Before & after block and stone retaining wall projects across Big Lake, Elk River, Zimmerman and NW Metro MN — builds, repairs, and full rebuilds.
Retaining walls in the NW Metro face serious stress from Minnesota's freeze-thaw cycles and saturated spring soils. A leaning or cracked block wall isn't just an eyesore — it's a structural problem that gets worse every year. Tim Hanson builds and repairs block and stone retaining walls throughout Sherburne County, with proper drainage and compaction to make sure walls last decades, not years.
A Big Lake homeowner had a 40-foot block retaining wall on the back property slope that had developed a 4-inch lean toward the yard over several years. The original wall had no drainage aggregate behind it, so hydrostatic pressure from spring snowmelt was pushing it over. Tim's crew demolished the existing wall, excavated 18 inches behind the face, installed perforated drain pipe and drainage aggregate, then rebuilt the wall with new block, proper batter, and a compacted gravel base.
An Elk River homeowner wanted to terrace a steep sloped backyard into two usable levels for a patio and garden area. Tim designed and built two tiered natural limestone block walls — one at 3 feet and one at 2 feet — with a 4-foot setback between tiers. Each tier included a perforated drain system at the base and hand-tamped gravel backfill. The project transformed an unusable hill into 800 square feet of level yard space.
A decorative front-yard stone wall in Zimmerman had settled and shifted significantly after years of frost heave. Several sections had toppled and the remaining sections were at multiple different heights and angles. Tim removed the entire wall, leveled and tamped the base, and rebuilt it to a consistent height with new mortar joints between courses. The rebuilt wall uses a flexible mortar blend that handles seasonal movement better than the original Portland-only mortar.
A Buffalo property had a concrete block retaining wall running alongside the driveway that had cracked in several places and was pushing out at the base due to root intrusion from nearby trees. Tim removed the affected section, extracted the root mass, installed a root barrier, and rebuilt the failed section with new blocks pinned to the existing sound wall on both sides. The repair blended seamlessly with the original wall.
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