Replace Garden Retaining Wall

[leave-it-to-the-experts]

Hi, I'm looking for some advice regarding replacing a retaining garden wall. Pictures are attached of the wall when we bought the house 5 years ago.

Untitled

• leave-it-to-the-experts
• 22 Aug 2012
• 1

Untitled

• leave-it-to-the-experts
• 22 Aug 2012
• 1

The wall is now bowing quite a lot in the middle and you can visibly see water coming through the mortar when large amounts of water come down on the grass.

The bottom two layers of bricks do not appear to have moved and are free from cracks etc which I am hoping is a good sign that the wall can be taken back down to that level and rebuilt?

I should add that we have had a conservatory built to within 30cm of the wall on the left hand side, will this add complications to the rebuild?

Is replacing this something that could be undertaken by an amateur or would you recommend getting professional help? Lastly would anyone be prepared to offer a rough guide on price to have the wall replaced?

Thanks in advance!

 

[StephenW]

If it was my garden, these would be my thoughts:-
The wall is about 500mm high. What would happen if you took it away completely? I believe the soil immediately behind it would eventually collapse down at an angle (about 30 degrees I think) and then nothing further would happen. There is no building pressing down on the upper part of the garden so nothing trying to spread/push the ground towards the wall. So the wall is only really holding back a triangle of ground immediately behind it. I would say it was a low risk of a catastrophe even if you built it incorrectly.
As a DIYer I would probably over-spec (you could probably build a block of flats on my patio! ) and would build a concrete block wall and then face it with a brick/walling block wall, tying the two together at intervals with brick ties or mesh and ending up about 260mm thick. As I say, the wall is low and you are not holding up a building and the ground above it is flat so I would give it a go.

 

[Arthur2shedsJackson]

The wall is now bowing quite a lot in the middle and you can visibly see water coming through the mortar when large amounts of water come down on the grass.

It sounds like there were no drain holes in the wall when it was first built.
You need to give the water a way to escape when it builds up behnd the wall, otherwise it will bow as yours has.

I don't see why you couldn't re-build it, it doesn't appear particularly high, but as per the first answer, you could just take it away and slope the lawn down.

 

[dhutch]

Sounds fair to me, when ever doing a DIY job i think it is good practice to consider what would happen if it would go wrong.

I also agree the importance of suitable drainage holes.


Daniel

 

[leave-it-to-the-experts]

Thanks for the replies chaps, I am going to get a few quotes from the pros and if the price quoted is too high have a go at it myself.