Sorry to see you go!

One local wall builder gets your details — one, not five. They usually call the same day to hear what you have in mind, then come out, look at the slope and where the water goes, measure up and leave you with a written price. It costs nothing and you are not committing to anything.

Installed, most concrete block walls run roughly $30 to $60 per square foot of wall face — that is the length times the height you can see. Natural stone and poured concrete cost more. Most residential projects land somewhere between a few thousand dollars and $15,000, and long or tall walls go past that.

Height moves the number most, then length, the material, how easily a machine can get into the yard and how much drainage the site needs. Walls tall enough to need an engineer add design and permit costs. Ask your builder to price it in more than one material and pick.

Most walls take a few days to a week. Long walls, tall engineered walls, or jobs with steps, curves or a lot of digging can run longer. Your builder gives you the schedule before they start, so you know which days there will be a machine in the yard.

Usually not for a short garden wall. Walls over about four feet tall — or shorter ones holding up a driveway, a building or a steep slope — generally need a permit and an engineer’s design. The exact rules vary by town, and your builder handles the permit and the engineering so you do not have to.

Almost always water. Soil soaked by rain gets heavy and pushes on the back of the wall, and with nowhere for that water to go, the pressure tips the wall forward. A drain pipe at the base, clean gravel backfill behind the block and outlets that let the water out are what stop it. Ask how the water gets out before you sign anything.

Interlocking concrete block is the most common choice — strong, quick to build and the best value. Natural stone looks the best and costs the most. Poured concrete suits tall or structural walls. Timber is the cheapest up front but rots, usually within 15 to 20 years. Your builder will tell you which ones suit the height and the site.

A knee-high garden wall, with a free weekend and a strong back, yes. Past that, most of the work is what you cannot see: digging the trench, compacting a level base, laying the drainage and backfilling properly — and moving tons of block and gravel by hand. A wall that leans a few years in costs more to tear out and rebuild than it did to build right the first time.

Some digging is unavoidable, and there is usually a small machine involved. Good crews lay plywood or mats where they drive, keep the dirt in one spot, and grade and seed or sod the strip they disturbed when they finish. Ask on the call what cleanup and lawn repair are included.

A properly built block or stone wall with good drainage commonly lasts 50 years or more, and poured concrete about as long. Timber walls usually last 15 to 20. Keeping the drains clear and pointing your gutter downspouts away from the top of the wall adds years either way.

Yes. They walk the yard, measure the slope, look at the soil and where the water runs, talk through materials and put a price in writing. No charge, and no obligation to go ahead with it.

Keep the wall under the height that needs an engineer if the yard allows it — two shorter terraced walls are sometimes cheaper than one tall one. Choose concrete block over natural stone, make sure a machine can get into the yard, and get more than one price. Ask which months are quiet for them.

One. You are matched with a single wall builder who covers your area. We do not sell your details on to everyone in the county — that is the part most people are dreading, and it is the part we do not do.