Retaining Walls

Tulsa General Contractor and Home Remodeling authority, Sonrise Construction, offers our expertise in professionally designed and custom-built retaining walls throughout Tulsa, Oklahoma Retaining walls are an important part of many landscaping, remodeling, and property improvement projects. They can be necessary for leveling your ground, supporting a hill, controlling changes in elevation, or simply replacing a rotten and deteriorated tiewall that is already in place.

VERSA-LOK / LARGE BOULDERS / MORTARED HACKETT / CINDER BLOCKS

Professionally designed and custom-built retaining walls in Tulsa are necessary in many cases for leveling your ground, supporting a hill, or replacing a rotten and deteriorated tiewall already in place. Depending on the wall height you need and the amount of load placed on the wall, today's primary retaining wall systems use the concrete Versa-Lok block, manufactured right here in Tulsa on 15th Street.

We also can install Pavestone, Belgard, Midwest, Anchor, Keystone, Windsor, just to name a few others. Most customers, though, choose Versa-Lok because the cost is so much less since the freight charges are much lower by not having to have the product shipped in from Dallas or Kansas City. The availability of a locally manufactured product can make a significant difference in the overall cost of a retaining wall project.

VERSA-LOK:

Rugged Durability

Versa-Lok retaining walls are the only solid, pinned systems on the market. They stand up to the forces of nature, year after year. They are engineered with low-absorption, high-strength concrete, and Versa-Lok walls are designed to outlast landscaping timbers while remaining more flexible than cast-in-place concrete walls.

The solid construction gives the blocks excellent resistance to damage before, during, and after construction. This makes Versa-Lok a durable choice for retaining wall projects in Tulsa and for a variety of site conditions and climates.

Attractive Appearance

Versa-Lok walls blend wonderfully with existing landscapes thanks to an appealing split-face texture and a natural stone visage. What's more, the color remains consistent throughout each Versa-Lok unit, ensuring your Tulsa retaining wall remains as beautiful as the day it was built.

The natural appearance of the units allows the finished wall to complement surrounding landscaping and property features. The split-face texture provides a stone-like appearance while maintaining the structural benefits of a high-strength concrete retaining wall system.

One Unit. Hundreds Of Options

Unlike hollow unit systems, the Versa-Lok solid unit system allows you the freedom to create everything from curves to corners, from steps to freestanding walls. It is all possible with just one solid unit.

This flexibility provides numerous design possibilities. Retaining walls can be designed to suit the layout of the property and the requirements of the project. The same basic solid unit can be used to create different shapes, configurations, and design elements.

Virtually Maintenance Free

Versa-Lok walls require no special upkeep. Once they are installed, they virtually take care of themselves. Solid unit construction ensures Versa-Lok walls won't crack, chip, or break. They even resist deterioration. Try getting that from a treated timber.

The durable construction is one of the reasons these retaining walls are used for long-term landscaping and structural applications. Unlike landscaping timbers, the solid concrete units are designed to provide lasting performance without requiring the same type of ongoing maintenance.

Unique Pinning System

Versa-Lok systems don't use mortar or concrete footings. Instead, high-strength fiberglass Versa-Tuff pins connect units and courses, keeping retaining walls in Tulsa accurately aligned and structurally sound.

The unique pinning system is an important part of the Versa-Lok design. It provides connection between the units and courses while allowing the wall system to maintain flexibility. The mortar-less construction also contributes to the ability of the wall to accommodate changes associated with freeze and thaw cycles.

Environmentally Safe

Unlike treated timbers, Versa-Lok retaining walls are built with only natural materials. This ensures no harmful chemicals or by-products will contaminate your yard.

Technical Jargon

The unique beauty and structural integrity starts at the base. Proper preparation of the wall base is critical to the stability and appearance of your Tulsa retaining wall. Careful base preparation also speeds unit installation and helps avoid wall alignment problems.

The retaining walls are installed on an aggregate leveling pad. Rigid concrete footings extending below the frost line are not required nor recommended. The flexibility of the leveling pad and mortar-less units allow the walls to accommodate freeze and thaw cycles without damage.

Proper installation of the wall includes evaluation of the foundation soil, layout of the base wall, excavation, leveling pad construction, and base course installation. Site conditions and design considerations will vary widely.

