Levelling a tierd garden and moving back a retaining wall

[ChampionCat]

Our back garden is on 3 levels, onle of which is a raised patio at the far end of the garden. We want to remove the patio level but this will probably involve exposing/ digging beneath the foundations of the retaining wall which marks the rear boundary between us and the neighbours.

We are totally new to this kind of project but having had quotes for silly money to level the garden, lay some turf and a new patio we are keen to have a go.

I've found lots of resources about how to build a retaining wall, but how to we hold back the soil/ foundations of the existing wall while we build the new wall?

Also, we were thinking railway sleepers for the retaining wall. Criteria - has to be affordable, nice to look at, easy to construct, safe for small children (I know about creosote risk in using old sleepers).

Help!?! Many thanks!

 

[Static]

Consider knocking down the old retaining wall and rebuilding as complete new one.. temp works for undermining a retaining wall with a new one are a nightmare..

Also the new wall would need to be designed to take the weight from both retained heights.. and unless your current retaining wall is small i doubt a sleeper wall would be enough..

 

[ChampionCat]

Thanks for your advice. THe retaining wall isn't high - around 3-4 feet but there is a 6ft+ fence sunken into it. I was thinking of taking the patio level back to within a couple of feet of the rear boundary so that we don't disturb the fence and the existing wall, then retaining the final two feet, perhaps crating a raised bed in the process.

As you can tell I have no idea what I'm on about so please tell me if this is an unworkable idea!

 

[Static]

Anything is possible with an endless budget..

The closer the new wall is to the existing the more pressure from the existing wall gets excerted onto the new.. to avoid this the base of your footing needs to be beyond the line of 45deg of the existing footing..

Crudely drawn but something like:
View media item 30487

 

[UKMICKY]

Planning permision may be required if you level off the garden.