ForConstructionPros.com

Contractors looking for an add-on service or an area of diversification may want to consider concrete retaining walls. Three years ago, Cornerstone Foundations, Inc., Harrisonburg, Va., started offering precast concrete stone retaining walls, and now it is a successful part of the company's business.

"Initially we thought it might be an add-on. But then we realized that a lot of construction jobs, particularly commercial sites, have retaining walls involved in them so it really became an extra part of our business," says Tim Parrish, founder and president of Cornerstone Foundations.

Parrish uses World Block forms to create mid-sized landscape concrete blocks for retaining walls. World Block offers them an appealing stone look and size that is marketable for his company, he adds. Plus, Cornerstone can build these retaining walls up to 12 feet without the need for a geogrid - fabric that goes into the bank to help stabilize the concrete wall.

Cornerstone's retaining wall system is known as Sure Stone. "World Block is selling forms but we are selling a system," Parrish says. "So we were trying to find something to call our walls. We carry that 'sure foundation' theme throughout our company."

Because Cornerstone's retaining walls have become an integral part of the business instead of an add-on service, Parrish says he buys concrete specifically for the blocks. "A lot of ready mix producers buy these forms and pour leftover concrete into the forms and sell them," Parrish says. "We took a different approach to make it part of our business stream."