Leaning, cracking, and bulging mean the soil is winning. We reinforce failing retaining walls with anchors that are tensioned and tested against the load behind them.
A local specialist will evaluate your foundation, walk you through the findings, and send a clear estimate. No cost, no pressure.
A retaining wall spends its whole life in a pushing match with the hillside behind it. In California, Arizona, and Nevada, the soil fights dirty: clay acts like a sponge, swelling every time it rains and shrinking through the dry months, and each swell shoves the wall a little harder. When drainage behind the wall is poor, trapped water adds hydrostatic pressure on top of the soil load. Walls that were built without enough reinforcement or drainage for their height eventually show it as cracks, a measurable lean, bulging sections, or soil washing out at the base or slumping behind the top.
Dalinghaus Foundation Repair repairs retaining walls by matching the fix to the failure. A wall that is structurally sound but overloaded can be anchored: helical tiebacks or wall anchors reach into the stable soil behind the wall, then pull it back toward plumb and hold it there. Where the wall type decides the hardware rather than the other way round, the anchor system itself is the choice being made. Cracks are repaired with structural injection, wall faces that need strengthening can be reinforced with carbon fiber wall installation, and where water is the real bully we correct the drainage so pressure stops building at all. When a wall is genuinely past saving, we say so plainly rather than anchor a wall that has already failed. When the whole slope behind the wall is moving, not just the wall, the job becomes hillside slope repair, where the wall is one part of holding the slope.
Every project starts the same way our foundation work does: with a measured retaining wall inspection. A specialist evaluates the wall, the soil behind it, and how water moves across your property, and you get the findings in writing whether or not you hire us. Since brothers Brian and Brad Dalinghaus founded the company in 2011, Dalinghaus has completed more than 2,000 projects across the three states, and hillside and retaining wall work has been part of that from the start. If your wall shows the retaining wall warning signs of a visible lean or new cracking, schedule your free evaluation before another wet season moves it further.
Photos from our own crews and projects. Swipe or use the arrows to see more.
Pick the symptom that best fits. We'll tell you what it likely means and where to go next.
Most retaining wall repair problems start as small symptoms. Catching them early is the difference between a small, planned fix and a major reconstruction. These are the warning signs we see most often.
Dalinghaus installed the helical pile foundation and erected the structure for a solar canopy over a staff parking lot in Southern California, working in four phases so the lot stayed open.
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The back of an Irvine home had settled about 3 inches over roughly ten years. Ten helical piers went in over two days, and a 30 minute lift brought the back half of the home up 3 inches.
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A hillside home in Rancho Palos Verdes split in half as the ground slid toward the slope. Dalinghaus installed helical piers about 30 feet down to competent strata or bedrock beneath it.
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A beachside home in Rancho Palos Verdes settled 16 inches in a couple of months. Steel piers were driven to load bearing soil or bedrock at each excavated location, with a lift planned once they were in.
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A San Clemente hillside home had settled about 2 inches and was moving toward the slope behind it. Vertical helical piers and helical tieback anchors stabilized the home and recovered part of the drop.
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Two helical deck piers let a San Clemente hillside deck grow by about 12 feet, at a home Dalinghaus had lifted about 16 inches earlier.
Show projectDalinghaus Foundation Repair is locally owned and operated, with crews dedicated exclusively to foundation, concrete, and crawl space work across California, Arizona, and Nevada.
Foundation repair, concrete leveling, and crawl space repair are our entire focus. Not a sideline.
More than 2,000 projects on the clay and desert soils of California, Arizona, and Nevada since 2011.
CSLB License #983851 in California, ROC #330307 in Arizona, and License #0089738 in Nevada. Look us up with the state before we ever set foot on your property.
Warranty terms come in writing with every proposal, and the terms that apply to your job are stated in that job's paperwork. Ask your project specialist during the free evaluation.
Don't see your question here? Our team is happy to help. Reach out anytime.
Often, yes. If the wall structure is still sound, helical tiebacks or wall anchors can pull it back toward plumb and hold it against future soil pressure, usually without demolition. Rebuilding becomes necessary only when the wall material itself has broken down, and an evaluation with real measurements tells you which situation you have.
A straightforward path from free evaluation to completed repairs.
A local specialist visits your home, evaluates the foundation, and answers your questions on site. No cost, no obligation.
We provide a clear, written estimate with a scope of work tailored to your home's specific issues.
Our crews complete the work on schedule, with the findings and scope in writing from the first visit.
A 4.9-star average across Google, with verified reviews from the homeowners we work for.
Share a few details and a local specialist will follow up as soon as possible to set your evaluation.
