Retaining Wall Falling Down?

[empty_vessel]

I've got a retaining wall in my back garden about 5 ft tall and 20 ft long constructed of pre-formed concrete gravel boards slotted into concrete fence posts, I don't know how far the fence posts have been buried.

Over the course of the winter the mortar joints between the panels have started to pop out and the wall has taken on a noticeable lean, the earth being held back by the wall has dropped a good 6 to 9 inches from where it was.

There's no movement in the wall but I'm worried that the wall is about to fall down, what's the best way to confirm whether I need to shore up the wall? I need it to hold out until May when I can change my home insurance for one that covers garden walls!

Thanks,

e_v

 

[UKMICKY]

Could be an expensive job to build a retaining wall.

Is it retaining your land or a neighbours.

 

[Static]

How old is the wall?

Kinda sounds massively inadequate to retain 5ft.. would expect something alot more solid..

You say there is no movement in the wall, but state its leaning.. those two sentences contradict each other.. are you expecting to be able to wobble the wall?

If the wall has taken on a lean of over say 20deg from vertical it may have failed completely and you need to consider the implications of complete failure (ie is there anything within 3m of the lower end or 5m behind it.).

Rebuild with more suitable material is about the only sensible option..

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Hope you ain't got kids who frequent the area!

 

[noseall]

The so called 'wall' is woefully inadequate to be retaining 1.5m of soil as already stated.
It sounds down right dangerous to me particularly if we have prolonged rain at any point.

I would get it shored up or remove the soil from behind and/or batter the bank or summat. Someone could be killed.

 

[empty_vessel]

Sounds like the worst case scenario, I'm going to contact a structural engineer and find out how best to approach this, looks like the garden might not be that much fun this summer!

Not a big garden and it's holding up the neighbours land which is about 6 ft up so pretty rubbish for removing soil to take the load away. Thankfully no kids playing in the back garden. Wall is probably 6 or 7 years old, about the same age as the extension which was done before we bought the house.

Do you reckon that this is something the structural survey should have picked up when I bought the house?

Thanks for all the help, will update after the engineer has had a look!

 

[UKMICKY]

Was your land dug out ?

In general as long as your land has not been lowered removing their support, if it is holding up your neighbours garden then they are most likely the owners or the ones responsible for repairing it if they are using it as a means to support their land .

They are also the ones who have no choice but to prevent their land from collapsing onto yours and causing a trespass and then be liable for damages.

Even if you owned the wall but they have a right of support you cannot be compelled to pay for a repair to provide that support as its a positive obligation which can not be enforced legally.