Types of Retaining Walls
Retaining walls are structures built to hold mass of soil in its original place and prevent it from sloping down in form of erosions or landslides. All retaining walls are constructed strong and stable to withstand and evenly distribute lateral pressure. These stabilizing structures have holes with them that serve as exit points of water collected on the other side of the walls. There are different types of retaining walls.

• Gravity Retaining Walls. This type of retaining walls greatly depends on the weight of their mass to hold back the force of the earth from their behind. These retaining walls only stand short with a height of three to four feet. The bases of these walls are thicker that their upper portions.
• Cantilevered Retaining Walls. Unlike gravity retaining walls, the thickness of this type of retaining wall is uniform from bottom to top. Moreover, these retaining walls are founded on a footing. The footing is designed to withstand tipping or sliding forces that exert pressure on the wall itself. Cantilevered retaining walls require crucial steel reinforcing for both the footer and the wall.
• Counterfort Retaining Walls. Similar to a cantilevered, this type of retaining wall also has footer. However, counterfort retaining walls are triangle in shape as an additional feature, called as support connects the top of the wall to the back of the footer. This support is hidden within the mass of soil being resisted. The footer, the wall and the support of this stabilizing structure are connected with one another with a number of reinforcing steels.
• Buttressed Retaining Walls. This type of retaining wall is very similar to counterfort walls. The main difference between the two is that the support of the buttressed retaining walls is on the visible side of the wall.
• Sheet Piles. These walls are made of vinyl, metal or wood planks that are planted into the ground. These retaining walls are built in areas with soft soil and limited spaces.

How to Find a Good Retaining Wall Builder
Browse through business directories and classified ads to shortlist a number of retaining wall builders. Most of them promote their services on these media to attract more clients. Also, browse through the Internet to check the websites of these service providers. Their websites contain the kind of retaining walls they can build, some of their previous works and even a few testimonials from some of their previous clients.
Ask references from your prospective builder and try to contact these references to know their previous experiences while working with your prospective retaining wall builder.
If you have more money and time, visit some of the previous works of your prospective builder and assess whether their workmanship passes your standards.