Excavating close to neighbour's house

[Al@n]

Looking for some urgent advice as I'm being told conflicting information

I'm planning to level the rear garden, the soil at its peak upto the side wall of a neighbouring property is upto two metres high

I've been told removing all the soil will compromise the structure of the neighbours property, is this correct?

I've dug a test hole of approximately 1 metre deep close to the wall, the colour of the bricks are the same red as the rest of the wall and i cannot see any engineering bricks as of yet and cannot see the damp course

Would this mean i am safe to dig further below so i can level the garden out?

I've been told if the soil is supporting the wall/house i will need to leave approx 2 metres length of the deep soil so as to not affect the other property and build a retaining wall!

Urgent advice would be appreciated

Pic uploaded

 

[^woody^]

As long as you don't dig out below the foundations, you can remove what you like.

 

[Al@n]

As long as you don't dig out below the foundations, you can remove what you like.

I've spoke to the neighbours who have lived there for over 20 years, to their knowledge the soil has always been raised. They also have a raised bed of soil which is approx two metres high and two metres long too and the rest of their garden is level

Given the soil has been there for many years, providing i do not dig below the foundations other than that are any other risks i need to consider?

I want to level the complete garden to the ground level to the house

 

[^woody^]

That wall on the right might not have as deep foundations as the house

 

[Al@n]

I've just spoke to a commercial engineer who has strongly advised against digging out the soil against the property. He said the soil is supporting/pushing against the wall, removing it would potentially cause cracks etc to appear on the property if the soil has been removed. He has suggested to carry out a site investigation with a geo technical engineer or leave two metres of soil undisturbed and build a retaining wall

 

[Al@n]

Bump - can anyone shed light on what I've been told?

Pic uploaded of test hole dug close to the neighbouring property side wall

https://www.diynot.com/diy/media/img-20190902-wa0000.103227/

https://www.diynot.com/diy/media/img_20190902_113844.103228/

The difference in height from the ground to the peak of the soil against the wall is 1.45 meters

 

[Leofric]

I thought the engineer you consulted told you what needed to be done

 

[Al@n]

I thought the engineer you consulted told you what needed to be done

He did but I'm getting conflicting information! I'm baffled with all the different information I'm receiving

The person who originally told me I'll need a retaining wall has now said it is not needed as I've not hit the foundations from the 1 meter deep test hole i dug

Whereas the engineer i spoke to said not to remove the soil!

 

[^woody^]

I've just spoke to a commercial engineer who has strongly advised against digging out the soil against the property. He said the soil is supporting/pushing against the wall, removing it would potentially cause cracks etc to appear on the property if the soil has been removed. He has suggested to carry out a site investigation with a geo technical engineer or leave two metres of soil undisturbed and build a retaining wall

Crap

How is a house going to move sideways?

 

[Leofric]

He did but I'm getting conflicting information! I'm baffled with all the different information I'm receiving

- that's the problem with asking on here I suppose, but I would go with the engineer's recommendations.

 

[Leofric]

Crap

How is a house going to move sideways?

Don't understand where you are coming from on this one woody, are you suggesting they can just dig out down to the foundations of the neighbouring property ?

 

[Al@n]

Crap

How is a house going to move sideways?

He said the soil has always been there rather than being dumped there at a later point in time, therefore the house was built against the soil in the garden and could compromise the structure as its supporting it if the soil were to be removed. Also the airbricks for the house are half a meter above the soil

 

[^woody^]

The load from a wall is vertical not sideways. Typically, the zone of influence is a line at 45° downwards from the foundation edge.

Potentially (if the ground was solid enough) you could build a house on the surface of the ground, surrounded by fresh air and it won't mysteriously move sideways.

If you paid that "commercial" engineer, get a refund.

 

[Leofric]

The angle of repose is 45 degrees yes but it seems the floor level of this house is at least 2m above the foundations so if you removed 2m of soil from the outside of the wall -

 

[^woody^]

The angle of repose is 45 degrees yes but it seems the floor level of this house is at least 2m above the foundations so if you removed 2m of soil from the outside of the wall -

What, you mean like a first floor being 2.5m above the ground?