Table of Contents
A retaining wall on Long Island costs $40-$225+ per square foot of wall face depending on height and material. Small garden walls (under 2 ft): $40-$65/SF. Medium structural (2-4 ft): $65-$110/SF. Large engineered (4-6 ft): $110-$160/SF. Major multi-tier (6-10+ ft): $160-$225+/SF. Walls over 4 feet require engineering permits in most LI municipalities. Brothers Paving & Masonry has built retaining walls across all 148 towns in Nassau and Suffolk County for over 15 years.
How Much Does a Retaining Wall Cost on Long Island?
A retaining wall on Long Island costs $40 to $225+ per square foot of wall face in 2026. Wall pricing is calculated by face square footage — the exposed visible area of the wall measured from the bottom of the lowest course visible above grade to the top of the cap, multiplied by the linear length. A 50-foot wall standing 4 feet tall has 200 square feet of face. The price range is wide because retaining wall cost is dominated by height and engineering complexity, not by linear length. A 4-foot wall is more than twice the cost per square foot of a 2-foot wall because it requires geogrid, deeper base, and often engineering.
We price retaining walls in four height tiers. Each tier reflects a discrete jump in engineering, drainage requirements, base depth, and material handling. The numbers below are fully loaded — they include excavation, base preparation, drainage system, geotextile, geogrid where required, blocks or stone, and capstones.
Tier 1 — Small garden walls (under 2 ft): $40-$65/SF
Decorative landscape walls, raised planter beds, and short border walls under 2 feet of exposed face fall in the small wall tier. These are gravity walls — they hold back soil using their own weight, no geogrid required, no permit required in nearly all Long Island towns. Base depth runs 4 to 6 inches of compacted crushed stone. Materials are typically Cambridge MaytRx Wall, Nicolock Wallstone, Techo-Bloc Mini-Creta, or natural stone for higher-end aesthetic projects. A 30-foot border wall standing 18 inches tall is usually a 2 to 3 day install.
Tier 2 — Medium structural walls (2-4 ft): $65-$110/SF
Yard grade walls, terrace walls, and patio retention systems between 2 and 4 feet of exposed face fall in the medium tier. At this height the wall starts handling real structural loads. Base depth is 6 to 8 inches of compacted stone. Drainage becomes mandatory — a French drain, gravel backfill, and weep holes are required. Walls in the upper end of this range or any wall in this range with surcharge loads (driveway above, pool nearby, structure within twice the wall height) require geogrid reinforcement. A 50-foot wall at 3 feet of exposed face typically runs $9,750 to $16,500 fully installed.
Tier 3 — Large engineered walls (4-6 ft): $110-$160/SF
Any retaining wall over 4 feet on Long Island is in engineered territory. These walls require a stamped engineering design from a licensed New York professional engineer, a building permit, and in most cases a soil report. Geogrid reinforcement at multiple courses is standard. Base depth runs 8 to 12 inches and the reinforced backfill zone extends 4 to 8 feet behind the wall face. Materials at this tier favor heavy-duty SRW systems — Cambridge MaytRx XL, Nicolock Wallstone XL, Techo-Bloc Mini-Creta, Belgard Tandem Wall, or Unilock Brussels Dimensional. A 60-foot wall at 5 feet of exposed face typically runs $33,000 to $48,000 fully installed including engineering and permit.
Tier 4 — Major multi-tier walls (6-10+ ft): $160-$225+/SF
Single walls over 6 feet, multi-tier wall systems, and walls retaining heavy surcharge loads fall into the major engineering tier. At this scale the project is essentially a small civil engineering job. Engineering, soil reports, permits, inspections, and often a separate excavation contractor or crane are involved. Multi-tier designs (two or three stacked walls with planted terraces between) are common on steeply sloped Gold Coast properties where a single tall wall would be visually overwhelming. Drainage at this tier includes both wall-back drains and intermediate drainage between tiers. Project budgets routinely exceed $75,000 and can run into low six figures on multi-tier estate-grade systems.
