Turns out the house I’m trying to buy in Todmorden has a bit of a dodgy retaining wall. There’s a bulge and a crack. It’s about 12ft high and 15ft wide, and made of stone. Anyone any idea how much this sort of thing costs to sort out? I’m braced for it to be a lot, like >10k. This house buying business is more hassle than it’s worth really 🙁

I’m braced for it…

Arf.

Sorry no idea I’m afraid.

Suggest a structural engineer to check what is required.
see what can happen here in an earlier thread http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-are-please
and check house insurance!

for that sort of height you really need to get someone who knows there stuff to look at it (ie: civil/structural engineer). they can then advise of costs etc, but i’d imagine that won’t be cheap if it needs replacing! good luck!

Yeah we’re getting a structural engineer on the case asap, I was just wondering what a ballpark figure might be to sort it as the what-ifs are becoming a bit stressful. Worried it could be a show-stopper which at this stage would be a bloody disaster.

Can the repair cost not be used to reduce your purchase price???

Can recommend an engineer in Sowerby Bridge if you need a second opinion dazh.

If its coming, as in forwards it’ll probably need to come down, so get ready. Heavy rains over the last few years will probably have been a reason. What’s it holding back. It’s all a not pie in the sky without investigating properly.

dazh – Member

Yeah we’re getting a structural engineer on the case asap, I was just wondering what a ballpark figure might be to sort it as the what-ifs are becoming a bit stressful. Worried it could be a show-stopper which at this stage would be a bloody disaster.

Drop me your contact details as I have access to costings related to Civils jobs. It will be a bit of work for you to go through each of the construction elements, but will give you a ball park figure.

It’ll need a proper assessment by a structural and geotechnical engineer to see what is actually causing the problem, e.g. the original design, lack of drainage, and vegetation on the retained side, etc. Then an assessment can be made as to how to remediate the problems. There are lots of solutions out there that don’t require a huge amount of works such as platipus anchors or it may even be as simple as installing weep holes and some buttressing along the face. If you can post up some pics I’ll try to offer some help.

sandwicheater, we haven’t yet appointed an engineer so yes feel free to send details of the engineer you know. Mail is my profile.

KevJ – Yes please that would be very helpful. Mail is in profile.

honeybadgerx – Good to know there are options available other than a full rebuild. Haven’t got any pictures yet but will post some as and when I do.

Yes the price will probably need to be re-negotiated once we know the scale of any works required. The main problem at the minute is the bank won’t rubber-stamp the mortgage until they have an engineer’s report about the wall advising on safety, required remedial works etc, hence the stress!

Thanks all for the help.

Daz.

Honeybadgerx is right, the remedial work may not be as extensive as a full demolition and rebuild, but if I were you, I would want to know the worse-case cost to see if it is worthwhile proceeding (I.e. start spending money). It will also provide you with info to approach the seller to see if they will reduce the sale price accordingly. If in the interim, the engineers report comes back with a reduced scope of work, then your costs will reduce also.

Take the pictures from a few angles and also get on top of the wall to see if there are any tension cracks forming above the wall. These could be up to 5.2m away from the top of the wall (based on 12ft wall height).

EDIT: by this I mean cracks in the ground behind the wall, not in the wall itself.

Chap down the road from me had his front garden retaining wall (10 foot high and 30+ feet long) with a pot belly, crack and partly collapse onto the road after all the heavy rain last year.

Faced with a massive bill, for ground works, reinforced concrete , drainage, etc, etc he has used gabions, metal cages filled with stone.

He removed the remaining wall, cut back the garden soil and over the summer/autumn built a wall from gabions, must say it looks good.

Chatting to him the other month, he said the local council were happy and it was a dam (no pun intended 😉 ) sight cheaper.

Could be worth considering

Who owns the wall, whats on the other side, empty land or a building, also access isues if you need access to the neighbours land other side of the wall.

Expect costs to go up if rebulding is required, oh and our so called retaining wall has resulted in two sets of structural engineers, managing agents of our property, the management group of directors, the home owner who owns the adjoining property, and even some bulders, 2 years on nothing has been done on site, just lots of emails.

He removed the remaining wall, cut back the garden soil and over the summer/autumn built a wall from gabions, must say it looks good.

Good idea. Stronger than a wall plus it should allow water to flow through which would help reduce the pressure behind the ‘wall’.

Who owns the wall, whats on the other side, empty land or a building, also access isues if you need access to the neighbours land other side of the wall.

In the event I end up buying the property (which I very much hope will be the case at this stage), I will own the wall. On the other side is the upper bit of the garden with a lane above that’s set back about 5m or so. No neighbours to worry about.

Good idea. Stronger than a wall plus it should allow water to flow through which would help reduce the pressure behind the ‘wall’.

Not an option in this case I suspect, it’s a grade II listed property so will need to be restored to its original condition to satisfy the local conservation officer.

I was warned by many friends about buying an old, listed property. Maybe I should’ve listened.

I was warned by many friends about buying an old, listed property. Maybe I should’ve listened.

You and me both! It helps to get the conservation officer on side as soon as you can. Give them a call to introduce yourself and just make up a tiny job you were thinking of doing (say painting window sills a different colour) and say you just wanted to check with them first. Also, witter on about how your looking forwards to trying to restore the building a bit, traditional methods, etc. etc. They can be pretty helpful a lot of the time. Although you;re south of the border, Historic Scotland also have a load of guidance note documents on various bits n bobs (roofing, pointing, etc.) that are really good and you can download for free.

Might be able to find a solution here – used to know someone who worked there and as I remember it the company were quite helpful with advice about design solutions.

Can you post a few photos up?

tonyplym – Member
Might be able to find a solution here – used to know someone who worked there and as I remember it the company were quite helpful with advice about design solutions.

Like the name. Very topical.