Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 19, 2013 11:00 am Hi all, We are due for completion sometime near Easter. We have a dilemma at the moment where the land on one of our neighbours is a lot higher than ours, This will be an issue when it starts raining and dirt may fall over to our land. We were planning to have timber decking all the way to the fence. How do we remediate this? Do we just add a retaining wall and what are the costs associated with it? Will try to get some pictures up when I drive by. Thank you . Re: Help please! Neighbours 2Feb 19, 2013 12:58 pm Assuming there is no permanent fence yet and one needs to be built: When it comes around to building a fence, the fencing contractor would suggest to add a few retaining wall sleepers to the neighbours ground level and reinforce the posts with 75mm posts in between. Now: 1.) If the difference in level was caused by the neighbour during their build, they should be made to pay for the sleepers and (depending on how much you insist) the additional cost of the posts, if not half. The fence would be 50-50 as per normal. 2.) If the difference was caused by you, the above applies but you bare the additional cost. Eg. Our neighbour built their house on a much lower level of 40cms vs. ours. They were all cool about it and conceded that their builder built lower and therefore they were happy to pay any additional costs. Hopefully that helps. Re: Help please! Neighbours 3Feb 19, 2013 2:47 pm Check your state legislation but I believe the law for dividing fences has been modified to include retaining walls as well. Ie both are 50/50 for standard fence and retaining wall. Out of your own pocket you probably want to look at a drainage solution as part of your overall landscape plan. This may be in addition to drainage behind retaining wall. Building McDonald Jones Bronte Manor One Contracts Signed Dec 12 DA Lodged Jan 13 DA Consent w/BAL40 Apr 13. S96 Consent w/BAL19 May 13. Slab Complete Jun 13. Frame Brick & Roof Complete Aug 13. Re: Help please! Neighbours 5Feb 20, 2013 4:04 pm I would suggest getting concrete sleepers, i got them from Ebay and installed them with my dad over a weekend. They dont root like timber and they are really easy to install... See images below for what mine looked like after install.... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Help please! Neighbours 6Feb 20, 2013 8:08 pm Looks great. How do you ensure that the sleepers don't move over time. Do you need to add a little bit of concrete like verandah posts ? Is it as simple as putting it down and sliding the timber in between ? Re: Help please! Neighbours 7Feb 20, 2013 8:19 pm As Adam mentioned, it's important to know who changed the ground level. Not only do they need to pay 100% of the retaining wall cost, but it also needs to fit the retaining wall entirely within their property. Then, you would each go 50/50 in the cost of the fence, although you mention the fence is already there. I'm not sure why a retaining wall is required if there already is a fence. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: Help please! Neighbours 9Feb 21, 2013 8:24 am It would seem that if the fence was already there then the OP( original poster) is the one who changed the ground level. Therefore they would be responsible for any retaining. If the level change is less than the depth of one sleeper width you could just put them in the ground. If it's more than that you will need to use either a retaining wall system or have something concreted in. This maybe something you can still do yourself. Look in your local paper if you want to get someone else to do it. Or google online for a local retaining wall person. http://www.boral.com.au/RetainingWalls/retainingwalls.asp http://www.ambertiles.com.au/products/retaining-wallshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTAZD_Gwtts http://www.readersdigest.com.au/easy-install-retaining-wall Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Help please! Neighbours 10Feb 21, 2013 12:11 pm [quote="kexkez"]It would seem that if the fence was already there then the OP( original poster) is the one who changed the ground level. Therefore they would be responsible for any retaining. If the level change is less than the depth of one sleeper width you could just put them in the ground. If it's more than that you will need to use either a retaining wall system or have something concreted in. This maybe something you can still do yourself. Look in your local paper if you want to get someone else to do it. Or google online for a local retaining wall person. http://www.boral.com.au/RetainingWalls/retainingwalls.asp http://www.ambertiles.com.au/products/retaining-wallshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTAZD_Gwtts http://www.readersdigest.com.au/easy-install-retaining-wall Hi Kexkez, Yes the fifth picture is exactly what ours look like at the moment. Do you suggest we put in some sort of water pipe system to ensure the water flows into there and not onto our pavement. To hide the ugly mess we were planning to add the retaining wall but turning it into a decking seat. We will add more timber on top so it covers it. Any suggestions or does that even make sense? Thanks Re: Help please! Neighbours 11Feb 21, 2013 3:29 pm namweng Looks great. How do you ensure that the sleepers don't move over time. Do you need to add a little bit of concrete like verandah posts? We dug wholes about 300 deep and 350 wide, poured concrete in them and rested the steel posts in there and let the concrete dry.. namweng Is it as simple as putting it down and sliding the timber in between ? Yep, once the posts are set and the concrete is set, we then slide the concrete sleepers in between the posts and then back filled it to make it level... Re: Help please! Neighbours 12Feb 21, 2013 5:19 pm I don't know any specifics about retaining walls but if your current situation is like pic 5 for that much retaining height you'd need some sort of back fill with some drainage for the water to flow away or it would cut into the soil below the fence. You don't want the fence to collapse. If you don't feel confident or know what you're doing I'd be calling someone in to do it. Re: Help please! Neighbours 13Feb 25, 2013 11:19 pm Just a word of advice. Not sure where the OP is from, but here in NSW, if you are building a retaining wall closer than 900mm to the boundary, OR over 600mm high, you will need to get development approval. it depends on the natural ground level, if they excavated their boundary wall needed to be built as a retaining wall. If you filled, which sounds like the case then you… 1 7084 The only thing to add to these comments is that where possible it's always good to try and work with people than just say "no" because you can. Having someone… 4 17127 Thankyou so much 😀 I've decided on White on white for doors and trims, White on white 50% on ceiling and Mt buller for walls. Fingers crossed it will look OK 😀 2 7157 |