Small Garden
$40–$65/SF
Under 2 ft. Gravity walls, no permit, decorative borders, raised planters. 2-3 day install for typical residential scope.
Medium Structural
$65–$110/SF
2-4 ft. Yard grade, terrace, patio retention. Drainage mandatory. Geogrid required at upper range or with surcharge.
Large Engineered
$110–$160/SF
4-6 ft. Engineered design, permit, soil report, multi-course geogrid. Heavy-duty SRW systems standard.
Major Multi-Tier
$160–$225+/SF
6-10+ ft single or multi-tier. Civil engineering scope. Estate-grade Gold Coast and steep slope projects.
Cost by material
- SRW concrete block (Cambridge, Nicolock, Techo-Bloc, Belgard, Unilock): $40-$160/SF depending on height tier. The default Long Island system. Strong cost-to-performance ratio.
- Natural stone (fieldstone, Pennsylvania bluestone block, Connecticut granite): $90-$275+/SF. Premium aesthetic for Gold Coast estates and historic property contexts. 30-60% premium over equivalent SRW height.
- Poured concrete walls: $85-$200+/SF. Used where space is constrained, where structural loads exceed SRW capability, or where a clean monolithic appearance is required. Forms, rebar, and concrete pour cost more than block at low heights but compete favorably at heights over 6 feet.
- Boulder walls (large stone): $50-$140/SF for walls under 4 feet. Naturalistic aesthetic, fast install for short walls, excellent for sloped lot transitions. Limited engineering capacity beyond 4 feet.
- Gravity dry-stack stone: $70-$160/SF for walls under 3 feet. Hand-fitted natural stone without mortar. High labor content. Premium aesthetic on traditional and country estate properties.
For a deeper breakdown including drainage costs, surcharge engineering surcharges, excavation depth variables, and detailed regional comparisons, see our full Retaining Wall Cost Guide for Long Island.
Why Long Island Needs Retaining Walls
Long Island reads as flat from a highway, but the residential reality is anything but uniform. The North Shore of Nassau County and the North Shore of Suffolk County are heavily glaciated terminal moraine — the geological remnant of the last ice age — which produced the hills, ravines, and bluffs that define the Gold Coast. Properties in Lloyd Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor, Sands Point, Kings Point, Manhasset, Old Westbury, Lattingtown, Mill Neck, and the rest of the North Shore corridor frequently sit on lots with 8, 12, or 20+ feet of grade change from front to back.
South Shore and central Long Island are flatter on average but contain pockets of significant grade. Anywhere a property meets a creek, a kettle pond, a glacial outwash plain edge, or a graded driveway approach, there is a retaining wall opportunity. Suburban driveways on sloped lots — common in Garden City, Great Neck, Syosset, Jericho, Huntington, Dix Hills, Commack, and Smithtown — frequently need driveway retention walls that double as landscape features.
North Shore terrain
Gold Coast properties were historically estate-scale lots laid out in the late 1800s and early 1900s by landscape architects who treated grade as a design opportunity. Original estate retaining walls — many built in the 1910s and 1920s from quarried local fieldstone — are still standing across Lloyd Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor, and Sands Point, which is the strongest possible evidence that a properly built stone wall on Long Island lasts a century or longer. Modern estate work either restores those original walls or builds new walls in the same aesthetic vocabulary.
Coastal erosion and bluff retention
Waterfront properties on the North Shore (Long Island Sound) and the South Shore (Great South Bay, Atlantic) face slow-motion bluff erosion that retaining walls can stabilize. Coastal bluff retention walls require additional engineering — they typically need NYS DEC permits, coastal erosion hazard area review, and sometimes Tidal Wetlands Act compliance. We work within those regulatory frameworks regularly on waterfront work in Lloyd Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor, Asharoken, and Eatons Neck.
