Sloped Garden levelling and fence wall

[Jimk]

Unless it's a retaining wall ....

[Jimk]

Nearly. It would be there to "link" the footings to the retaining wall above it, so it all works as one mass.

Think L shape sections with the "foot"/footings facing away from the retained slope, with rebar running from the footings up through the retaining wall structure. Plenty of concrete around d the rebar of course...

[Jimk]

Either is valid.

[Jimk]

In practice it comes down to where the rebar should be placed in the "foot" - compression Vs tension etc.

How long do they last though? 4/5mm galvanised wire strikes me as having a finite life....

[Jimk]

Because?

[VIk]

I have a sloped garden and I want to pave it. I got the first bit done by the contractor but would like to attemp the second half myself. I am planning to hire a digger to dug 2ft deep trench, fill it with concret to build the holding wall. I would also like to build the wall as a fence instead of wooden fence. I live in High Wycombe and my main concern is if 2 ft deep trench is enough for foundation and to make a solid wall. I got the annex built and they had similar depth for the foundation. The ground in my area is quiet solid and stoney (sorry for the lack of word). I have attached image of the annex foundation and the area where I plain to dig. Is it necessary for me to have a iron skelton in the foundation ? I am not building a massvie wall but just a single block wall 1 meter high.

Secondly since my I am paving the garden, the council said the water in my property should drain within my property. My plan is to keep a portion of the garden unpaved to soak the water and also run a french drain parrell to the garden wall and holding wall in the middle of the garden. Will this be enought to keep the garden from flooding or any rain water issues?

Thanks in advance

[newshound]

Do you mean you need a retaining wall? How high? What do you mean "the wall as a fence"?

Rather than needing footings two feet deep, you might need to dig a soakaway.

You don't normally put rebar in footings.

[newshound]

Yes that might be set in the footings, but it would be there to strengthen the wall, not the footings. And simple rebar would not do all that much to keep the wall upright.

[The Natural Philosopher]

my advice is to use steel all the way on a retaining wall. Mine has opened up cracks where I didn?t. I used 'bow ties' in the courses

Curiously foundations are non existent but it seems to be OK anyway

[Tricky Dicky]

It?s actually the opposite. The L of the footings should face into the slope so that the backfill exerts a downward force on it to keep the wall upright.

Richard

[newshound]

Agreed, although they are working in different ways. The devil is in the detail.

Round here it is common to see retaining walls built from semi-random limestone. If they are vertical, you can to some extent judge the age by the amount of "bulge" from the hydrostatic pressure from the soil and they always require rebuilding eventually. The one I build in my garden slopes into the ground at an angle of about 20 degrees to the vertical and as yet (30 years) shows little sign of bulge.

Serious constructors use stone filled gabions.

[newshound]

Inland, I'd expect it to still be going strong in 100 years.