Hey guys I have some wooden retaining walls at my house and they are seriously falling down.

I was wondering who I contact about replacing them. Or, if any of you guys could quote me a price. Also, I notice a lot of people have brick.

I started to rip them down myself but I don't have the time to learn a whole new skill set.

4/9/2007 5:47:44 PM

well don't go just ripping the things out...i mean if they're actually retaining walls they're holding back a good bit of dirt. how tall are they? if they're not failing too bad, you could probably drive some posts (4x4 maybe) in as reinforcement. if they're giving too much, to do it properly you'll have to pay someone to excavate the dirt behind the walls, repair/replace the walls and then backfill the pit.

4/9/2007 7:16:08 PM

whats your budget? because its gonna be $$

4/9/2007 7:34:19 PM

yeah depending on the scope, it could be really expensive. but if you've got 8' retaining walls in your backyard that are falling over its something you really need to fix cause they're there for a good reason.

on the other hand, if its just like little 1' walls for say, terraces on a slope or gardening, you could probably fix it with a few friends, some lumber and a couple shovels.

4/9/2007 8:36:07 PM

It is interesting that you're posting this. The last 2 weeks, I have been building a retaining wall in my back yard. The wall is 36 feet long, 3 feet high, and is comprised of blocks that are 16 inches wide and 6 inches tall. I have some before and after pictures I plan on posting when I finish. It's turned out really really good. I started by digging out the side of the hill to be retained, including also a 9" x 1.5' trench and filling it with some drainage rock. Then I layed the stones, making sure the first layer was level. 6 layers later, I am just about finished.

Speaking about prices, it varies.

The cost of the rocks alone was 2.97 per + tax, which ended up being around $700.

The gravel was $15 a load, and I used 3 loads ($45 total).

I moved everything myself, however if you get it delivered, count on probably $75 for the blocks and ... honestly I am not sure for gravel/fill dirt.

Then there are intangibles: ie, shovels, a wheelbarrow, a rake, a sledgehammer, a circular saw and diamond blade, a chisel.... also if you want to add a decent capstone, plan o paying $6.00 per 16".

Obviously if you go to Lowes or Home Depot, they can quote you prices on your specific project. I recommend them for the blocks and tools, but you can get gravel real cheap at a landscaping place.

Hope this helps... lemme know if you have any questions.

4/9/2007 9:04:54 PM

So they are walls in the front.

The house is lower then the street so my guess it is to keep the street above me. Several of the timbers are rotting and the integrity of the wall is compromised. It is a stair wall. Three foot wall....then a plant bed then another 3 foot wall, etc.

Who would you talk to about getting the work done? A landscape artist? Gardner? I mean I think it will be cheaper to replace the rotting logs then to tear it all up and call the mason.

4/9/2007 10:25:33 PM

I did it myself.... but I would call a landscaper first. Or find male friends.

4/9/2007 11:14:07 PM

The last thing you want to do it tear it down. It may look bad, but if you tear it down and we get a big rain storm, you're boned. Are the walls (ideally) vertical, or are they stepped a little? If they're vertical you could just put in a couple of 4x4 posts like someone said, as long as you drive them deep enough. If the wall is stepped it will probably take a replacement.

4/9/2007 11:44:05 PM

i believe any retaining wall over 3 feet tall has to be designed by an engineer.

4/10/2007 9:02:22 AM

How close to the roadway is it? Is it a public road?

4/10/2007 9:33:03 AM

Quote :

"I mean I think it will be cheaper to replace the rotting logs then to tear it all up and call the mason."

then in 6 or 7 years, you'll be dealing with the same problem. I recommend block for retaining walls....it'll last 20-30 years easy.

Quote :

"i believe any retaining wall over 3 feet tall has to be designed by an engineer"

i've never heard that.....anyway if its private property, nobody cares.

4/10/2007 10:47:40 AM

actually i am referring to residential retaining walls, check the code book. You put a shitty wall, it doesnt meet code, then good luck selling your place.

4/10/2007 11:10:45 AM

till the dirt gets washed out and the street gets fucked over.

Depends on

Quote :

"How close to the roadway is it? Is it a public road?"

4/10/2007 11:11:35 AM

Quote :

"You put a shitty wall"

I wouldn't imagine that anyone would want to put a shitty wall on their property anyway.



[Edited on April 10, 2007 at 11:23 AM. Reason : its really not that hard to properly build a retaining wall of the size needed here]

4/10/2007 11:22:36 AM

^ A "shitty" wall is only "shitty" because it doesnt' meet specs and will fuck you when you try to sell your place. I don't have much experience with residential retaining walls but just because something looks nice and is effective doesn't mean it isn't "shitty" and won't fuck you over in the end.

Also to OP how many steps does the wall have?

edit:
^ She said it was retaining dirt for the roadway and was multiple steps. Could be talking about a 10 foot wall holding back lateral loads from the roadway.