Drainage management
A correctly engineered retaining wall does double duty as a drainage management system. The French drain behind the wall captures upslope groundwater and surface runoff that would otherwise pool in the yard or push against the foundation of a downhill structure. On Long Island properties where basement water intrusion is a chronic issue, a well-placed retaining wall with an engineered drainage corridor can be more effective than a basement waterproofing job — because it solves the source of the water, not the symptom.
Engineering & Permits on Long Island
The 4-foot threshold is the single most important regulatory line for Long Island retaining walls. Walls under 4 feet of exposed face are generally exempt from building permit requirements in most towns. Walls at or over 4 feet of exposed face — measured from the bottom of the lowest visible course to the top of the cap — require a building permit in nearly every Long Island municipality. This rule traces back to International Residential Code (IRC) section R404.4 and is incorporated into New York State Uniform Code, which Nassau and Suffolk towns enforce through local building departments.
Engineered design requirements
Walls over 4 feet require a stamped engineering design produced by a licensed New York professional engineer (PE). The engineering package typically includes wall plan and section drawings, calculations for active and passive earth pressure, geogrid type and embedment lengths, base preparation specifications, drainage system layout, and a soil report or assumed soil parameters. The cost of engineering for a typical residential wall ranges from $1,500 to $4,500 depending on complexity. We have working relationships with several Long Island engineers who specialize in retaining wall design and can move quickly.
Soil reports and geotechnical investigation
Walls over 6 feet, walls in poor soil conditions (clay, organics, fill), and walls with significant surcharge loads typically require a geotechnical investigation. A soil report involves drilling test borings on the property, sampling the soil at depth, and testing for density, plasticity, and bearing capacity. Soil reports cost $2,500 to $6,000 for a typical residential project. They feed directly into the engineering calculations.
Town-specific requirements
Each Long Island town and incorporated village has its own building department with its own quirks. Town of Hempstead and Town of Babylon are generally efficient — 3 to 5 weeks from application to permit on a clean wall package. Town of Oyster Bay can take longer, particularly on North Shore coastal properties where additional review may apply. Town of Huntington and Town of Smithtown follow standard NYS code review and process within 4 to 6 weeks typically.
Incorporated villages — Garden City, Manhasset, Lloyd Harbor, Sands Point, Old Westbury, Kings Point, Lattingtown, Mill Neck, Cold Spring Harbor — have their own building departments and frequently their own architectural review boards. Aesthetic review can add 3 to 8 weeks to a project schedule. We have built walls in nearly every incorporated village on Long Island and know which ones require extra lead time.
Brothers handles permits end-to-end
We pull all required permits as part of our scope. We coordinate engineering, soil reports if required, building department submittal, plan revisions, inspection scheduling, and certificate of compliance at project closeout. Full town-by-town reference: Hardscape permits on Long Island.
Retaining Wall Materials Compared
Material selection drives both the cost and the long-term performance of a retaining wall. We install five families of retaining wall material on Long Island: segmental retaining wall (SRW) block, natural stone, poured concrete, large boulders, and dry-stack gravity stone. The right choice depends on wall height, aesthetic context, surcharge conditions, and budget.
Segmental retaining wall (SRW) block
SRW block is the workhorse of Long Island residential retaining walls. SRW units are precision-manufactured concrete blocks designed specifically for retaining wall applications, with engineered setbacks, lip-and-pin or pin-and-hole connection systems, and tested capacity for use with geogrid reinforcement. Five manufacturers dominate the Long Island market.
Cambridge MaytRx Wall and MaytRx XL are the most-installed SRW systems on Long Island. Cambridge is a Massachusetts manufacturer with strong distribution across the Northeast. The MaytRx line accepts geogrid up to wall heights of 25+ feet with proper engineering. Cambridge offers a lifetime transferable warranty on the units.