On many projects, Versa-Lok retaining walls work purely as gravity systems, where unit weight alone provides the resistance to earth pressures. The maximum allowable wall height for gravity walls varies with soil and loading conditions. Generally, with level back-fill and no excessive loading, gravity walls may be built to heights of 4'.

When the weight alone of the units is not enough to resist the soil loads, horizontal layers of geogrid are used to reinforce the soil behind the walls. With proper soil reinforcement and design, Versa-Lok walls can then be constructed to heights in excess of 40'.

Each block is made of high-strength, low-absorption concrete to create a consistently durable product that exceeds industry standards. The solid characteristics provide superior resistance to damage before, during, and after construction in all climates. The transportation department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers routinely use the Versa-Lok product.

The units are integrally colored and may be easily modified to create an unlimited variety of design elements. The blocks display a natural split-face texture to complement any environment and, because they are made of concrete, are environmentally safe.

Each block weighs 82 lbs. and has a dimension of 16" wide, 14" deep, and 6" thick, for a total volume per block of .63 sq. ft.

Custom design ideas and additional pictures

The Versa-Lok retaining wall product is manufactured by Chandler Materials of Tulsa on 15th Street. This makes their product pricing exceptionally difficult to beat due to the $100's, or even $1,000's, of dollars in shipping costs that are not built into the price. Other product suppliers have had to include those costs after shipping their products to Tulsa from Dallas or Kansas City, or even farther.

We have installed the Versa-Lok product multiple 100's of times. For pictures of projects that we have completed, please visit our Gallery.

BELGARD

Belgard is another product that our customers love, as they manufacture pavers as well as retaining wall blocks. If you have visited us at any of our 100's of trade shows, you have probably picked up one of Belgard's wonderful brochures.

The Belgard product is not available for purchase at big box hardware stores. It is available for purchase in Tulsa by Chandler Materials, the same company that makes the Versa-Lok, and by Hardscape Materials of Bixby.

These two companies are our suppliers. We purchase with a contractor's discount and pass the savings along to you when you hire us as your installer.

We have installed the Belgard product many times. For pictures of projects that we have completed, please visit our Gallery.

We are Certified installers by the ICPI for the Versa-Lok, Belgard, and Pavestone products.

PAVESTONE

This is another retaining wall product that our customers love. Great option for products, colors, ideas, samples, and styles.

The product sold at big box hardware stores is NOT the same product sold by our supplier. These big box retailers sell a smaller version of the product in thickness and total surface space.

We have installed the Pavestone product many times. For pictures of projects that we have completed, please visit our Gallery.

MORTARED HACKETT

This is a product available at Hardscape Materials. It is a natural stone, with Hackett itself being gray. Although chopped tan sandstone is a cousin in shape and size, it is frequently called the same thing.

This type of wall is exceptionally popular and is usually built with heights up to 4'. It is built upon a concrete base. The natural stone appearance makes Mortared Hackett an attractive option for customers looking for a traditional stone retaining wall with a substantial, finished appearance.

MORTARED CINDER BLOCK

For this type of retaining wall, we pour a concrete footing and reinforce the blocks with re-bar as the wall blocks are mortared row upon row. These types of walls can also have a matching cap mortared on top.

Many times, we have applied a mortared flagstone face to the front of cinder blocks, had them sprayed with orange peel, or finished them with stucco. Plus, mortared cinder blocks are also available in split-face style.

This provides customers with several options for finishing and customizing the appearance of the wall. The basic cinder block construction can therefore be adapted to complement the surrounding property and landscaping.

LARGE BOULDERS

For these types of walls, we do not mortar them. These are grand-sized boulders placed and stacked by large pieces of heavy equipment. We use large sandstone boulders or large limestone boulders.

Both types of boulders will have filter fabric and gravel placed behind them for erosion control. The large boulder approach provides a natural and substantial appearance while allowing the wall to be constructed from individual pieces of natural stone.

Whether your project requires Versa-Lok, Belgard, Pavestone, Mortared Hackett, Mortared Cinder Block, or Large Boulders, Sonrise Construction provides retaining wall installation expertise in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Site conditions, wall height, soil conditions, loading requirements, appearance, and design considerations will determine the appropriate retaining wall system for your property.