Getting there
Watertown is the far southeast corner of our circle, about 19 miles from the shop. We take US-12 east to Montrose and MN-25 south into town, roughly 30 minutes. Because it is the edge of our range, we plan Watertown work as full days and try to line up a site visit with other stops in Delano or Montrose.
A river town that grew fast
Watertown added about 1,600 people between 2000 and 2020, and most of its housing was built in the last few decades. The town has two layers. The older blocks near downtown and the river have homes on original walks and stoops, detached garages on settled slabs, and driveways that were patched more than once. The newer subdivisions have builder driveways and small patios that went in at 4 inches on a base nobody compacted, and after 15 to 20 winters they are cracked at the garage apron and pitched the wrong way. For the old lots we pour walks and stoops to grade and set steps on footings. For the newer ones we replace the driveway at 5 inches on compacted class 5, cut real control joints, and pour the patio the builder skipped.
The South Fork of the Crow River and the flood wall
The Crow River is part of life in Watertown. When it runs high, city crews stand up a flood wall along the river to protect downtown, a job that takes them about four hours. In June 2024 the river spilled onto parkland in town. For anyone building on a lot near the river that matters two ways. First, grade: a patio, walk, or driveway near the water gets pitched so runoff goes toward the river and not the basement, with drain tile where a slab meets the foundation. Second, the bank itself: we stabilize a washing riverbank with fieldstone or boulder riprap on filter fabric, and we set steps and boulder walls above the spring crest, not the summer water line.
Clay lots, frost, and retaining walls
Watertown is glacial till like the rest of the Crow River valley, clay that holds water and heaves. We build footings to a 42-inch frost depth, which is what Wright County next door builds to and what the soil here demands. The subdivision lots were graded for walkout and lookout basements, so a lot of backyards drop a story from the door to the lawn. Holding that grade is retaining-wall work: compacted gravel base, drainage stone and perforated tile behind the block, geogrid on anything tall, and an engineered design once a wall passes 4 feet. The concrete season runs from about mid-April into October.
Concrete flatwork in Watertown
Watertown's concrete flatwork is mostly driveways and patios behind houses that went up during the 2000 to 2020 growth run, with the older river-town blocks needing walks and stoops rebuilt to grade. How we pour driveways, patios, and pool decks that hold up here.
Lake and shoreline work near Watertown
Watertown's water is the South Fork of the Crow River, which runs high enough in spring that the city stands up a flood wall to protect downtown. River lots here need bank stabilization with riprap and boulders, grading that sends runoff to the river instead of the basement, and patios set with the spring crest in mind rather than a summer water line. Riprap, boulder walls, and what the permits look like.
Around Watertown
- South Fork of the Crow River
What we build in Watertown
Questions from Watertown
Is Watertown too far from Cokato for a small job?
It is our farthest southeast town, about 19 miles and 30 minutes by way of Montrose on MN-25. We take driveways, patios, walls, and riverbank work in Watertown and schedule them as full days. A very small repair on its own may not make sense at that distance, and we will say so on the phone rather than quote it high.
Our Watertown lot backs up to the Crow River. Can you stabilize the bank?
Yes. We set fieldstone or boulder riprap on filter fabric where the bank is washing, and build a boulder wall above it if the slope needs holding. Because the river crests hard in spring, we set walls and steps above the flood line the city plans around. Work below the ordinary high water level needs a DNR permit, which we factor into the plan.
Do Watertown's newer subdivisions have the same frost problems as the older homes?
Worse in some ways. The old lots have had a century to settle; the subdivisions from the 2000s have builder driveways poured thin on uncompacted fill, and 15 to 20 winters on clay have lifted the aprons and cracked the panels. We replace them at 5 inches on a compacted base with control joints cut on a grid, which is what should have gone in the first time.
Nearby
We also work in Delano, Montrose and Winsted. All the towns we cover.