Nicolock Wallstone and Wallstone XL are manufactured in Lindenhurst, NY — about 8 minutes from our Bay Shore yard. Local manufacturing means the shortest lead times of any SRW brand and excellent color consistency from pallet to pallet. Nicolock's wallstone systems handle heights up to 20+ feet with proper design.
Techo-Bloc Mini-Creta and Maxima bring a contemporary aesthetic that works well on modern Long Island homes built or renovated in the last decade. Techo-Bloc's engineered systems include accessory units for corners, terminations, and stair integrations.
Belgard Tandem Wall and Belgair are widely available across Long Island distribution. Belgard's Tandem Wall system uses a unique two-piece design that allows curved walls without cutting and includes integrated drainage channels in the unit itself.
Unilock Brussels Dimensional and Pisa II are the longest-running SRW lines in the Northeast. Unilock pioneered SRW design in the 1980s and their Brussels and Pisa systems remain workhorse options for traditional aesthetic retaining walls.
Natural stone
Natural stone is the premium aesthetic option for Gold Coast estates and historic property contexts. Three stone types dominate Long Island work: fieldstone (irregular, hand-fitted, the classic North Shore look), Pennsylvania bluestone block (rectangular cut units in blue-gray), and Connecticut granite (gray-pink-tan rectangular block in larger formats). Natural stone walls cost 30 to 60 percent more than equivalent SRW walls but carry an aesthetic value that no concrete block can replicate. They also last indefinitely if properly built and drained.
Poured concrete walls
Poured concrete walls — sometimes finished with a stone or brick veneer — are used where space is tight, where structural loads exceed what SRW can handle, or where a clean monolithic appearance is required. Poured walls require formwork, rebar, and a concrete pour, and they need to cure before backfilling. They are most cost-effective at heights over 6 feet, where SRW geogrid reinforced systems become more complex than a simple cast-in-place wall. Poured walls can be finished with stone veneer or stucco for a finished aesthetic.
Large boulders (boulder walls)
Boulder walls use individual stones in the 1-ton to 5-ton range stacked to retain soil. They have a naturalistic aesthetic that works well in country settings, woodland edges, and informal landscapes. Boulder walls are limited in engineering capacity — they work well up to 3 to 4 feet but become impractical at greater heights without specialty reinforcement. Installation is fast for short walls because each placed stone covers significant face area.
Gravity dry-stack stone
Dry-stack stone walls use hand-fitted natural stone without mortar — the same technique that built the original 1900s Gold Coast estate walls. Dry-stack has very high labor content because each stone is selected and shaped to fit. The aesthetic is unmatched for traditional and historic property contexts. Practical height limit is 3 feet for unreinforced gravity dry-stack; above that we either incorporate hidden reinforcement or transition to a different system with stone veneer over a structural core.
For an in-depth comparison of all five material categories with photos, lifecycle costs, and aesthetic context, see Best retaining wall materials for Long Island and retaining wall design ideas for Long Island homes.
Drainage — The Critical System
If you take only one thing from this guide, take this: drainage is what separates a retaining wall that lasts 100 years from one that fails in 5. Every retaining wall failure we have been called to repair on Long Island had inadequate drainage as the root cause. The blocks are almost never the problem. The base is sometimes the problem. The drainage is nearly always the problem.
Why drainage matters
Soil holds water. A wall with no drainage system traps that water behind the wall face. Water in soil is heavy — saturated soil weighs roughly 130 pounds per cubic foot, against 95 to 110 pounds per cubic foot for dry soil. That extra weight pushes against the wall as hydrostatic pressure. On a 5-foot wall, hydrostatic pressure can add 1,500 pounds per linear foot of horizontal force compared to a dry-soil condition. No SRW block system is rated for that loading without drainage.
Long Island compounds the problem with freeze-thaw cycles. Trapped water freezes, expands, and the cycle repeats 30 to 50 times each winter. A wall that traps water will tilt, bulge, and eventually collapse — the only question is whether the failure happens in year 5 or year 15.
