Want privacy or a clean property line without a wall that leans or cracks a few years in? We build block walls from the footing up.
Concrete block walls in El Paso, TX are masonry fences built on a poured concrete footing, with dowels tying the block to it, and they give you a solid, private boundary that holds up to weather on both sides.
Most calls I get about block walls are for privacy, a cleaner property line or a garden wall that won't start leaning a few years in. The part you never see decides that. On a freestanding wall, the footing is what keeps it from tipping or sliding when wind or a shove pushes from the side, so I spell it out in every estimate instead of leaving you to guess.
The price moves with the wall's length, height and thickness, the steel it takes and what the footing needs. The schedule turns on the size and any permit, and your written estimate lays all of it out. I check which office covers your address first, and when a permit is needed, we handle the paperwork. Block going under a house is foundation block wall installation, and block around a grill is outdoor kitchen masonry.
Call (915) 265-1230 or use the form, and tell us roughly how long and tall the wall should be and where it goes. We'll set a time for me to come out and look.
I walk the wall line with you and explain what I see in the ground and the layout. You get a written estimate that spells out the footing, the steel and grout, and where the control joints go, so you can hold it up against any other bid line by line.
If you go ahead, our crew digs and pours the footing, then lays and grouts the block, with me checking on it as it goes. When it's finished, we walk the wall together before we call it done.
It starts in the ground. We dig and pour the footing, the concrete base the whole wall sits on, and dowels usually run up out of it into the block so the wall and footing act as one. Then we lay the block with steel in the cores, grout them and set a coping on top, a cap that keeps water out of the wall and gives it a finished edge in concrete brick, cast stone, brick or natural stone.
Before we lay the first block, I mark where the control joints go. They're planned breaks that give the wall somewhere to crack neatly instead of across its face, and I'd rather you see them on the plan than wonder about them later.
What a block wall job covers:
Broken coping, a few damaged blocks or a gate post that's worked loose can usually be repaired without touching the rest of the wall. A wall that leans, has slid or has cracks running through the block itself usually points back to the footing, and no patch on the face fixes that. In that case I'll tell you plainly that rebuilding, starting with a proper footing, is the better spend, because I'd rather fix what caused it than the part you can see.
The size is the obvious part, but how the wall is built moves the number too. Taller and thicker walls need more steel and a bigger footing, and a wall that carries a load needs more of both. A curved layout or a stone coping adds block, labor and material. Tearing out an old wall first, or a tight side yard where the crew has to hand-carry block in, adds time to the job.
I learned block work beside a mason who'd spent decades at it, and the habit I took from him is explaining a job before we start it. I'll point at the footing line and the joint layout until you know your own wall well enough to make a good call, even if you don't hire us. Our crew cleans up each day. We're licensed and fully insured. Your satisfaction, guaranteed.
We're open seven days a week, 8 AM to 9 PM, so call with your wall's rough length and height ready.
Tell us where the wall goes and its rough length and height. We reply within one business day, and I'll come out for a free estimate at your home with no pressure to book.
A freestanding concrete block wall, installed, usually costs about $15 to $30 per square foot across the US. That's a national guide, not our price, and where your wall lands depends on how it's built. Your written estimate from the visit gives you the figure for your wall.
Not every core has to be grouted, since grout can go only in the cores that hold the steel. Filling every core makes the wall solidly grouted, and that can actually be faster and cheaper when the vertical steel sits close together or the wall has a lot of bond beams, the horizontal courses filled with steel and grout. I'll tell you which way your wall should go and why.
Most fine cracks in a block wall come from shrinkage as the block and mortar dry, and they aren't a structural concern. Control joints keep those cracks where they're about looks, not strength, and they help keep moisture and air from getting in. Still ask how a bid handles them, because hairline cracks left alone can let water in during wind-driven rain.
Every permit the City of El Paso issues has to be finalized with a final inspection, a certificate of completion or a certificate of occupancy, so plan on that step before the job counts as done. The city issues the permits, and contractors have to register with it every year to be able to pull one. If your wall needs a permit, we keep you posted on where it stands.
Yes, a concrete block wall can be built with curves, and the curve actually helps it stand. Serpentine and folded-plate walls, the ones that curve or zigzag along their length, get extra sideways stability from their bends, so they can be built higher than a straight wall. They take more layout and more block, which shows up in the estimate.
Ask each contractor how they handle the materials, the design and the workmanship, because a block fence takes weather on both sides and those three decide how long it lasts. A good bid puts the footing, the steel and grout and the control joints in writing. Call (915) 265-1230 and I'll walk you through ours.
We're based in El Paso and build block walls across the cities around it, including Socorro and Sunland Park. Pick your city below, or call if yours isn't listed.
