Retaining walls in Kingsport
Kingsport was laid out as a planned city in a river valley, and the neighborhoods that grew up its hillsides left a lot of slopes to hold.
Kingsport had 55,442 residents at the 2020 census. Most of the city is in Sullivan County, with part reaching into Hawkins County, and it grew up where the North and South Forks of the Holston River meet, beside the Long Island of the Holston. In the 1910s it was re-chartered as the "Model City," with a plan that sorted commerce, churches, housing and industry into their own districts, and planner John Nolen designed part of it. Eastman Chemical Company's world headquarters is here, and most of the Long Island is now Eastman property.
Common Kingsport wall jobs
- Rebuilding stone and block walls on older, hilly lots close to downtown
- Replacing tie walls on ranch and split-level homes across the city
- Terracing steep backyards in newer subdivisions on the edges of town
- Walls along driveways that climb from the street to the house
- Repairing walls at rental houses before a tenant's yard slides
Permits inside city limits
The Building Division works out of the first floor at 415 Broad Street, and permits and payments run through the city's eTRAKiT online portal. Kingsport enforces the 2018 International Residential Code, and its FAQ lists grading among work that needs a permit. When you hire a contractor, the contractor buys the permit; owner-occupants doing their own work file a Homeowner's Affidavit first. Jobs under $25,000 need a city business license, jobs over that need a Tennessee contractor's license, and every contractor has to show proof of workers' compensation and general liability insurance.
The rock under the city
A road cut along U.S. 23 just northwest of town is the type section for the Kingsport Formation, a Knox Group dolomite. Rock like that weathers into clay and can leave voids, which is why contractors here dig test holes before they commit to a footing depth.
Common questions
Do you cover all of Kingsport?
Yes, both the Sullivan County and Hawkins County sides. Call with the address and we'll connect you with a contractor that works there.
Where do retaining wall permits come from in Kingsport?
The City of Kingsport Building Division at 415 Broad Street, through the eTRAKiT portal. Your contractor normally pulls it.
Services in Kingsport
- Block retaining wallsInterlocking concrete block walls that terrace a sloped yard, hold a driveway cut or frame a patio.
- Failing wall repairRepair a wall that's leaning, bulging or dropping blocks, or rebuild the section that's giving way.
- Timber wall replacementRemove rotting landscape timbers and railroad ties and put in a block or stone wall that drains.
- Stone retaining wallsDry-laid limestone, fieldstone, boulder and stone-faced walls for older homes and garden terraces.
- Drainage behind wallsAdd or repair the drain pipe, stone backfill and outlets that keep water from pushing a wall over.
Nearby areas
Blocks creeping forward or an old tie wall going soft?
Call and a Kingsport-area retaining wall contractor will come out, look at it and quote the job.