The four-part drainage system
- Gravel backfill chimney: A continuous column of clean 3/4-inch crushed stone, 12 inches wide minimum, placed directly behind the wall face for the full vertical height. Gravel does not hold water — it lets water drain freely down to the perforated drain.
- Perforated French drain: A 4-inch perforated PVC pipe running the full length of the wall at the base, sloped 1 to 2 percent toward a daylight outlet, dry well, or storm drain. The pipe is wrapped in geotextile sock and fully embedded in clean drainage stone.
- Geotextile fabric separation: Non-woven geotextile lines the gravel chimney to prevent fines from the native soil from migrating into the drainage stone. Without geotextile, the gravel chimney silts up over 5 to 15 years and stops working. Skipping geotextile is a hidden time bomb.
- Weep holes: Drainage outlets placed at the base of the wall every 6 to 8 feet provide secondary drainage in case the French drain ever clogs. Weep holes are a redundancy layer, not the primary drainage path.
Daylight outlets and dry wells
Where the French drain pipe terminates matters. The two correct outcomes are a daylight outlet (the pipe exits aboveground at a lower point on the property where water can flow away naturally) or a dry well (a buried gravel-filled chamber that absorbs water into the soil). On Long Island sandy soils — typical of South Shore and central Suffolk — dry wells perform very well. On heavier North Shore clay-influenced soils, daylight outlets are preferred where grade allows.
We never connect a wall French drain into a sanitary sewer line, a basement perimeter drain, or a downspout drain that lacks capacity. Every drainage system we install is designed for the calculated water volume and the soil type.
The Installation Process
Every retaining wall Brothers Paving & Masonry installs follows the same 8-step build process. The process is sequential and non-negotiable. We have replaced too many failed walls over the years where a previous contractor skipped a step to save a day or a few dollars; the savings are always paid back tenfold when the wall fails 5 or 10 years later.
- 1
Site evaluation and design
A senior installer walks the property, measures wall length and exposed height, evaluates the slope and surcharge conditions (driveways, pools, structures above the wall), checks soil type, identifies utility lines, and confirms whether engineering is required. We produce a written scope with wall material, base depth, drainage spec, geogrid schedule, and any permit pathway.
- 2
Excavation
We excavate the wall footprint to the engineered depth — typically 6 to 12 inches below the bottom of the lowest wall course, plus the full reinforced zone behind the wall on engineered walls. On a 4-foot reinforced wall, the excavation extends roughly 4 to 6 feet behind the wall face to accommodate geogrid and compacted backfill. All spoil is hauled off site or repurposed on the property.
- 3
Geotextile fabric
We line the excavated cut with non-woven geotextile fabric. Geotextile separates the native soil from the drainage gravel and reinforced backfill, preventing fines from migrating into the drainage stone over time. Skipping geotextile is a common shortcut that causes drainage systems to silt up and fail in 5 to 10 years. We never skip it.
- 4
Drainage layer and French drain
A 4-inch perforated PVC drain pipe is laid along the back of the wall on a 1 to 2 percent slope toward a daylight outlet or dry well. The drain is wrapped in additional fabric (sock) and embedded in clean 3/4-inch crushed stone. This drainage corridor extends the full vertical height of the wall behind the back face. Weep holes through the wall face provide secondary drainage.
- 5
Compacted base
We install 6 to 12 inches of crushed stone base depending on wall height and soil conditions. Base material is placed in 2-inch lifts and compacted with a 5,000 lb plate compactor between each lift. The base is laser-leveled to the engineered elevation. A wall built on an unlevel or undersized base will telegraph that mistake up the entire face within the first freeze-thaw cycle.
- 6
Block placement
The first course is set on the compacted base, leveled meticulously, and back-filled with drainage stone. Each subsequent course is laid with the manufacturer-specified setback (typically a 1/8-inch to 1-inch step back per course depending on system). Cambridge MaytRx, Nicolock Wallstone, Techo-Bloc Mini-Creta, Belgard Tandem, and Unilock Brussels are the systems we install most often.
