Any retaining wall experts ?

[rsutoratosu]

Basically houses on my block are about 6ft higher than the neighbor behind us.

So everyone has a retaining wall holding up the dirt in the back yard. I'm the last guy to get it fix because I didnt see the problem when I bought the house, but whatever, Ill get it fix now. So I had a few different contractor giving me quotes, etc.

As I understand it, I need to dig down to the footing and pour a new base, and pour the wall with concrete + rebar, etc.

Another contractor had told me to remove the existing wall and use cinderblock and build a wall out of that.

I'm not an engineer so I would think a concrete pour would be stronger and last longer ? Any other opinions ? Thanks. Wall is 6ft high , 40 ft wide. I imagine they'll need to dig like 8-9 ft for the footing, etc..

 

[dank69]

Retaining walls are a bitch, especially that tall. 6' i would think would need to be engineered if you don't want to be doing it again soon.

 

[lxskllr]

Without seeing the property, and not knowing costs involved, I'd put in a footer and use stackable blocks(don't know what they're called). fill behind it, and every few courses lay geogrid going back through the fill. It's probably expensive, but it's bulletproof. That wall will be there longer than the house.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Just to be clear, are you saying you have a wall but it needs to be rebuilt?
There are many materials, ways, and colors you can use to
build one. May depend on neighbors, or HOA. You may choose to save money and build it yourself. It WILL require a permit, and it WILL require
a sign off by an engineer.

 

[rsutoratosu]

Private house, NYC, home of 50,000 permits...

to put in a simple garage with permit is about 25,000..

i love nyc

 

[EPCrew]

Private house, NYC, home of 50,000 permits...

to put in a simple garage with permit is about 25,000..

i love nyc

yes but resale value differential for a house with garage would be much more than 25k. i believe a lot of the NYC premium goes towards disposal and insurance.

i just gut reno-ed my apartment and am crossing my fingers that i come out with a profit when i sell later in the future.

 

[highland145]

Without seeing the property, and not knowing costs involved, I'd put in a footer and use stackable blocks(don't know what they're called). fill behind it, and every few courses lay geogrid going back through the fill. It's probably expensive, but it's bulletproof. That wall will be there longer than the house.

I was thinking he could put in "dead men" but that looks significantly better.

 

[D1gger]

Basically houses on my block are about 6ft higher than the neighbor behind us.

So everyone has a retaining wall holding up the dirt in the back yard. I'm the last guy to get it fix because I didnt see the problem when I bought the house, but whatever, Ill get it fix now. So I had a few different contractor giving me quotes, etc.

As I understand it, I need to dig down to the footing and pour a new base, and pour the wall with concrete + rebar, etc.

Another contractor had told me to remove the existing wall and use cinderblock and build a wall out of that.

I'm not an engineer so I would think a concrete pour would be stronger and last longer ? Any other opinions ? Thanks. Wall is 6ft high , 40 ft wide. I imagine they'll need to dig like 8-9 ft for the footing, etc..

Do not do this. It will not hold the weight. A poured in place concrete wall with proper footing will work, or a lock block wall will work well.

 

[rsutoratosu]

Thanks, thats exactly what I think, behind the wall on my side, I will have like 40ft wide x 25ft length with 6-8 ft high of dirt.. thats thousands of pound on that little cinderblock.. thats pretty much suicide

 

[SpatiallyAware]

+1 use lock block

Also think about drainage.. Either french drain or whatever.

This is going to be expensive no matter how you do it. I very much suggest getting an engineer involved etc and being 100% sure about what you're doing before buying anything.

 

[rsutoratosu]

Yeah, im 99% sure i need a permit, so an engineer would need to be hired too

 

[keird]

Precast concrete is how I think I'd go about making a retaining wall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filerecastconcreteretainingwall-3.jpg