Want privacy, a quieter yard or a wall that isn't leaning? We build block walls on a solid footing, with the steel tied in.
A concrete block wall is a fence or garden wall built from concrete masonry, and at E&M Brownsville Concrete and Masonry we build them in Brownsville, TX to give your yard privacy, security, screening from the street, some quiet, and shade and shelter from the wind.
Most calls start the same way. You want privacy from the street, the old fence is falling apart, or you're tired of looking at chain link. Size moves the price most, because a longer or taller wall takes more block, more steel and a bigger footing. After that it's the choices you make, like a curved layout, a cap along the top, tearing out an old wall first and how easy the spot is for us to reach.
The schedule turns on whether the city needs to review your wall, on the weather, and on giving the footing and grout time to set before we load them. Once I've seen the spot, you get a written price for the work we talked about, and that's the number to plan around, not a guess over the phone.
You deal with me from the first visit to the last block, and the steps don't change much from one wall to the next.
I come out, walk where the wall's going, ask what you've been seeing and what you want from the wall, and write up a price for the work we talked about. I've run this business since 2023, after years laying block and brick under a mason who made me tear out any joint that wasn't right.
Once you say go, we sort out what your city or county office wants before the crew shows up. That way nobody's tearing into your yard for a wall that hasn't been cleared.
The people laying your block are our own crew, and I'm there running them. When it's done, I walk the finished wall with you, and our work is satisfaction guaranteed.
A block wall is only as good as what's holding it up, so I give the footing and the steel as much attention as the face you'll look at. On a freestanding wall, the footing is what keeps it from tipping over or sliding when something pushes on it from the side, and dowels, steel bars that run up out of the footing into the wall, lock the two together. Block also shrinks as it cures and picks up hairline cracks, and wind-driven rain can push water in through the ones nobody deals with. So we plan horizontal steel and control joints, cuts that give the wall a straight place to move instead of cracking where it wants, before the first block goes down.
Some block work isn't a fence at all. If the block is going under a house, that's foundation block wall installation, a different job with its own page. If you want block around a grill, sink or bar, our outdoor kitchen masonry starts from the same footing and steel.
Once the paperwork's sorted, the build runs in this order. We don't skip ahead, because each step carries the next one.
We string the wall where we agreed and dig the trench for the footing. If the line is off now, it's off for the life of the wall, so I check it before anyone picks up a shovel.
We pour the footing with the dowels standing in it, so the steel is locked in before any block goes on. Then it sits until it's ready to carry the wall.
We lay each course straight and level, tie in the horizontal steel, cut the control joints and grout the cores around the steel. A rushed crew hurries this part, and it's the part that holds the wall together.
The coping goes on top and the face gets the finish we agreed on. Then we haul off the dirt, broken block and scraps, so your yard looks like a yard again.
Send the wall's rough length and height, where it goes on your lot, and whether you're thinking about a curve or a cap on top, or call (956) 505-5518. We'll reply within one business day. Then I come out, look it over and give you a free estimate on site, with no obligation to go ahead.
(956) 505-5518Across the US, installing a concrete block wall usually costs about $16 to $19 per square foot, so a taller wall adds up just as fast as a longer one. That's what the market charges, not my price, and yours moves with the footing, the steel, a curved layout, a coping and how easy the spot is to reach. I'll give you a written price once I've seen it.
Yes. A serpentine or folded plate wall, one that snakes or zigzags along its length, can go higher than a straight wall because the bends give it sideways stability. Plenty of people also like how a curve sits in a yard, but it takes more layout work, so tell me early if you want one.
Put a water repellent on it, because one is generally recommended for any outdoor wall that's a single block thick. On a new wall, the guidance is to pick a repellent that can stand up to the alkali in fresh mortar, put an alkali-resistant fill coat down first, or let the wall weather for about six months before sealing. Applied properly, a coating can keep a block wall weathertight for up to 10 years in most parts of the country.
A new wall counts as new construction. The city's Building Permits and Inspections Division handles permits and plan review for all new construction and remodeling, and it checks homes against the city's building and zoning codes through plan review and inspections. When your wall needs a permit, we pull it and call for the inspections. The city's Planning and Redevelopment Department keeps contractor registration, with concrete contractors under its general contractor category, and you can call it with questions at (956) 548-6150.
We're based in Brownsville and build across the Rio Grande Valley cities around it, including San Benito, Harlingen, Los Fresnos and Port Isabel, plus others nearby. A lot of our calls are for privacy along a busy street or an old block fence that's cracked and leaning, and whatever city you're in, the fix starts with the same footing and steel.
You can't fix a bad footing without tearing out the wall on top of it, so call (956) 505-5518 or use the contact form before anyone starts digging.
If you've got a wall in mind, tell me where it goes and how tall you want it, and I'll come take a look.
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