- 7
Geogrid reinforcement
On any wall over 4 feet — and on shorter walls with surcharge loads — we install structural geogrid at engineered intervals (typically every 2 to 3 courses). Geogrid is rolled out behind the wall, the next course of blocks is laid on top, and clean drainage stone is placed and compacted over the grid. This mechanically ties the wall face to the soil mass behind it.
- 8
Capping and finish
The top course is finished with manufacturer cap units bonded to the course below using construction adhesive specified for SRW systems. Caps create a clean finished edge, prevent water infiltration into the wall core, and provide a seating surface on shorter walls. The reinforced backfill zone is finished with topsoil and the disturbed area is restored — drainage outlets are landscaped, weep holes are checked, and final grading is completed to direct surface water away from the wall.
Steps 3 and 4 — geotextile and the drainage layer with French drain — are where the long-term performance of the wall is decided. A wall installed without geotextile or without a properly sloped French drain will develop hydrostatic pressure problems within 3 to 8 years regardless of how well the blocks are stacked. Ask any contractor you interview to specify in writing the drainage system, geotextile placement, and French drain outlet location.
Multi-Tier Wall Design for Steep Slopes
Multi-tier wall systems use two, three, or four shorter walls stacked vertically with planted terraces between them, instead of a single tall wall. The aesthetic and structural advantages are significant on Long Island North Shore properties where grade changes of 10 to 20 feet are common. A single 14-foot wall is visually overwhelming, expensive, and structurally demanding. Three 4-foot walls separated by 6-foot planted terraces achieve the same grade change while looking like garden structure rather than civil infrastructure.
When multi-tier makes sense
- Grade change exceeds 6 feet over a horizontal run that supports terraces
- Aesthetic context calls for landscape integration rather than monolithic structure
- Each tier can stay under 4 feet, simplifying engineering and permitting
- The intermediate terraces will be planted, allowing root systems to add stabilization
Engineering rule for spacing
Multi-tier walls have a spacing rule: when the horizontal distance between walls is less than twice the height of the lower wall, the upper wall acts as a surcharge load on the lower wall and the system must be engineered as a single combined wall. When spacing exceeds twice the lower wall height, each wall can be designed independently. We typically design Long Island multi-tier systems with terrace widths between 1.5x and 3x the lower wall height — wide enough for engineering simplicity, narrow enough to use yard space efficiently.
Drainage for multi-tier systems
Each tier needs its own drainage system. Water that drains from the upper wall's French drain has to be captured and routed past the lower wall — it cannot be allowed to discharge onto the lower wall's backfill. We use a combination of intermediate dry wells, surface swales on the terraces, and dedicated discharge pipes that bypass each lower wall to a property-edge daylight outlet.
Pool & Patio Integration
The most-built retaining wall application on the Long Island Gold Coast is pool and patio integration — terracing a sloped property to create a level pool deck and patio zone where the natural grade would not support one. These projects typically combine a retaining wall on the upslope side, a level patio platform built on engineered fill, and often a sitting wall or step system on the downslope side that doubles as a transition feature.
Pool surcharge engineering
A pool is a surcharge load. When a wall is within roughly twice the wall height of a pool, the wall design has to account for the weight of the pool water and the structural mass of the pool shell. We work with engineers who specialize in pool-adjacent walls and have built dozens of these systems across the Gold Coast and North Shore Suffolk. The engineering typically requires additional geogrid courses and longer geogrid embedment lengths than a wall in open landscape.
Sitting walls and integrated seating
Short retaining walls (under 30 inches) can double as built-in seating around a patio or pool. The cap stone is sized to a comfortable seat depth (16 to 18 inches), the wall face is finished with a smooth cap or veneer, and the wall is positioned to define an outdoor room edge. Sitting walls are some of the highest-value retaining wall work we do because they deliver three benefits simultaneously: grade retention, finished outdoor architecture, and built-in seating without buying outdoor furniture for 20 people.
