Licensed and insured, building retaining walls across the Adelaide Hills since 2009
Adelaide Hills
Concrete sleeper, timber sleeper, core-filled besser, link-block, natural stone and gabion, and engineered walls over 1m, across the Adelaide Hills.
Lic. SA Builder Lic. BLD 000000 · Public liability to $20M
Our response promise
A written, itemised quote within two business days, and we answer the phone.
We turn up when we say we will, and we never leave an enquiry sitting. Retaining buyers chase three quotes, and whoever turns up and explains the drainage wins.
Why homeowners pick us
The drainage is left off, so the wall bulges in three winters
Water is the number one reason a retaining wall fails. Soil behind the wall holds water after rain, and that pressure pushes until the wall gives. Every wall we build is drained: an ag-pipe along the base, free-draining aggregate, weep holes and geofabric. A quote with no drainage line is not cheaper, it is unfinished.
Over a metre, it needs an engineer and council, and nobody says so
In the Adelaide Hills, a wall retaining over a metre, or holding up a driveway or a building, normally needs a structural engineer’s design and council development approval. Height is the axis that triggers it. We bring the design, the certification and the approval, and we itemise them, so the over-a-metre line is a real number, not a surprise.
It is priced as a round number, not by the face-metre
A low timber garden step and a tall engineered besser wall on a steep block are both "a retaining wall", but they are not the same job. The honest way to price one is by the face-metre, length by height, with the material and the footing named. So we put an honest by-the-face-metre range on the screen first, then pin the exact figure on the slope.
Concrete sleeper, core-filled besser, timber sleeper, link-block, natural stone and gabion, and the engineered walls over a metre. Each one quoted the same honest way: face-metres and height, the material and footing named, drained behind, the whole thing in writing.
Treated-pine and hardwood sleeper walls for lower garden terraces, posted into concrete to depth, the honest budget option done right.
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Reinforced, core-filled masonry on an engineered footing, the structural premium for tall or surcharge-loaded walls that have to be certified.
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Interlocking segmental block (Allan-block / Versaloc style), mortarless and curved to the contour, with the geogrid and drainage the system needs.
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Sandstone and rock-filled gabion walls for the look and the free drainage, the feature-grade top of the range on a sloping block.
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Walls over a metre, where we bring the structural design, the engineer certification and the council development approval, so it is signed off, not just stacked.
Get a quote →Pick the material, the length and the height, tell us about the drainage and the access, and get an honest supplied-and-installed range in under a minute, with the footing, the drainage and the engineering named. It is free, it stores nothing, and it runs in your browser. It is a guide range, not a quote: the free site assessment pins your exact number on the slope.
Footings and drainage are real steps, not afterthoughts. The footings cure before the wall goes up, and the ag-line goes in as the wall comes up.
We come to the block, measure the fall and the slope, check the soil and the access, and talk through material and height, then put a written quote in your hands.
For a wall over a metre or under a surcharge, the structural engineer designs it to AS 4678 and we lodge the council development application, so it is signed off before we dig.
The honest quote: face-metres, height and material, the footing, the drainage, the engineering line, excavation and the boundary-cost note. You sign off and we book the dig.
We excavate, then size and set the footings: a reinforced concrete footing for besser, concrete-set posts dug to depth for sleeper walls. The footings cure before the wall goes up.
The ag-pipe and free-draining aggregate go in behind the wall as it is built, with weep holes and geofabric, so water drains away instead of building up. Then the wall is built to height.
We backfill and finish, clear the site, walk you around the wall, and hand over the warranty in writing and the engineer certification and approval paperwork where it applies.
Itemised quote, written line by line
Concrete sleeper wall, 1.5 m, 18 face-m
Galvanised H-posts, core-filled, set true to the slope.
$12,420Footing depth and width, sized to clay and height
Reinforced and poured to the engineer figure, not a rule of thumb.
$4,860Engineer-certified, AS 4678 plus council DA
Designed to the soil and the load, approved before work starts.
$2,180Ag-pipe, aggregate, weep holes, geofabric
Water gets a way out, so the wall does not bulge from behind.
$3,240Geogrid tiebacks where the load needs them
Placed to the design, so the wall holds the slope back, not just itself.
$2,760Excavation, access and tip fees, itemised
Every site cost named up front, not sprung on you mid-job.
$4,52010-year structural and drainage warranty
Signed, in writing, by the crew who poured the footing.
IncludedLine in detail
Wall, height and material
18 face-metres of concrete sleeper, battered and set to 1.5 m. Galvanised H-posts, core-filled, run true to the boundary line.
The cowboy
"Three grand the lot" by text
No footing, no drainage, no engineer, no paper.
