Blind Bay is steep, and it's close to the water — which is exactly where good retaining work earns its keep. Twenty-five years holding Shuswap lakefront slopes in place.
We're out this way most weeks — usually on site fast.
Everything Earth builds retaining walls, rockwork and paver patios on Blind Bay's lakefront and hillside lots. Blind Bay is unincorporated: since the 2022 boundary change it sits in Columbia Shuswap Regional District Electoral Area G, so your retaining wall permit comes from the CSRD, not from the City of Salmon Arm. We're out this way most weeks.
Slopes that run down toward Shuswap Lake, changing water tables, and access that's rarely simple. On a Blind Bay lot, drainage and base prep aren't details — they're the whole job. Twenty-five years here means we build for the water, not around it.
The Columbia Shuswap Regional District. Blind Bay, Sorrento and Notch Hill were moved out of the old Electoral Area C into a new Electoral Area G on 17 November 2022, and CSRD building inspection covers it. Part 11 of CSRD Building Bylaw No. 660-3 is blunt: no one may construct or structurally repair a retaining wall without a building permit.
Two rules from that bylaw matter more in Blind Bay than almost anywhere else we work. The permit threshold is a wall exceeding 1.22 m above the lower of natural or finished grade — and a run of terraces counts as one wall if any of them rise above a line drawn at 1.22 m and projected back at one vertical to 1.5 horizontal. On a lot that already falls toward the lake, that line gets crossed quickly.
The second is the fill rule. Unless a geotechnical engineer certifies otherwise, fill that isn't held by a permitted retaining wall can't sit at a slope steeper than one vertical to two horizontal. On a sloped waterfront lot, that is the difference between a usable flat terrace and a pile of material that has to come back off. It's the calculation we do before we quote, not after.
We pull the CSRD permit as part of the job and build to the stamped drawings. Send us the address and we'll confirm which area it falls in.
Bylaws change. Confirm current requirements with the CSRD before you build — or ask us and we'll confirm for you.
"We built a new home in Blind Bay and were looking for a professional company for our backyard. Steve was recommended by our neighbour. We gave him a rough landscape sketch and some photos, and he offered suggestions to bring our plan to reality. Steve and his team completed the project on time as promised and within budget. We'd highly recommend Steve and his team for any landscape needs."
Send a photo or just call. We're out in Blind Bay most weeks and can usually be there quickly.
