Thread: retaining wall question

A number of jobs I have done clients have wanted a garden bed along a a boundary fence, where the front edge is higher than the bottom of the fence. I see the only option to put a simple sleeper wall 1 or 2 high to retain that soil against it. It will be handy for a few reasons-

-The neighbour may kick up a fuss and get council involved
- It will keep the soil off the fence eliminating rot
- If the fence gets replaced you won't have to dig all the soil away to replace it

Just make sure the wall has its own posts, not nailed to the fence posts

Originally Posted by Planned LScape

A number of jobs I have done clients have wanted a garden bed along a a boundary fence, where the front edge is higher than the bottom of the fence. I see the only option to put a simple sleeper wall 1 or 2 high to retain that soil against it. It will be handy for a few reasons-

-The neighbour may kick up a fuss and get council involved
- It will keep the soil off the fence eliminating rot
- If the fence gets replaced you won't have to dig all the soil away to replace it

Just make sure the wall has its own posts, not nailed to the fence posts

hey, thanks for stopping in and the response..

i've thought about that option, but I have a dog who loves to rip down plants and there is a plan to build in a stool/bench.. there will be two planter boxes divided by the bench in the middle - something the wife really wants!

fence is brand new by the way, so I dont see it getting replaced for a long while..

will plastic nailed up to the fence like i've suggested work? as far as I knew, there wouldn't be any council issues involved in this retaining wall, or would there??

What I have done in the past is fixed a FRC sheet to (yourside) of the fence to keep the soil of it. I would only recommend this if the soil depth is only going to be 200mm or less and only if the neighbour agrees.

Anything over 200 I would go with PL's suggestion of building a second wall.

Originally Posted by untamed

will plastic nailed up to the fence like i've suggested work? as far as I knew, there wouldn't be any council issues involved in this retaining wall, or would there??

It would depend on the height of your wall above the fence, how far off the fence and what the council reg's are. Usually they have info on the building permit section of your council's website, otherwise there should be a number to ring them there too

Originally Posted by untamed

I have a question in relation to a retaining wall I am planning/building.

If you take a look at the dodgy 5 second drawing, you will see my retaining wall will be higher than the neighbours floor level, which means there will be soil contact to the fence.

question is, should I line his fence with black plastic so he doesnt get any water/mud/dirt going through the cracks? will this affect the performance of the wall if I use the plastic as it will be creating a 'dam effect'.

the bottom of the wall will have a proper drainage system in place with ag pipe/scoria rock etc.

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

What I have done in the past is fixed a FRC sheet to (yourside) of the fence to keep the soil of it. I would only recommend this if the soil depth is only going to be 200mm or less and only if the neighbour agrees.

Anything over 200 I would go with PL's suggestion of building a second wall.

Bleeding Thumb has the practical answer, FRC sheeting on your side of the fence, don't go higher than 200mm and make sure the neighbour agrees.

The legal position is different — any change in level your side of the fence that has an impact on your neighbour is your liability in total
your higher soil pushes the fence over or leads to the fence rotting – you have the joy of paying to fix it up
your higher soil level leads to water travelling through the boundary wall into your neighbour's interior – you get to pay for the fix
within the statute of limitations you can even be chased after you sell the property

In my day job we work really hard to avoid situations like the one you are planning


ian

thanks for the advice all.

with the recomendation for FRC sheeting along the fence, how about another errected timber wall along the fence (see attached) held in by star pickets? I think this would stop any potential disputes with the neighbour and myself and keep the fence intact?

Yes if I was you I would not even consider piling soil up against the fence. It will push the fence over, rot the palings, and give termites easy access to it.

You need a separate retaining wall with drainage behind so that he doesn't get any storm water run off from your property on to his. I would just run a 200mm sleeper wall along about 4" out from the fence with a bit of ag pipe behind it. The next fencing contractor to work at your property will thank you.

I wish my neighbours had done what you're planning on doing.

They've levelled their sloping block and instead of going down, on the landscapers advice, they've gone upwards with a retaining wall about 3ft in from the shared fence and they have a big drop down onto the garden bed next to the fence.

It has spared them the hassle of having to worry about earth next to the fence but now their lawn is so high with respect to the top of the fence that their very young children can easily now see over the fence into my garden.

My neighbour did tell me that this overlooking wasn't anticipated by them when they commissioned the work. Amazingly he is an engineer by profession.

I'm hoping that they are going to plant something in the garden bed that grows high (but not too high). I console myself with the thought that their landscaping bill was probably half my salary

btw why is it the neighbour's fence and not one that belongs to both of you?

Originally Posted by jackiew

I wish my neighbours had done what you're planning on doing.

They've levelled their sloping block and instead of going down, on the landscapers advice, they've gone upwards with a retaining wall about 3ft in from the shared fence and they have a big drop down onto the garden bed next to the fence.

It has spared them the hassle of having to worry about earth next to the fence but now their lawn is so high with respect to the top of the fence that their very young children can easily now see over the fence into my garden.

My neighbour did tell me that this overlooking wasn't anticipated by them when they commissioned the work. Amazingly he is an engineer by profession.

I'm hoping that they are going to plant something in the garden bed that grows high (but not too high). I console myself with the thought that their landscaping bill was probably half my salary

btw why is it the neighbour's fence and not one that belongs to both of you?

hey, it was just a figure of speech when I say my neighbours fence.. it is both of ours

we have an overlooking problem at the moment, it kinda pisses me off because when they are on their high decking, they can see through my lovely timber bi-folds into my kitchen... no privacy at all!

I want to put trellis up all around the back, however he is the type of neighbour to have a teary about me putting it up.

in a way, i'm glad I posted my intentions here and got talked into building 2 walls, one on the boundary and one on my property (to make the garden box), that way there will be no issues in future.

anyway, the backyard & front yard are going to receive some major renovations (all DIY), its a brand new unit that I had to do a quick bang up garden on to meet with town planning (monash council - strict as with developements).