Another wall solution

[Basecoat]

Hi All good & great

what would be the solution of having to build a retaining wall on boundary line with my neighbour at back. His home is 5 foot higher than mine therefore his garden was sloping down to boundary fence at back.

In last 2 years he has built extension and used the slope area to rubble fill upto height of fence. I think its a silly thing to do. The problem created is that the fill is gradually moving therefore my fence is collapsing.

I have approached him a number of times. He has agreed for a retainer wall. How do you build a retainer in a situation where for starter all rubble has to be removed. Foundations dug and poured. Then wall built. How thick the wall should be and should it be supported by columns. Have I missed anything.

I need help. It will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Static]

What will the end height difference be between the gardens? and how long will the wall be?

 

[breezer]

take your fence down, let his garden collapse then watch his face.

seriously invite him round to see the problem, its his problem not yours, why should you build a wall for his garden? you shouldn't , he should

 

[masona]

Might be an idea to have a word with the BCO for their advice as they did passed the drawing plan for your neighbour.

 

[Basecoat]

What will the end height difference be between the gardens? and how long will the wall be?

Hi "static"

Very Good points raised.

There are two issues here. First the retainer wall and then as you rightly point out the height of the wall. I want to achieve total privacy from him therefore height of wall 2400mm (approximately 8 foot).

The width of the wall 9315. (A big wall) but I believe a permanent solution. Otherwise a difficult person to deal with. I have an agreement with I want to make best use of it and as soon as possible.

 

[Basecoat]

take your fence down, let his garden collapse then watch his face.

seriously invite him round to see the problem, its his problem not yours, why should you build a wall for his garden? you shouldn't , he should

Hi "breezer"

I would have liked to do just that but unfortunately I have a large garden shed along side the fence. The fence has collapsed and rubble is six inches away. Give it another few weeks it will be alongside the shed. That is my concern.

 

[Basecoat]

Might be an idea to have a word with the BCO for their advice as they did passed the drawing plan for your neighbour.

Hi "masona"

You too are right. Last summer I took advice on the matter from CAB. They advised me to seek an amicable solution with the neighbour and building a retainer wall might be a permanent solution. On my first approach with him he was adament that its my problem.

It took six months of constant pushing to get him to agree. I have suggested to him he pays for the clearance of rubble,digging of foundations and materials. I will build the wall. I am waiting for him to get back to me. Taking advice from you guys is for my preparation.

 

[Static]

Unless you need to retain 2400mm of earth a far cheapest solution would be to building a retaining wall on the boundary line then behind the wall sink some timber posts in concrete and put a normal timber fence to required height.

If not still give me the height of earth retained and ill try to give you a sensible wall option

 

[Basecoat]

Unless you need to retain 2400mm of earth a far cheapest solution would be to building a retaining wall on the boundary line then behind the wall sink some timber posts in concrete and put a normal timber fence to required height.

If not still give me the height of earth retained and ill try to give you a sensible wall option

Hi "static"

At the point of boundary we have fence. Standing on my side the fence measures 5.5 feet. This cheeky neighbour of mine being smart used all the rubbish in his garden to lay against the fence. There was so much that it began to spill over to my side.

I told him this is not on. He than used his left over building materials to top up. This resulted in his rubbish is 2 foot over the fence. An ugly site. There is all sorts buried i.e old matteresses, bikes, wheel barrows, logs, old bricks, clothing, blankets to name a few. It resembles a land fill site. He saved cost of skip and hard work to shift rubbish into skip.

I would be grateful if you can tell me what would be an economical method to employ. I really would like to go a height of atleast 8 foot from my side for my privacy and elimination of an ugly site.

By the way last summer rats were seen in my drive. I got council pest control in. They were very helpful. They put poison down. Haven't seen rats again but they could come back so a retainer wall should help keeping rats on his side. Those are my concerns.

 

[Static]

Assuming that in the end your neighbour will eventually remove the rubble and replace with earth or something.
Then if you want a retaining wall to support 7ft-8ft or so of material you are looking at one of the following.

Reinforced brick pocket retaining wall - brick wall with concrete posts built in every 3 of so feet along the wall. Can be expensive and due to casting the vertical posts. Fence can be added behind wall to height required

Reinforced cavity wall - brick outer skin, 100-120mm cavity with reinforced concrete, then blockwork inner skin. Probably a little heavy duty for a garden but 8ft is quite tall, you could also attach any form of fence to this wall. Wall can be extended to heigh required

Timber log retaining wall - your looking at the higher end of what these can do but heres some links:
http://www.westernloggroup.com/timber_walling.aspx?sm=7
http://www.mmtimber.co.uk/products_detail.php?p=1&p_id=33
Basically its a mass concrete footing about 24"(600mm" wide and about 1-1.5m deep that you sink timber posts into, these can be overlong to save adding a fence to top.

Or i guess a reinforce concrete wall - self explainatory, probably most expensive option.

Personnal i find the timber log wall the simplest, then the cavity wall.

 

[podgeylad]

Then if you want a retaining wall to support 7ft-8ft or so of material you are looking at one of the following.


Reinforced cavity wall - brick outer skin, 100-120mm cavity with reinforced concrete, then blockwork inner skin. Probably a little heavy duty for a garden but 8ft is quite tall, you could also attach any form of fence to this wall. Wall can be extended to heigh required



hi new member here,

sorry to crash an old post, but this is just the wall i need, 7-8ft high x 28ft long, i want facing brick appearance and think the above quote is what i want to go for, i would like more details like foundation depths widths etc, is the outer skin 1 stretcher bond before cavity or 2, what type blocks etc
i was hoping to do this myself, and any help would be very much appreciated
thanks paul

 

[chessspy]

Hi, podgeylad,
If the wall you propose is to be a boundary wall not a retaining one between two gardens, then you need to consider that the maximum height you may be allowed is 2mts from path. (although this is not alway rigourously monitored)
It would be normal to build such a wall and a retainer in English bond as a 9" thickness wall, (1 brick thick) wit piers every 6 to 10 foot, (and one on each end)
There is a rule of thumb for foundation depth, that it should be at least 1/3 of the height, but of course it all depends on the ground and other considerations.
The width for a
9" wall foundation is 18" and the concrete should be 9" deep minimum.
If you want to skimp a bit you can build it 4" with piers of 9" but it's a bit high for that.
No DPC in perimeter walls, but you can use engineering below what would be the DPC if there were one.

 

[podgeylad]

thanks for reply cheesy

it is not the boundry, it will be about 3ft infront of the boundry at the rear as there garden fence is 13ft high from my ground level, its a 6ft fence sat on 7ft of earth, i want to build a retaining wall in front of the 7ft of earth if that makes sense ,if so is the wall u described adequate?
thanks
paul

 

[chessspy]

Hi, Paul,
The 9" wall with piers would be.(adequate)
You could build the piers either inside or outside of the wall, (or equally either side.
If you really wanted to be sure without going to the expense of calculations. Then a wall of concrete blocks laid flat in 5-1 mortar with a 4" skin of face bricks up the front tied in with wall ties would be tremendously strong.
Requires some weep tubes across to the inside to relieve any water build up and fill in at the back with type1 or crushed concrete or small hardcore.
If you want pics I can draw something and post it on my picasa site.

 

[podgeylad]

thanks chesspy

couple other questions though, 5-1 mortar ? not sure what u mean.
also do u think my footings need reinforcing?
thanks again for your help
paul