Landscaping & hardscape
in Walnut Creek

Usually it depends on height. California’s building code generally exempts retaining walls up to four feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall — above that, or if the wall supports a slope or a driveway above it, a permit is typically required. Walnut Creek applies the state code, but the specifics depend on your lot, so we confirm with the city’s building division before we design anything. We handle that call and the paperwork; you don’t chase it.

Much of Contra Costa County sits on expansive clay — soil that swells when it takes on water in winter and shrinks back in summer. Concrete poured straight onto it without the right base, reinforcement and control joints moves with it, and that is where the cracks you see around the area come from. We excavate deeper than the slab needs, build a compacted base that absorbs the movement, and place the joints where the concrete is going to want to crack anyway.

We’re based in Concord, about fifteen minutes up the 680, so getting to Walnut Creek is a short run rather than a scheduling problem. We reply to every enquiry within one business day and can usually walk the property the same week.

Yes. Several Walnut Creek neighbourhoods have design review, and plans that ignore it get sent back. Tell us at the consultation and we’ll put the drawings and material specifications together in the form the association needs.

Both — and on a lot of properties here the drainage is the job. We install French drains, surface drains and dry wells, regrade where water is sitting against the house, and build the hardscape so it sheds water instead of trapping it. Drainage done after the patio is finished costs far more than drainage done underneath it.

It depends on scope, access and how much earthwork is involved, which is why we won’t quote a timeline before walking the property. What you get at the consultation is a written schedule alongside the written price — both fixed before we start.