Any advice on retaining wall - what would you recommend?

[SilverShadow]

Hey all,

 

I'm back once again, for more of your amazing advice please folks 😁

 

We purchased a property back in July 2024 and have since noted the adjacent retaining wall (to property below us) has a few large worrying cracks in it (see pics). The neighbours have said these have been there for decades, but seen some movement in the past few years. The wall is approx 8 meters long, 4-5ft high & made from concrete hollow blocks. Apparently our previous owner built it decades ago & reinforced it with posts/piles to make it sturdier. I've include pics of the cracks and view from our land above it (pics 1-3)

 

As this feels slightly more specialised, we'd be grateful for any nuggets of help you guys can give...

 

 

1 - From recollection, i don't think this was picked up on our Lvl 3 survey. I'm not sure if this is a concern per se (something omitted by mistake), as the wall is not easily viewable 'down to the property side', but wasn't obstructed from view

 

2 -  Our title deeds/plan don't show a 'T' for this boundary. However, i've read that it's generally assumed owners on the higher land side (and it's also right side boundary from street view) shoulder the responsibility for this. So probably not reasonable for us to ask neighbours to share repair costs for

 

3 - I'd imagine we'd get a structural engineer in 1st. But would anyone have a clue to whether repair or completely replace, yard stick costs m2 (prices vary wildly online - from £150-£300+ per m2, depending on material), suggestions for type of wall to consider? (interlocking blocks seem like a good option - as per pic 4)

 

4 - What would be a reasonable length of guarantee for this type of work (guess it depends on material used)?

 

5 - has anyone had similar experiences of this sort of scenario? Any hints/gotchya's to consider during this project

 

Apologies for the verbose thread, but a lot to get through.....

Many thanks as always for your time
Mark

Edited September 9 by SilverShadow