ᐅ Costs for Retaining Wall Made of Formwork Blocks

Hello everyone!

After unfortunately being let down at short notice by two landscape contractors, a potential replacement came by today for our project to build a retaining wall along our property boundary. He also brought a quote that made me think: For constructing the wall (about 23m (75 feet) long and 1.2m (4 feet) high), he estimated 12,000 euros.

The quote includes:
- Foundation work (80cm (31 inches) deep, including reinforcement steel)
- Setting formwork blocks (including reinforcement steel)
- Concrete filling
- Lawn edging stones as the "top row," allowing the formwork blocks to be covered with 25cm (10 inches) of soil
- Waterproofing on the built-up side to prevent moisture penetration

Since I’m completely new to landscaping construction, I would appreciate your feedback on whether this is a (too) expensive quote. The construction site is in Bavaria/Nuremberg.

The other landscape contractors’ quotes were in a similar price range, but for a (higher quality?) version using wall panels.

If you can't do it by yourself, this is a good price.

I did the whole thing alone with a friend. It took us 3 days and cost 2500 for a similar size/height. The friend was paid 800 euros.

We paid around €12,500 for 43m² (about 463 ft²) of concrete block wall, which was divided into three different sections, including earth and gravel work as well as setting the wall and concreting. That’s a few square meters more than you have. The slight difference could be due to regional factors. It doesn’t sound like a rip-off.

The "ability" is the issue. Although I am skilled in DIY, this would be my first time building a formwork block wall, which then has to withstand the earth pressure from part of our property. It feels a bit too risky for me that the wall might collapse in a few years because I made a mistake somewhere.

Thanks @Stefan2.84 for the information! At least now I know that the price is fairly reasonable.

Strahleman schrieb:

Lawn edging stones as the "final row" to cover the formwork blocks with 25cm (10 inches) of soil
- Waterproofing on the filled side to prevent moisture penetration

They shouldn’t be stingy and should extend the waterproofing all the way under the top plates if the area is going to be covered with soil.

How is this supposed to look visually? If it’s covered with soil, that soil needs to be contained so it doesn’t fall out. Will there be a fence or some kind of fall protection on top?
What does the back side (towards the neighbor?) look like? If these are just the basic formwork blocks, someone will need to improve the appearance—plaster, wood cladding, or something similar…

Stefan2.84 schrieb:

The slight difference could be due to regional factors. It doesn’t sound like a rip-off.

The "slight" difference?
After all, your wall is almost twice as long and located in three different sections, which, in my view, means more work!
Yet, the offer price from the original poster is almost the same. The difference is hardly slight.

If you are skilled at DIY and generally not afraid of doing some work yourself, building the wall certainly isn’t rocket science and doesn’t really justify such a high price. It requires endurance rather than special expertise.

Manufacturers/suppliers of formwork blocks, for example, offer structural calculations and provide precise instructions on how the foundation should be built, which blocks to use for which height, and what kind of reinforcement is needed...
You can review all of this in detail and possibly decide to do it yourself. I only have about 15 m (50 feet), but I don’t intend to spend five-figure sums on it.