Retaining Wall to boundary or offset?

Hi,

This is my first post. We have recently purchased a vacant block of land in an existing residential area with houses on both sides. The land slopes downwards from left to right about 2metres across the width of the land.

We know we will need to cut and fill to create a flat building pad and require retaining walls on both sides (up to 1m).

My question is, can the high side retaining wall (the one that will be exposed) be built right to the boundary and line up with the fence that currently divides the two properties or will it need to be offset half a metre or so to allow for drainage etc.

In new estates, there are large retaining walls between properties on the boundary, but just now sure if feasible in the existing residential area.

Thank you

I would say around 300mm from the boundary should be the aim.

Thanks for the reply

We were in almost exactly the same situation as you - 2m fall across the block. Our block is 17 metres wide. We couldn't build to boundary due to a building envelope (we had to have a minimum of 2 metres to each boundary). House ended up being around 12.8 metres wide at its widest (front). If you want, check out my blog to see how we managed the retaining walls. Our 'high/exposed' retaining wall was on our land, creating a garden bed; the low side retaining wall was on the boundary under the fence (our neighbour agreed). We paid for all of the retaining walls ourselves and the neighbour just paid for their share of the fence (just in case you were wondering). Also, the low side retaining wall under the fence was done with concrete sleepers no timber like the rest.
The post in Mar 2017 really shows the retaining walls, but there are various pics throughout. Hope this helps.
www.tashandpaul.wordpress.com

Agg drainage should be be on your side, not on neighbours', as the footings will be positioned towards your side. You can put a fence on top of your retaining wall.

I am in a similar situation having built our retaining wall 200mm offset from boundary. How do We install the fence on the boundary without compromising the wall drainage? Geofabric can be punctured, drainage gravel can be concreted, then soil can get into the ag pipe, etc.?

I was also looking in fence brackets for retaining walls but I cannot find something that is 200mm offset.

Too late now but you should have thought of that before you built the retaining wall. Maybe 300mm from the boundary would have given you some more room? Is it 200mm to the front face of the retaining wall or the back?

Stewie

It is from the back