Rebuilding Retaining Walls

John · 2010-04-21T18:07:22+00:00

My backyard is higher than my neighbor in behind me. To keep theground level, there is a three foot retaining wall at the back of theyard, which is only a few inches from the fence. The wall is builtfrom 6x6's, and is not normally visible (even the top of the wall ishidden by bushes and flowers in front of it.The problem is that the 6x6's appear to have started to rot. Iimagine they were put in place when the house was built 25 years ago.This year, the neighbor's want to rebuild the fence, so I was thinkingof replacing the retaining wall at the same time to give easieraccess. It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional, and as longlasting as possible (and preferably fast to build without breaking thebank). The wall is about 25m (around 90') long, and I live in Canada,so there's lots of freezing and thawing going on.I'm wondering if I should consider concrete, brick, or wood again (andwhat the advantages are), and if anyone has any advice that I mightnot have thought of.ThanksJohn

Apr 21, 2010 24 Replies

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benick 16 years ago

Very true...I have a cement retaining wall for a daylight basement on a split level that is starting to lean...Cement wall is not cracked and is solid as hell , it is just falling over...It is about 10 inches thick , 4 feet tall and 15 feet long...Not sure what to do as I don't know if excavating behind it and pushing it back to plumb with an excavator and securing is possible or whether it will have to be busted up , which won't be an easy task , and replaced...Got to get a pro in to look at it sometime...Some things are not DIY...LOL...

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John 16 years ago

We have kids and we've never worried about our retaining wall. (being six inches from the fence, its not like the kids will accidentally fall off it...) Even if we moved the retaining wall out to the neighbors behind us, a three foot drop to grass wouldn't be concerning either.

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keith 16 years ago

What? You actually let your children PLAY OUTSIDE? That's CHILD ABUSE!

;-)

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hallerb 16 years ago

Lots of kids end up in ER rooms after falling off walls every year..

its a attractive nuisance

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aemeijers 16 years ago

The neighbor may not wanna give up any of HIS flat space, is what I was trying to say. Most subdivision back yards are not real big, since they all went for the show-off front yards for the last forty years.

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