Hi All,
Time to test your expertise again...
We're doing a lot of work in the (very small) garden in our colonies property in Edinburgh. Polly wants to have a raised bed next to the house wall (it's actually the wall of our downstairs neighbour, despite this being our garden), but we can't actually stack soil up against the wall as this will traverse the damp course. The plan is to build a wall about 20cm away from the house wall to retain the raised bed - probably about 50-60cm high - and have gravel in the gap.
We've dug a trench for the footing and about to lay the concrete and some reinforcing rods (salvaged from an old iron fence). The trench is about 40cm deep and 50cm wide by about 5.6m long (almost the width of the garden) and is dug down directly next to the house wall. I was planning to lay the concrete footing directly against the house wall, because I assumed this would add stability. I'm not so sure this is a good idea now, for a couple of reasons: the need to add an expansion joint between the footings and the house wall and the need to put a fall into the concrete's upper surface away from the wall.
Should I have some soil between the house wall and the footing? Something else, perhaps, and if so, what? Any other advice?
Thanks in advance - Adam...