Old railroad tie walls rotting out. Concrete block walls bowing after five winters. Stacked-stone walls with no drainage behind them, pushing forward every spring thaw. Most wall failures aren't about the material on the face — they're about the water, the backfill, and the engineering underneath.
McCoy is the retaining wall contractor oakville homeowners call when they want a wall that actually stays where it's built. Every retaining wall installation burlington starts with a site and soils assessment before we quote.
From low decorative seat walls to multi-tier engineered terraces, here are the wall configurations McCoy builds across Oakville, Burlington, Mississauga, and Milton.
Gravity + reinforced builds that handle significant grade changes and load.
Engineered retaining wall mississauga projects requiring geotechnical review and structural certification.
Low walls that double as permanent outdoor seating around fire and patio zones.
Cascading walls that create usable flat space on sloped lots.
Walls with built-in stairs that handle grade transitions on backyard entry points.
Lower-scale walls defining beds, borders, and finished planting transitions.
Multi-tier terraced wall system, engineered drainage, integrated steps — built in a single scope.
Perforated weeping tile at the base, daylit to a safe outlet
Clear-stone gravel backfill immediately behind the wall
Geogrid reinforcement layers set at engineered intervals
Proper batter, footing depth, and compacted base under load
1Share your goals, space, and timeline.
2Soils and grade assessment on the property.
3Plus engineering review on taller walls.
4Owner-led crew, clear communication, clean job site.
5Confirm every detail, hand off care tips.
Retaining wall timelines depend on height, length, and whether engineering is required. Most residential walls run 1–3 weeks on-site.
Retaining walls are priced by height, length, engineering requirements, drainage complexity, and material selection. A low decorative seat wall is one range; a large terraced system with engineered backfill and structural certification is another. We quote every wall in writing after the on-site and soils assessment.
Premium hardscape installs
Custom outdoor living
Full-service hardscape
Custom hardscape design-build
Plus surrounding suburbs.
In Ontario, walls taller than roughly 1 metre (3 feet) typically require a design review or engineered drawings, depending on the municipality and soil conditions. West GTA towns have their own thresholds. We handle the engineering coordination for you when the scope requires it — no extra calls on your end.
Some do, some don't — it depends on height, location on the lot, and whether the wall abuts property lines or municipal easements. During the on-site consultation we tell you exactly what your project needs. If permits are required, we coordinate the paperwork as part of the scope.
A properly built segmental block wall on a compacted base, with drainage behind it and correct backfill, should last 25–40 years with virtually no maintenance. Failures we're called to fix are almost always drainage-related — water built up behind a wall with no way out.
Yes — and it's one of our most common wall projects. We remove the old wall, re-excavate the footing, add proper drainage and backfill, and install an engineered block system. The finished wall handles load, drainage, and freeze–thaw the way the old one never could.
Techo-Bloc, Unilock, and Permacon engineered block systems — each with different face finishes, cap options, and structural ratings. We walk you through the look-and-performance tradeoffs during the design phase so you choose with full information, not marketing names.
Almost none, if it's built right. Cap units occasionally need re-epoxy after 10+ years. Visible joints may need re-pointing on natural-stone faces. Block walls with proper drainage and compaction generally don't need ongoing work. Care-guide details come with every McCoy handoff.
Share a little about what you want built and we'll set up a no-pressure consultation. Every hardscape is backed by our 3-year warranty.
