wertert

Hi Saveasteading Thanks for getting back to me - drawings are done in sketchup which is great for this type of thing. Web based and free version. Did you mean piers on the outside ? or inside ? How about outside ? ie acting as buttresses So I could phase in 655mm sections. ie Remove 655mm of retainer Build foundation block approx 385mm depth ( 0.14 m3 ) Install bars ( epoxy ) lay blocks for section adding wall ties for next section in joints. First joint add drainhole Fill with concrete Repeat. I've got more piers than you recommended just to make each section identical. Assuming this would make the wall stronger ? Bit more work. We need 600mm below ground to line up with the raft foundation. I don't want to undermine this wall when we digout later for that.

Hi Iceverge. Thanks for the response. I moved this discussion over the structural/foundation section and it was probably going beyond me introducing myself 😉 I would be very nervous taking down the whole planter in one go. The stone wall behind is built on an angle and removing the planter would expose the foundation blocks. Red line is approx line of bottom of foundation block ( 6 inch bath stone on it's side ) - as you can see on the left it's already fallen down below. I was thinking in terms of hollow block but possibly built in small sections to minimise impact to the wall/neighbours. We would take down the planter in ~650mm sections. Checkout the details on the linked post. BTW - the stone wall is not a party wall and we own it 100%. If it fell down it's really not the end of the world and we won't see it as it's behind the garage;-) As you mentioned on your first post we may run out of blocks for the new garage so this would be our backup source. Boundary wall side we still need to retain the ground level next door, its a driveway. The rendered building you can see is a garage which is not used for car parking afaik.

Hi All I'm continuing the thread I started in the 'introduce yourself' section. I may have got carried away on the intro 😉 We plan to build a new garage but before we can really start we need to take care of a few retaining structures around the edges of the site. One of them is to address this lovely retainer/planter which essentially retains the higher ground level on the other side of the stone wall. it's about 1.2m out from the stone boundary wall and full of soil. Take it all down in one go and I think we would see the wall collapse and landslip from next door. As I mentioned in the linked post I am considering some kind of retaining structure built in sections or sheet piling. 1) Retaining structure. We would take down the planter in ~650mm sections and build a foundation and retaining wall in sections, back fill before moving on to the next section. Each section would be mechanically linked to the next. The new sections could be made of standard concrete blocks and/or hollow blocks with reinforcement+concrete filled. Something like.. I'm favoring 4th design which would contain 2 or 3 rebar H12 starter rods. Buttresses adds further support and makes it easier to build/link together. Madness / Overkill ? 2) Sheet Piling 2 options I as can think of Drive piles into the ground just in front of the retainer. Dig out in front of the piles to install the foundation knowing the planter will not collapse. Once the foundation is in remove piles when safe to do so. Drive piles into the ground INSIDE the planter, so approx 1.1m above floor level and remove the planter stonework completely. Leave the piles in place permanently to provide support. I'd love to head about any other ideas from the forum. Anything would be gratefully received.

Thanks. The good news is we have planning permission and I am looking to start in a few weeks. The site is "cleared" and there are a couple of things to cover before we can start on the garage foundation. Yellow line- retaining wall built in stepoc ( hollow block ). Design by structural engineer. Red line – existing retainer/planter. This is keeping me awake at night.😴 It’s basically there to support the ground level on the other side of the stone boundary wall and has been there for *many* years. about 1.2m deep and filled with soil. Our first instinct was not to touch it and build the new garage in front of it basically hiding it. There are a couple of issues with that idea. Garage foundation – We want to maximise the amount of driveway we have so I’d like the raft foundation to be built and close as practical to the planter. If we dig down 700mm in front of the planter I feel the planter could well collapse. Planter location. – It’s not actually built square to the stone boundary wall. The front face is actually curved. Possibly historical movement of the right hand side. We would therefore have to twist the garage location or move it further away from the planter losing ~1 foot of precious driveway. ( not major issue if i'm honest ) Once the garage is built it would be very painful to sort any issues with this planter should something happen in the future. We can’t really replace the planter in one go as taking it all down would lead to the problems mentioned above so I am considering some kind of retaining structure built in sections or sheet piling. I'll continue on next post as there's a size limit.. Cont...

Hi Iceverge. The old building had very poor foundations and was ultimately damaged by a large tree which we chopped down about 3 years ago. I think we could use the dreaded S work here. Subsidence. Technically, the roots are still in the ground which could lead to ground movement in the future. The site is slightly sloping and the neighbours built right up to the boundary so we want to minimise any impact and not go any deeper than we need to. We will be about 1.2 meters from the boundary wall. We did take advice form a structural engineer so it's really the safe option for our site I feel.

Hi All Brand new member here. Our old garage finally decided to give up on us and partially collapsed so I've taken it down. This picture from better days. I've stacked the Bath stone on pallets in the driveway (the family is not amused ) and planning to reuse it on the 2 visible elevation of the new building which will be a bit larger. Planning on a concrete raft foundation but before I can really get to that we have a few retaining walls to take care of. Early days for the project but exciting stuff ! Thanks in advance wertert