Service pages
See our dedicated retaining wall installation service page for the complete service overview, materials list, and project gallery.
Town-Specific Pricing
Retaining wall pricing varies meaningfully across Long Island towns. Three factors drive the variance: terrain (Gold Coast properties have much more grade than mid-Suffolk), material tier expectation (estate-grade work uses natural stone or premium SRW), and project scale (a 12-foot multi-tier estate wall is a different project from a 30-foot suburban yard wall). Below is the realistic 2026 market view.
Gold Coast estate walls: $130-$225+/SF
The North Shore Gold Coast — Old Westbury, Manhasset, Sands Point, Lloyd Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor, Lattingtown, Mill Neck, Kings Point — is dominated by tall multi-tier wall systems and natural stone walls. Estate properties here routinely have 12 to 20 feet of grade change, requiring engineered multi-tier systems. Material selection trends to fieldstone, Connecticut granite, or premium SRW with stone veneer. Project budgets routinely run $50,000 to $200,000+ for full estate-scale wall systems.
- Retaining walls in Old Westbury
- Retaining walls in Manhasset
- Retaining walls in Lloyd Harbor
- Retaining walls in Cold Spring Harbor
Premium suburban grade walls: $90-$140/SF
Garden City, Great Neck, Syosset, Huntington, Dix Hills, Commack, and Jericho commonly need driveway grade walls, yard terrace walls, and pool patio retention systems in the 3 to 6 foot range. Material selection trends to premium SRW (Cambridge MaytRx XL, Nicolock Wallstone XL, Techo-Bloc Mini-Creta) or natural stone where the home architecture supports it. Project budgets typically run $15,000 to $50,000.
- Retaining walls in Great Neck
- Retaining walls in Syosset
- Retaining walls in Huntington
- Retaining walls in Dix Hills
- Retaining walls in Commack
Mid-tier suburban: $50-$95/SF
Babylon, Massapequa, Bay Shore, Smithtown, Patchogue, and similar mid-Suffolk and South Shore Nassau towns trend toward small to medium walls in the 2 to 4 foot range. SRW block dominates. Project budgets typically run $4,500 to $18,000.
We service all 148 towns across Nassau and Suffolk County. If your town is not listed above, see our complete retaining wall service area.
Why Choose Brothers Paving & Masonry
Brothers Paving & Masonry is a family-built hardscape contractor based in Bay Shore, NY. We have operated on Long Island for 15+ years, built retaining wall systems across Nassau and Suffolk County, and earned 70+ five-star Google reviews from homeowners we have worked with. Every wall is built by a Brothers crew — we do not subcontract retaining wall installation work. Our crews are trained on engineered systems, drainage detailing, and geogrid placement.
- ✓15+ years on Long Island. We have built walls in every soil condition, every grade scenario, and every freeze-thaw winter the region throws at us.
- ✓Engineering coordination. Working relationships with several New York licensed PEs who specialize in retaining wall design. We move quickly on engineered packages.
- ✓Permits handled end-to-end. We know every Nassau and Suffolk building department. We file, track, and close out permits as part of our scope.
- ✓Cambridge, Nicolock, Techo-Bloc, Belgard, and Unilock certified installer. Manufacturer certification means our walls qualify for the structural warranty.
- ✓Drainage discipline. Geotextile, French drain, gravel chimney, weep holes — every wall, every time. No exceptions, no shortcuts.
- ✓5-year workmanship warranty. On top of the manufacturer lifetime warranty on the wall units themselves.
- ✓Photo documentation at every stage. Base, drainage, geogrid, backfill — every wall is photographed at every build stage so the warranty file is complete.
Want to know more? Read our story, read our customer reviews, or browse our project gallery.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions Long Island homeowners ask us most often before signing a retaining wall contract. If your question isn't answered here, call us at (631) 374-9796 or request a free estimate.

