additional walls, etc.) or operate heavy equipment close to the top of the wall unless it was planned in the original design.
- Avoid excavating close to the base or cutting into the soil behind the wall, as this can compromise the foundation/reinforced zone.
If you notice significant movement, bulging, cracking, or persistent wet/saturated soil behind the wall, it’s best to have it assessed by a qualified professional before the issue worsens.
More Samples of Our Work
Click an image to view in full screen mode.
About Our Chief Designer
Marina is an experienced landscape designer with a strong passion for creating beautiful, well planned outdoor spaces. She studied at Humber College, worked for many years in the garden centre industry as a designer and has run her own small business, giving her a deep knowledge of both softscape and hardscape trends.
For retaining wall projects, Marina focuses on the details that affect long-term performance, including site grading, drainage planning, and clean transitions between walls, steps, patios, walkways, and planting zones. She uses DynaScape to produce clear 2D plans and, when helpful, can provide color and 3D visuals so you can confidently visualize elevations, wall runs, and the finished layout before construction begins.
Why Choose K. Joly Contracting?
Custom made for you!
Whether you need a retaining wall to support a patio, create a safe grade transition with steps, or define planting areas with a finished look, we can help. Our Ottawa team will design and build a retaining wall that fits your space, complements the rest of your landscape, and stays within your budget.
