Concrete block walls in Lancaster CA - a wall that stands straight and sheds water

The price comes down mostly to the wall's length and height, the footing it needs and how much steel goes in, so I give you a figure once I've seen your lot. A wall that holds back soil, old block or fence to tear out, pilasters and gate openings, a stone or brick cap and a water repellent mixed into the block all add to it, and a plain fence on open, level ground costs the least. My written estimate breaks those pieces out so you can see what each choice adds.

Lancaster's list of work that doesn't need a permit includes fences not over 7 feet high and retaining walls not over 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, so a taller wall or a bigger retaining wall falls outside it. That retaining wall exemption also leaves out walls with extra weight on the soil they hold back, like a driveway or a slope above, and any permit has to be in hand before work starts. We check with the office that covers your address before we plan anything, and if you'd like to ask yourself, the city's permit technicians answer questions at (661) 723-6144 or through the Lancaster permits page. Outside the city, in Palmdale, Rosamond or anywhere else we work across the Antelope Valley, we check with the city or county office instead.

A contractor licensed by the state in masonry can, because California's masonry classification covers laying block for walls that carry loads and walls that don't, for buildings and for fences. The state lets an unlicensed person take small jobs under a $1,000 limit, but only when the work needs no permit and they employ no one, so a wall that needs a permit falls outside it. We're licensed and fully insured.

Plan for it from the start with horizontal steel, control joints or both, since block shrinks a little as it cures. The concrete masonry trade association recommends horizontal reinforcement plus control joints, which are planned breaks in the wall placed by local practice, and with enough horizontal steel a wall may not need control joints in some cases. I'll tell you which approach we'd use on your wall and why before we start.

Decide before the wall goes up, because an integral water repellent has to be mixed into both the block and the mortar before construction, while a surface repellent goes on afterward and needs reapplying after a period of years. A coping, the cap along the top, also keeps water from getting in and can finish the look, and concrete brick, cast stone, brick and natural stone all work as copings on block. On a new wall I usually lean toward integral since it's done once, but a surface treatment is a fair choice if you'll keep up with it.

One maker's guide says efflorescence, the white salt crust, usually comes off by dry brushing first and then flushing with plenty of clean water. Brush it dry before you wet it, so you're not washing the salt back into the block. If it keeps coming back, water is getting into the wall, and a missing cap or a sprinkler hitting the face is where I'd look first.