Tierline
Seven lines. Footing and drainage named.
Engineer-certified, warranty in writing, total on screen.
A round-number price with no height, no footing detail and no drainage line is the warning sign, not the number itself. Here is everything that is in ours.
A low step or garden terrace retaining under a metre: timber or concrete sleeper on concrete-set posts, drained properly, with no council approval needed at that height.
The job we do most on the Hills: a full boundary or sloped-block wall in concrete sleeper, link-block or besser, on a footing sized to the soil, drained the full length, raked to the contour.
A wall retaining over a metre, or under a surcharge, where we bring the structural design, the engineer certification and the council development approval, itemised, then build it to AS 4678.
Natural sandstone or rock-filled gabion for the look and the free drainage, the feature-grade top of the range, engineered and certified where the height needs it.
The structural and drainage layer is the one cowboys skimp, and the one we lead on. The footing and the ag-line are the parts that fail first.
10 years on the structure and the drainage, in writing. The parts that fail first and the parts cowboys skimp: if the wall moves or the drainage fails in that time because of our work, we put it right. This is the retaining-specific lever.
The manufacturer warranty on the sleepers, blocks or stone, and the structural engineer design and certification on every wall over a metre, valid because we build to the design and name the materials on the quote.
Services rendered with due care and skill for a reasonable period under Australian Consumer Law. Always applies, on top of the two layers above.
The builder licence, the engineer design and council approval over a metre, the liability, and the structural warranty, all named up front.
A South Australian builder licence for retaining-wall construction, so the work is done by a licensed builder, not a cash job with no cover that leaves you exposed.
BLD 000000
Cover for your property and anyone on it, for the length of the job.
$20M
A 10-year written warranty on the structure and the drainage, the parts that fail first and the parts cowboys skimp.
10 yr
The same crew that assesses and quotes your wall builds it, brings the engineer where the height needs it, then warrants the structure for 10 years.
A free site assessment on the slope, then an itemised by-the-face-metre quote in your hands.
The structural design and council approval where the height needs it, then the footing, the drainage and the wall built by our own crew to the signed quote.
A 10-year structural and drainage warranty in writing, and the engineer certification and approval paperwork where it applies.
Wall of love
★★★★★ 4.9 average 140+ Google reviews
“Three quotes, and Tierline was the only one that gave us a real by-the-face-metre price before they even came out, and the only one that put the drainage on the quote as its own line. The concrete-sleeper wall is dead straight along a sloping block, raked to follow the fall, and the number on the day matched the estimate.”
“Our old wall was bulging and over a metre, so it needed doing properly. Marco brought the engineer, sorted the council development approval and itemised exactly what the over-a-metre line cost instead of folding it into a round number. Signed off, certified, and no chasing the council ourselves.”
“A driveway sits above our wall, so it had to be core-filled besser on a proper footing. They sized the footing to the soil, named the reinforcement on the quote, and built the drainage in. You can see why the cheap quote that skipped all that was cheaper.”
“A low garden terrace under a metre, treated-pine sleepers posted into concrete and drained behind. They were straight with us that timber suited the height and budget, and did not try to sell us something taller than the job needed. Tidy work.”
“We wanted the look of stone to suit the heritage street, so they hand-laid a sandstone feature wall and priced it honestly against a block wall so we could see the gap. Drains by design and looks like it has always been there.”
“A winding garden terrace on a sloped block, so link-block was the right call for the curves. They set out the geogrid and the aggregate drainage the way the system is meant to be built, not just stacked blocks. Curves beautifully and has not shifted.”
“Rock-filled gabion across a wet slope at the back of the property. It drains straight through, which is exactly what we needed where water was always sitting. They managed the ground behind it with aggregate and an ag-line where it mattered.”
“Replaced a slumping railway-sleeper terrace with an engineered concrete-sleeper wall, drained the full length. Old wall and spoil carted away with the tip fees itemised, and the excavation on a tight block priced up front, never sprung on us at the end.”
“A tall wall holding a steep slope behind a new build. They handled the structural design, the certification and the development approval, gave us a realistic timeline up front, and built it to AS 4678. Worth every cent to have it signed off rather than guessed.”
No travel surcharge within 35km of Stirling.
10 suburbs across the Adelaide Hills. No surcharge within 35km of Stirling.
Larger mapEight short videos: the FAQ, what a wall costs, how we work, who you are dealing with, and a full job from first call to handover.
Cost by the face-metre, council approval and the engineer over a metre, why walls fail on drainage, who pays for a boundary wall, how long it takes, and whether we are licensed. Ten minutes here saves an hour on the slope.
Tell us what you need. We’ll book a walkthrough and send a quote with the work itemised, not just a number.
Tierline Retaining Walls 