ᐅ Retaining wall for the retaining wall!? Do you have any ideas?
Created on: 14 Mar 2023 09:06
H
Hausbau75
Good morning everyone,
First of all, a friendly hello! This is my first post here, and I hope I’m in the right place.
Last week, we had our “greenfield” meeting on the property, which means the civil engineer, basement builder, and house builder were all present. Unfortunately, we discovered that the elevation level relative to the neighbors’ retaining walls is not quite as it was supposed to be in theory. We are closer to the walls and not as high as expected. You could wonder how this happened, but that won’t help—I need solutions because the situation is what it is.
I’ve uploaded two pictures that clearly show what it’s about. I also made some colored markings to get a better overview.
Regarding the issue:
We bought the house together with a rather large carport that serves as a porch roof and storage area (the building permit / planning permission has been approved, and the house is already scheduled for production, so no changes are possible anymore). Above the carport, there is a wall made of planter stones (visible on the right side of the first picture). Along the entire length, the civil engineer will now build a retaining wall, ensuring that neither the carport nor the existing wall will be affected—essentially a retaining wall for the retaining wall. This will be done before the house and carport are built, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.
On the left side of the picture, you can see a retaining wall made of L-shaped concrete blocks about 2m (6.5 feet) high. You can see from the photos that the civil engineer has already excavated earth up to about 2m (6.5 feet) before this wall. He hasn’t dared to go closer yet. Another problem in this area is two large roots that almost certainly extend beneath the foundation of the L-block wall.
The civil engineer is now understandably worried that if he works closer to the wall and cuts these roots (he does not want to remove them because he and we believe they extend under the L-blocks), the roots will die, which could eventually cause the L-blocks to settle.
As you can see, we definitely need more maneuvering space to be able to get a vehicle under the carport and also back out again. Currently, there is about 2m (6.5 feet) to the edge of the house, which is definitely too little space. Leaving it as is would also waste too much space on the property. While we want to plant something along the wall, a 2m (6.5 feet) wide strip is too much.
Now we need your advice. Do you have any ideas on how to support this L-block wall if these two roots need to be removed?
We have time to proceed this way—the house construction will take the entire year and certainly the driveway won’t be paved immediately after that, probably not even next year. Nevertheless, I would appreciate your opinions and ideas because it is important to us to do this correctly, well, and safely. Money is naturally tighter than it might have been a few years ago, so we are also interested in your cost-effective suggestions.
Thank you very much for any ideas…
Best regards,
Paul
First of all, a friendly hello! This is my first post here, and I hope I’m in the right place.
Last week, we had our “greenfield” meeting on the property, which means the civil engineer, basement builder, and house builder were all present. Unfortunately, we discovered that the elevation level relative to the neighbors’ retaining walls is not quite as it was supposed to be in theory. We are closer to the walls and not as high as expected. You could wonder how this happened, but that won’t help—I need solutions because the situation is what it is.
I’ve uploaded two pictures that clearly show what it’s about. I also made some colored markings to get a better overview.
Regarding the issue:
We bought the house together with a rather large carport that serves as a porch roof and storage area (the building permit / planning permission has been approved, and the house is already scheduled for production, so no changes are possible anymore). Above the carport, there is a wall made of planter stones (visible on the right side of the first picture). Along the entire length, the civil engineer will now build a retaining wall, ensuring that neither the carport nor the existing wall will be affected—essentially a retaining wall for the retaining wall. This will be done before the house and carport are built, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense.
On the left side of the picture, you can see a retaining wall made of L-shaped concrete blocks about 2m (6.5 feet) high. You can see from the photos that the civil engineer has already excavated earth up to about 2m (6.5 feet) before this wall. He hasn’t dared to go closer yet. Another problem in this area is two large roots that almost certainly extend beneath the foundation of the L-block wall.
The civil engineer is now understandably worried that if he works closer to the wall and cuts these roots (he does not want to remove them because he and we believe they extend under the L-blocks), the roots will die, which could eventually cause the L-blocks to settle.
As you can see, we definitely need more maneuvering space to be able to get a vehicle under the carport and also back out again. Currently, there is about 2m (6.5 feet) to the edge of the house, which is definitely too little space. Leaving it as is would also waste too much space on the property. While we want to plant something along the wall, a 2m (6.5 feet) wide strip is too much.
Now we need your advice. Do you have any ideas on how to support this L-block wall if these two roots need to be removed?
We have time to proceed this way—the house construction will take the entire year and certainly the driveway won’t be paved immediately after that, probably not even next year. Nevertheless, I would appreciate your opinions and ideas because it is important to us to do this correctly, well, and safely. Money is naturally tighter than it might have been a few years ago, so we are also interested in your cost-effective suggestions.
Thank you very much for any ideas…
Best regards,
Paul
H
Hausbau7514 Mar 2023 11:32hanghaus2023 schrieb:
How are we supposed to know how far away that is?@all
In picture 2, the situation is shown from above and labeled. Our house is approximately 4m (13 feet) away from the neighbor’s retaining wall in total.
Or am I misunderstanding you?
C
Costruttrice14 Mar 2023 11:32haydee schrieb:
Exactly, except that in our case sections 2 and 3 were left standing, and only the 4th was excavated again.For us, the section that was left standing was also larger than shown in the attached photo.H
Hausbau7514 Mar 2023 11:43Hausbau75 schrieb:
Let’s continue on the L-block side on the left; now we have found a solution for the wall. But what do you think about the roots? If we cut them off by milling, they will eventually die. Could this cause the L-blocks not to lean forward but instead to settle downwards? Can you share your thoughts about the roots? Do you also see this as a potential issue?
We didn’t have any roots here.
You can’t decide that on your own either. Look at what the wall is supporting.
As I mentioned above, we had excavation contractors, an architect, experts, a geologist, and a structural engineer involved. There was no house built just behind the wall on filled soil. We had a naturally formed, undeveloped slope being retained by the wall.
You can’t decide that on your own either. Look at what the wall is supporting.
As I mentioned above, we had excavation contractors, an architect, experts, a geologist, and a structural engineer involved. There was no house built just behind the wall on filled soil. We had a naturally formed, undeveloped slope being retained by the wall.
C
Costruttrice14 Mar 2023 11:49@Hausbau75 A distance of 4 meters (13 feet) is not much when you consider that an excavator needs space to position itself and operate. The excavation area also needs room in front to work. For us, the foundation was poured first and then built up with masonry, as specified by the structural engineer. This means that a worker had to have enough space to move around in the pit, and equipment also needed access.
If you are digging for a basement, the distance to the wall will be less than 4 meters (13 feet) because workspace is required there as well, and the excavation walls need to be battered or sloped.
I don’t see any problems with roots when using the underpinning method. However, the structural engineer will advise you on the best approach. Of course, they can’t decide everything from their desk; in critical areas, ours came to the site and gave precise instructions on how to proceed.
If you are digging for a basement, the distance to the wall will be less than 4 meters (13 feet) because workspace is required there as well, and the excavation walls need to be battered or sloped.
I don’t see any problems with roots when using the underpinning method. However, the structural engineer will advise you on the best approach. Of course, they can’t decide everything from their desk; in critical areas, ours came to the site and gave precise instructions on how to proceed.
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