A friend of mine asked me to look at the failing DIY "retaining" wall at the end of her garden - I think she thought I could do something "cheap and cheerful'.
On inspection it's a pretty massive structure with a patio on top, the visible wall is about 2.5m high, I'm not sure there is much in the way of foundations and I guess the wall is/was largely being held in place by the two side returns which have now cracked vertically about 2m back, the ground at the foot of the wall is just rubbish that's been piled up and below it the slope continues, terminating about 3m lower at the bottom of the valley where there is a culverted stream.
I imagine a new properly constructed retaining wall would be a major engineering project (and there's only pedestrian access from the front of the house). She doesn't have much money and suggested that she abandon the wall, let gravity take it's course and build a smaller retaining wall about 2m back (across where the returns have started to separate) because she is reluctant to loose all the area. This would be about 1.8m high, plus the foundations, obviously still a major undertaking but maybe more realistic.
The thing that confuses me slightly is what the wall is retaining, given that the 45 degree slope it is built off appears to be stable and self supporting, is it in fact just retaining the infill behind it and does this make it less of a retaining wall? For example if she cleared the wall and all the infill away (which is presumably what's pushing the wall over) and built a new wall further up the slope with nothing behind it and topped it with decking would it need to be a retaining wall or just a substantial 1.8m high wall? This then begs the question does she actually need a wall? It's quite common in this area to see decking on similarly steep slopes supported by 4-5m old telegraph poles concreted in the ground.
Any suggestions appreciated, I'm just trying to give her a few options as it is quite a large part of her garden to loose. Personally I think if if you looked at this today with nothing there, like the neighbour on the left, you'd immediately say "decking on stilts" not "massive masonry structure"!
On inspection it's a pretty massive structure with a patio on top, the visible wall is about 2.5m high, I'm not sure there is much in the way of foundations and I guess the wall is/was largely being held in place by the two side returns which have now cracked vertically about 2m back, the ground at the foot of the wall is just rubbish that's been piled up and below it the slope continues, terminating about 3m lower at the bottom of the valley where there is a culverted stream.
I imagine a new properly constructed retaining wall would be a major engineering project (and there's only pedestrian access from the front of the house). She doesn't have much money and suggested that she abandon the wall, let gravity take it's course and build a smaller retaining wall about 2m back (across where the returns have started to separate) because she is reluctant to loose all the area. This would be about 1.8m high, plus the foundations, obviously still a major undertaking but maybe more realistic.
The thing that confuses me slightly is what the wall is retaining, given that the 45 degree slope it is built off appears to be stable and self supporting, is it in fact just retaining the infill behind it and does this make it less of a retaining wall? For example if she cleared the wall and all the infill away (which is presumably what's pushing the wall over) and built a new wall further up the slope with nothing behind it and topped it with decking would it need to be a retaining wall or just a substantial 1.8m high wall? This then begs the question does she actually need a wall? It's quite common in this area to see decking on similarly steep slopes supported by 4-5m old telegraph poles concreted in the ground.
Any suggestions appreciated, I'm just trying to give her a few options as it is quite a large part of her garden to loose. Personally I think if if you looked at this today with nothing there, like the neighbour on the left, you'd immediately say "decking on stilts" not "massive masonry structure"!