[Edited on April 10, 2007 at 11:27 AM. Reason : ^]

4/10/2007 11:25:26 AM

Quote :

"something looks nice and is effective doesn't mean it isn't "shitty""

those seem like the two most important criterion to me, what else is there?.....

I worked in landscape/decrative masonry for 3+ years, and me or one of my partners always drew up the plans for the walls, mail boxes, planters ect......I never heard any complaints. Naturally you're going to want to do a good job, that's a given.

4/10/2007 11:31:27 AM

Quote :

"those seem like the two most important criterion to me, what else is there?....."

Like I said I don't have much experience in this area but I do believe there are a good bit of building codes and as far as codes go there are many outdated and stupid ones that you must abide by just because they are there not because they would cause a problem in this particular instance. If you don't then this could be a problem with reselling. You seem to have more experience in the area though and would know about code issues and regulations.

Just recently I worked on a project that had a retaining wall (varied from 3ft to 5ft high) that was to be 5 ft away from a two lane road for some lake community. They ended up driving 30ft long H-pile and using timber lagging for the wall (wall was only 20 feet long). Never know what might be needed when a roadway is near or you have poor soil... just an example of how more could be needed than one would think. Interestingly enough though the wall was needed because one of the residents fucked up when building his dock and caused a slope failure. The DOT ended up paying for the wall so if your wall failure is threatening their road they might be the ones fixing it.

4/10/2007 11:41:20 AM

Quote :

"if your wall failure is threatening their road they might be the ones fixing it. "

that probably is the first thing to look into, you might not even have to worry about it if the city/state fixes it for you.

if you contact them, however, and they decide its not their responsibility....they might force you to go by the book which is likely to double your cost.

[Edited on April 10, 2007 at 11:54 AM. Reason : .]

4/10/2007 11:52:30 AM

Those keystone walls are engineered systems, its not a just a matter of stacking blocks. There is a layer of geofabric, and a specified fill that must be put behind them. My neighbor had a drainage pipe that runs under his yard that started to leak, he bitched to the city, the city condemned his property until he fixed it, so he had to pay 30k to have his yard torn up and new pipe laid simply because it was located on his property.

4/10/2007 3:48:14 PM

I don't feel like reading through the whole thing. Has anyone made a New Orleans joke yet?

4/10/2007 3:50:32 PM

^ Probably not seeing as how levees failed in new orleans and we are talking about retaining walls.

^^ Something doesn't seem to add up there but who knows.

4/10/2007 3:54:43 PM

^^nope, you get first crack, make it a good one........

Quote :

"he bitched to the city, the city condemned his property until he fixed it, so he had to pay 30k to have his yard torn up and new pipe laid simply because it was located on his property."

I figured something like that could happen.....

Quote :

"Those keystone walls are engineered systems, its not a just a matter of stacking blocks"

it's really never just as simple as stacking blocks, even if you're just making a small wall....but if you know what you're doing (or know someone who does), jumping through hoops is unnecessary.

[Edited on April 10, 2007 at 3:58 PM. Reason : .]

4/10/2007 3:57:51 PM

depending on the soil conditions you can generally go something like 2.5-5' without any geogrid crap.

but i hate those damn keystone walls, poured concrete for life!

4/10/2007 8:00:14 PM

I can't believe no one said anything about weep holes yet. Any time you see a failing wall, its likely because there's nowhere for water behind it to go. If you're having issues with erosion as it is, you better not just throw up a new wall or it will eventually topple. Just throw in some holes for water seepage and you'll have a wall that will last.

Could you post some pics? That would make it easier for people to make suggestions.

4/11/2007 8:37:55 AM

If you have good drainage weepholes aren't necessary.... like putting about 4-6" of gravel behind your wall.

4/11/2007 9:24:16 AM

my first move would be to figure out where your property line runs, and if the retaining wall falls on DOT at any point then try to force them to replace it.

retaining walls over a certain height do have to be engineered, and you also have to meet certain OSHA regulations if you are working on a wall the retains more than 4' of dirt due to collapse hazards.

4/11/2007 4:13:42 PM

Like I said before, put up some pics. I'd like to see how much dirt you're holding back.

4/11/2007 4:24:56 PM

I dunno if you can tell from the pics, but the wall is about 3 feet high. I still need to spray the dirt off the side. I'm also gonna landscape the "wooded" area behind the wall. This was just Phase 1.

4/11/2007 7:44:03 PM

^ I meant for ladybug to post pics

But thats a pretty nice wall. Was this your first one?

4/11/2007 9:25:27 PM

Yeah. I did a lot of research, so I felt pretty comfortable. The only thing I would have done differently is put a layer of sand after the gravel to make the first row a little more even.

4/11/2007 11:17:00 PM