How to fix partial retaining wall?

Hollybe

Hi Bunnings Brainstrust,

My partner and I purchased our first home earlier this year -we know nothing about houses so we're just lucky we didn't too bad!

It's a sloped block which means we have an awesome view out the front and the top of the back but we have some retaining walls.

There was also existing garden beds. There is one garden bed that we wanted to remove to have more space, however; when we started digging the soil out we discovered that the retaining wall was not finished behind that garden bed. So now we have a section of the retaining wall which needs to be fixed. I just have very little idea what is the best option. I don't like the wood so was thinking we could build that section with retaining wall blocks and then work our way down the retaining wall by section to do the rest (we don't have the funds to do it all at once). Is this a realistic idea or am I way off? The retaining wall is about a metre or so high - I just read on another retaining wall post that if the wall is over 600mm high it requires engineering. If anyone could give me some retaining wall pointers I would appreciate it! We're located in the ACT.

Thank you!

Jason

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Hollybe and thanks for your question. We'd be happy to help with your retaining wall project.

Let me tag the ever-helpful and knowledgable @Adam_W who wrote our How to build a retaining wall step-by-step guide. I'm sure Adam will be happy to provide his thoughts on how he would tackle this project. Our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. experts will also be happy to provide input as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Jason

MitchellMc

That's a bit of an issue, @Hollybe.

They've not finished that section because the intention was to leave the lower bed in place. That's created the issue for you when dissembling the bed. Now, to compound that issue, have you considered what will happen to the fence if you remove the lower bed? If they haven't created the rear wall for the bed under the fence, you will have an even bigger issue. That is, undermining a boundary fence.

Please be aware that if you deconstruct a retaining wall supporting a fence, you'll be responsible for any remediation required to fix any associated issues. An example would be if the soil from the neighbour's side starts subsiding and passing under the fence. You'll be responsible for all work needed to resolve the issue.

I just want to make you aware of the consequences of removing what should have been engineered retaining walls. At this point, I'd recommend that you take a breather, show us more images of your backyard, and put a plan in place to move forward. If we can see the whole yard and hear more about what you'd like to achieve, I trust our knowledgeable members will have some fantastic solutions for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

Hollybe

Hi Mitchell,

Thank you so much for this very valuable advice!

I hadn't thought of the impact on the neighbours at all, this is such a learning curve. I will take some more pics and figure out what our larger plan is for the yard

Holly

Jason

I understand you want more space @Hollybe as well as improve the look, but I wonder whether you might look at how to work with what you have got. Perhaps painting the timber or cladding it?

Looking forward to seeing more images so the community can have more input in forming a plan for moving forward.

Jason

Hollybe

I was considering painting, cladding could be good. I'll have to google to see what that looks like. Working with what we've got is probably preferable at this stage, that is a good point thank you Jason!