Concrete Retaining Walls in Enumclaw, WA

Retaining walls in Enumclaw: what to know

The word surcharge matters most. The city’s exemption page uses it without defining it, so the first step is to list every load behind the wall, such as a driveway, a structure, or a sloped bank. We ask the city how it reads those loads before we rely on the exemption for a wall that sits close to the four-foot line.

Liquids are the other exception. A wall that impounds Class I, II, or IIIA liquids falls outside the exemption whatever its height, so we confirm what the wall would hold back. Water behind a wall is a design item in its own right, and we set a drain there and route its outlet to a point on your own lot. Enumclaw’s stormwater chapter makes property owners responsible for private stormwater facilities, and we confirm with the city whether a wall drain counts as one.

Permits and rules in Enumclaw

Walls of four feet or less that carry no surcharge and impound no liquids fit the exemption. Above four feet a permit is needed, so we confirm with the city which permit track a taller wall needs before we design it. We take the height from the underside of the footing up to the wall top, and we confirm the surcharge and liquid answers for your address before we price the work.

Rules change and vary by parcel, so we confirm the current requirements with the city before we start.

How we approach it

Take the height from the footing’s underside up to the wall top
List every load behind the wall, including a driveway, a structure, or a sloped bank
Check what the wall would impound for Class I, II, or IIIA liquids
Take the wall drain’s outlet to ground on your own lot

For the full process, see our Retaining Walls page.

Building in the cold months? See our guide to winter concrete pours.

Our retaining walls work, serving Enumclaw

Examples of our work. We build retaining walls in Enumclaw and the cities around it. See all of our work

Questions from Enumclaw homeowners

Is a four-foot Enumclaw wall exempt when a driveway sits above it?

The city’s page exempts walls not over four feet unless they support a surcharge. It does not define surcharge, so we ask the city whether a driveway above the wall counts before we rely on the exemption.

What do Class I, II, or IIIA liquids have to do with an Enumclaw wall?

A wall that impounds those liquids is outside the city’s exemption, whatever its height. We identify what the wall would hold back before the footing is sized, since that decides whether the exemption is available at all.

Does an exempt Enumclaw wall still need a drain behind it?

The exemption is about the building permit, not drainage. A drain behind the wall is a separate design step, and we confirm its outlet on your own lot before the footing is set.