Outdoor Kitchens
We build outdoor kitchens in masonry: grill islands faced in brick or stone, and brick pizza ovens. You pick the grill, and we build each opening to fit it.
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A retaining wall holds back soil where your yard changes level. Maybe a bank keeps sliding onto the patio, or the wall by the driveway has started to lean. Steven Rigg Masonry builds and repairs retaining walls in concrete block and natural stone, plus dry-stacked segmental block. What the wall sits on and where the water goes come first.
As a masonry contractor serving Mechanicsburg, we build retaining walls for homes and small commercial buildings. Our area runs about 40 miles around Mechanicsburg, from the West Shore out to York, Lebanon and Gettysburg. A retaining wall often makes room for a level lawn or a brick or stone patio. Call or text (717) 608-2175, and we look at the job and put the quote in writing.
Tell us about the chimney, wall, steps or patio and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
A block retaining wall comes in two kinds. The first is concrete block laid in mortar on a poured concrete footing. The concrete masonry trade association's technical note says that footing holds the wall against sliding and tipping. Where the ground freezes, the note puts its base below the frost line.
That counts here: around Mechanicsburg, roughly 80 to 100 days a year freeze at night and thaw by day. We set mortared stone retaining walls on the same kind of footing. A block wall can also wear a natural stone face on the side you see. Freestanding block walls and foundations are a different job, covered under block foundation and garden walls.
The second kind, segmental block, stacks dry without mortar, and its weight holds the soil back. The trade association's installation guide sets it on a compacted gravel pad at least 6 inches thick. That pad is flexible, so the guide says it need not go below the frost line on firm ground. Bigger segmental walls can add layers of grid that reach back into the soil, laid out in an engineer's design.
Water adds load to a retaining wall and can wash out the soil around it, the trade association's guide warns. Its advice is to steer water away from the wall wherever possible. Where the yard above slopes toward the wall, a swale on top catches the runoff and carries it away.
When water does reach the wall, the drainage behind it takes load off. The guide calls for at least 12 inches of clean gravel behind segmental units. A perforated drain pipe along the base carries the water out to lower ground. Mortared walls get drains through the wall, plus one along the back where heavy rain is expected.
Much of the valley floor around Mechanicsburg is well-drained limestone soil, silty and clayey below, per the federal soil survey. On limestone, the state's geologists note, water can flush open clogged drains in the rock and form a sinkhole. So we lead the water behind a wall out to a planned outlet.
Under Pennsylvania's Uniform Construction Code, a retaining wall up to 4 feet tall needs no building permit. The code measures from the lowest ground at the wall to its top. That exemption ends when the wall holds up a load at the top, which the code calls a surcharge. It also holds only when the work meets local law.
Some towns here add their own rules. Carlisle requires a building permit and a zoning permit for a retaining wall over 4 feet. Lebanon and Elizabethtown want a permit for a retaining wall of any height. In Hanover, a wall over 4 feet goes through the borough's building permit process and a meeting with its engineer.
Your borough or township codes office has the final word for your lot. In Mechanicsburg, the borough's codes office staff can help you work out whether a project needs a permit. We tell you what to ask when we look at the job.
Call or text for a written quote. We work about 40 miles around Mechanicsburg across South Central Pennsylvania.
(717) 608-2175From the first call or text to the finished work, here is how it goes.
Call or text (717) 608-2175 and tell us about the job and the town it is in. Text photos if you have them.
We come out to see the masonry and what caused the damage, like water getting in or ground that settled. For new work, we go over the plan and the materials with you.
You get a written quote that spells out the work. Once you say yes, we set a start date with you.
Repairs start with grinding out failed mortar or taking down loose brick. New work starts at the footing or the base, and then we lay the masonry on it. Mortar work follows the weather.
We clean the new masonry and the work area. Then we go over the finished job with you.
Common questions about retaining walls around Mechanicsburg and the Harrisburg area. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.
We build outdoor kitchens in masonry: grill islands faced in brick or stone, and brick pizza ovens. You pick the grill, and we build each opening to fit it.
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We build outdoor fireplaces and masonry fire pits in brick and stone. Seat walls around the fire give everyone a place to sit.
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Concrete footings and pads poured for the masonry that sits on them. We also pour steps and small patios when you ask, and we repair walk sections.
Learn MoreWe work in brick, block and stone. A job that mixes them, like a block wall with a stone face, takes one call.
We fix loose brick and failed mortar joints, and we rebuild worn chimneys. New work covers brick porches and columns, block foundation walls and stone veneer.
We look at the job before we put a price on it. Then you get the quote in writing, with the work spelled out.
Mechanicsburg sits at the center of our service area. Harrisburg, Carlisle, Hershey, York, Lebanon and Gettysburg are part of it too.
Real reviews of our masonry work, 3 reviews on Google.
Fastest company to get back to me, as well as educate me on the process behind building up a brick step up to the front door. I found that very beneficial, and added a sense of security and i always stand behind anyone who is that confident in their work, as well as going above and beyond!!!
Efficient, quick, and on time, rain played a factor but these guys didn’t let that affect them, stayed on the timeline they gave me and crushed it, the work speaks for itself
Steven got us scheduled very quickly and gave us a quote! He was very honest about the work we needed done and pointed us in the right direction for how it should be done. The finished project looked great! We would definitely recommend Steven and are very happy with his work. Thank you Steven!
Tell us what needs building or fixing and the town it is in, and text us photos if you like. Call or text (717) 608-2175 or use the form, and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the chimney, wall, steps or patio and where it is. We look at the job and put the quote in writing.
