The process
How a Repair Assessment Works
Five steps from a photograph on your phone to an explanation of what is happening and what the realistic options are.
The short answer
You describe what you are seeing and send photographs. Those are reviewed to narrow down what the evidence points to before anyone drives out. Barefoot Marine Construction then inspects the wall — probing, sounding, checking the toe — and you get an explanation of the mechanism and the options, with findings kept separate from recommendations.
Step by step
What happens, in order
- 1
Describe what you are seeing
Pick the symptoms that match your wall and tell us what changed and when. You do not need to diagnose anything — the point is to capture what you have noticed in your own words.
- 2
Send photographs
A wide shot of the wall, close-ups of the problem areas, and the ground behind the wall. Photographs at low tide show considerably more of the structure and are worth waiting for.
- 3
Initial review
Your symptoms and photographs are reviewed to narrow down what the evidence points to and what needs to be checked in person. This is where most of the guesswork is removed.
- 4
On-site assessment
Barefoot Marine Construction inspects the wall on site under Certified General Contractor #1533461 — probing behind it, sounding concrete, checking the toe and looking for the mechanism rather than just the symptom.
- 5
Findings and options
You get an explanation of what is happening, what is causing it, and which repair approaches are realistic for your wall and conditions — with findings kept separate from recommendations.
- 1Tieback rod — restrains the top of the wall against soil pressure
- 2Anchor or deadman — buried in undisturbed soil behind the wall
- 3Backfill — compacted soil that also supports anything built above it
- 4Filter fabric and drainage stone — lets water through, holds soil back
- 5Cap — ties the panels together and seals the top of the wall
- 6Weep hole — relieves pressure as the tide falls
- 7Embedded toe — buried depth that resists the base kicking out
Your part
Photographs that actually help
The quality of the review depends almost entirely on what the photographs show. Five images taken deliberately are worth more than twenty taken at random.
Wide photograph of the wall
Stand back far enough to show the whole run, and where the problem sits along it.
Close-up of the damaged areas
Include something for scale — a coin, a tape measure, your hand.
The ground behind the wall
Any depressions, soft spots, cracks in hardscape or exposed hardware.
Exposed tiebacks and the wall cap
Anything metal that looks like it should have been buried, and the full length of the cap.
Water-side photograph, where safely accessible
From a dock or the shoreline at low tide. Only if you can do it from stable ground.
Stay safe getting these
Take photographs from stable ground only. Do not walk on ground you suspect is undermined, climb on a damaged or leaning wall, or enter the water to get a better angle. If an area looks unstable, photograph it from a distance — a distant photograph is more useful than an injury.
Our part
What the inspection is looking for
Not a catalogue of symptoms — the mechanism driving them. These are the questions the site visit is trying to answer.
- Is soil leaving, and where is it going?
- Is the wall moving, and is the movement current or historic?
- Does the wall still have restraint at the top and embedment at the toe?
- Is the wall material sound enough to be worth repairing?
- Has anything behind the wall — slab, pool, footing, utility — lost support?
- Where does surface water and roof runoff currently discharge?
- How does the condition vary along the wall, not just at the failure?
What you will not get
- A price before anyone has established what is wrong
- A recommendation that does not say how it was reached
- Manufactured urgency, or a discount that expires today
- A replacement recommendation based only on the failing section
Questions
About the process
Do I need to know what is wrong before I submit a request?
No. Most people notice that something looks different without knowing what it means. Describing what you have observed and sending a few photographs is the whole requirement — identifying the mechanism is the assessment’s job, not yours.
What does the on-site assessment actually involve?
Depending on the symptoms: probing the ground behind the wall to find voids, sounding concrete for delamination behind an intact surface, checking the toe and the water depth in front of the wall, examining the cap and joints, and looking for evidence of anchoring condition. The common thread is looking for the mechanism rather than cataloguing the symptoms.
Why do you keep findings separate from recommendations?
Because they are different kinds of claim. A finding is something observed or measured and can be checked. A recommendation is a judgement about what to do about it. Bundling them makes the judgement look like a fact, which makes it harder to evaluate — and harder to get a meaningful second opinion.
How long does the whole process take?
It depends on scheduling, access and tide windows, and this site does not publish response times it cannot guarantee. What is within our control is that the photo review happens before anyone drives out, so the site visit is targeted rather than exploratory.
Is the assessment the same as a quote?
No. The assessment establishes what is happening and what the realistic options are. A quote prices a defined scope. Doing them in that order is what keeps the scope honest — a number produced before anyone has established the cause is pricing a guess.
What if the assessment finds nothing serious?
That is a useful outcome, and you will be told. Knowing that what you are seeing is cosmetic, and having a documented baseline to compare against in a few years, is worth having.
Next step
Not sure what your bulkhead needs?
Send photos and a short description of what you are seeing. You will get help understanding what the symptoms point to and which repair options are worth evaluating.