Payson, Utah
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We grade Payson lots and build retaining walls from the Peteetneet flats to the east bench, so water leaves the yard and the walls stay standing.
“In 2 days they graded and spread all of the topsoil, and had it raked and ready for sod delivery the next day.”
“I will be using them for all of my landscape needs, a pleasure to work with!”
Grading and Retaining Walls in Payson
Payson sits where the fans below Mount Nebo meet the valley floor, so most lots have some tilt to them. Up on the east bench and the Loafer Mountain side, it can be a lot. Snowmelt and summer storms run downhill across the yard and follow whatever path you give them. If the grade points toward the house, that path ends at your foundation. Good grading here means deciding where the water goes before anything else gets built on top.
The soil changes on the way down. Bench lots sit on gravelly fan ground that drains fast but is full of cobble. Lower down, near Peteetneet Creek and out on the flats, it turns into Lake Bonneville clay and silt that holds water and pushes hard on anything holding it back. A wall built for gravel can fail on clay. We figure out which ground you have before we pick a wall type.
Payson follows the state building code on walls. A retaining wall over 4 feet, measured from the bottom of the footing, needs a permit and usually engineered plans. That footing part catches people out, since a wall that looks three and a half feet tall from the lawn can already be over the line. We confirm current requirements with Payson Development Services on every wall job and bring in an engineer when one is needed.
Payson has two quirks an outside crew misses: very hard culinary water, around 11.7 grains a gallon, that scales up sprinkler heads, and a secondary system that carries canyon sediment, so filtration matters here.
Know your Payson ground
The Payson challenges
Wet clay is heavy, and it swells. Behind a retaining wall on the Payson flats it can push a block wall forward or tip a rock wall out at the top. Most of the failed walls we get called to trace back to no drain rock and no pipe behind them, so the water just sat there all spring and pushed.
On east bench lots, water comes off the hill above you fast. A yard graded flat, or tipped toward the house, lets it reach the foundation and the window wells. It shows up most in spring, when the snow on the slope above melts off in a few warm days and has nowhere to go.
Payson counts wall height from the bottom of the footing, not from the grass. Once a wall goes past 4 feet, it needs a permit and most of the time an engineer. Planning one tall wall where two shorter terraces would fit is a common way to end up with added cost and a slower start.
Gravelly fan soil on the bench is packed with rock, some of it bigger than a basketball. It slows the dig for footings and drain lines, and it leaves a lumpy grade if nobody pulls it out. The good news is that once the work is done right, that same ground drains very well.
The J&H approach
We walk the lot and look at where water comes from and where it can go. Then we set the grades: away from the house and toward a swale, a drain, or a spot that can take it. Walls get placed to fit that water plan, not the other way around.
Every retaining wall we build gets clean drain rock behind it, fabric to keep the clay out of that rock, and a perforated pipe at the base that drains out to daylight. That takes the water pressure off the wall, which is what keeps it straight on Payson clay.
Where the slope allows it, we step the yard with two or three shorter walls. That gives you flat, usable space on the bench and can keep each wall under the 4 foot permit line. When one taller wall is the right call, we get it engineered and permitted.
From our job sites
Short videos from real J&H job sites. Tap one to play it with sound.
What homeowners say
"We had a really big project (full lot project) and a crazy timeline, and Jackson and his team were awesome. They are very efficient, work hard to get things done quick, and the quality of their work is top-notch. Great company. Great guys. I would highly recommend them for any landscaping needs."
"Jackson and his crew did a phenomenal job on our back yard. I had a vision and they brought it to life. We had them do a retaining wall, grading, underground trampoline, sprinkler system, and sod. They met deadlines, communication was on point, and the whole crew was friendly.…"
"…The job was completed quickly without sacrificing quality, and the results exceeded our expectations. We would absolutely hire this team again and recommend them to anyone looking for landscaping help."
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Your dream yard. Done right. Done on time.
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