Some general guidance please. To the rear boundary of my garden is a 1.8m high concrete block wall which is on the other side of the boundary line i.e. it is my neighbor's property and he insists that it remains untouched. It's footings are circa 200mm deep. I don't know how wide the footings are because the wall is right on the boundary line.
On my side I wish to reduce ground level by circa 200mm in order to level the site for a large shed which is to be located as close to the boundary as possible [minimum 500mm] i.e. new ground level will be the same level as the bottom of the existing wall footings. Height restrictions prelude keeping the existing ground level.
Clearly there needs to be something substantial on my side of the boundary to act as a “retaining wall” and prevent future movement of the boundary wall. The whole thing will be hidden so appearance doesn't matter.
So before I get a contractor involved, could someone please advise what the reasonably pragmatic solution would be – are there rules of thumb which apply? I know that the whole job should be done in sections, but how close to the boundary is reasonable without making the job complex, costly or creating major safety issues. How deep and wide should the new “retaining wall” footings be to provide sufficient stability?
I know that in detail this is a complex subject, possibly a matter for a structural engineer, but at this point I'm just after some general guidance to see what is reasonably pragmatic and what's not.
The footings of other nearby properties and structures are all of standard construction, so the sub soil is obviously capable of supporting normal construction methods.
Many Thanks - John
On my side I wish to reduce ground level by circa 200mm in order to level the site for a large shed which is to be located as close to the boundary as possible [minimum 500mm] i.e. new ground level will be the same level as the bottom of the existing wall footings. Height restrictions prelude keeping the existing ground level.
Clearly there needs to be something substantial on my side of the boundary to act as a “retaining wall” and prevent future movement of the boundary wall. The whole thing will be hidden so appearance doesn't matter.
So before I get a contractor involved, could someone please advise what the reasonably pragmatic solution would be – are there rules of thumb which apply? I know that the whole job should be done in sections, but how close to the boundary is reasonable without making the job complex, costly or creating major safety issues. How deep and wide should the new “retaining wall” footings be to provide sufficient stability?
I know that in detail this is a complex subject, possibly a matter for a structural engineer, but at this point I'm just after some general guidance to see what is reasonably pragmatic and what's not.
The footings of other nearby properties and structures are all of standard construction, so the sub soil is obviously capable of supporting normal construction methods.
Many Thanks - John
