Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Jan 13, 2018 10:02 am Hi there. I did write a post when we bought our house about responsibility for a retaining wall at the back of our place. I've sorted all of that out now with the aid of the original building drawings, the neighbour and a solicitor. So we're in a good position in that our neighbour and I are in agreeance to build a new retainer on the boundary and share the cost. So now comes the technical challenge. The house at the rear is 2.4 meters higher than our ground level and we currently have a tiered pine retainer being just over a meter each with a gap of about the same between them. This is end of life and has to be replaced. The council said the new wall needs to be "masonary" and an engineer has drawn a core filled concrete design for us. The trouble is the quote I"ve received is massive - "160k plus". That's negative equity territory for us (the wall would be 30m long and 2m high). I'm now scrambling around looking for alternatives. Could there be a cheaper alternative material that still meets the "masonary" requirement? A chunk of the cost relates to the removal of the old wall(s), I thought building the new wall in front of the bottom tier and filling the gap to the second tier with rocks or whatever might save costs associated with removing the old wall and the risk management activites associated with it (checking piers of neighbours house, propping etc.). Could this mean significant savings and would it be allowed? The pine will continue to degrade over time whilst buried I guess. I also lose a fair bit of land this way. Any other thought or ideas? Thanks.. Re: Retaining wall 2Jan 13, 2018 11:19 am I would have thought using gabions in front of the wall would work and be cheaper. The disadvantage is the wall would be bigger in plan area, and you may not like the look. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Retaining wall 3Jan 13, 2018 12:11 pm Someone mentioned those a while back. I don’t like the look but it could be a lot cheaper and maybe less risky as they could remove a small section of the old wall and replace with gabions one or two at a time? If they’d be acceptable to council of course. I have seen them used on much bigger walls than mine though. Re: Retaining wall 4Jan 13, 2018 6:17 pm $160+k to build a 30 metre wall ? Sounds a bit. You could almost build a house for a little more than that. What is the Wall's primary objective - as Donald Trump might say ... I would suggest you do go for a longer lasting wall - rather than the cheap fast fix. Depending on the second line above, are there any other alternative - eg a rockery (ie a stepped "wall"), and - indeed - a stepped wall incorporating a BBQ or outdoor area - utilising the steps as "seats" ? Make use of the wall as best you can - not just have an expensive wall. By "stepped" I'm thinking maybe 2-3 levels - thus increasing the height as you do each step. Sorry - may not be possible ? Re: Retaining wall 5Jan 15, 2018 7:10 pm Thanks for the reply Mike but I'll need something to actually do the job of holding up the ground behind. There are plenty of options to make it aesthetically ok yes but I need something that can hold 2.4 meters of round up across 30 meters that doesn't cost the earth. Doesn't look like there's too much though.. Re: Retaining wall 6Jan 15, 2018 7:43 pm Option 1: ICF. E.g. Zego Re-Form. You can end up at around $120 sq meter for the block + labour, but much less if you can lay the blocks by yourself in DYI mode. But you would need to render the wall afterwards if you want to keep it beautiful and not just have an ugly piece of the concrete. Still much cheaper than $160K. Option 2: Custom modular wall, e.g. https://modularwalls.com.au/. Custom one can retain up to 3 meters, but will likely to cost you $300+ per linear meter. However, blocks or wall is only part of the cost of the retaining wall. You would also need to pay for the excavation, concrete foundations, gravel/compaction and plumbing. Hope it helps. Re: Retaining wall 7Jan 16, 2018 9:02 am @alexpro79 I suggest you link to the engineering and proofs for those options & costs as they are way off for 3.0m high retaining walls Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: Retaining wall 8Jan 16, 2018 9:15 pm StructuralBIMGuy @alexpro79 I suggest you link to the engineering and proofs for those options & costs as they are way off for 3.0m high retaining walls Up to 3m is retained by the commercial product called TerraFirm: https://modularwalls.com.au/products/terrafirm/ Last time I checked pricing with them for 1.8m wall was around $250+GST for the linear meter supplied. Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5099 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 16042 Hi All, I engaged a tradie to install concrete retaining wall 600-800mm high over 32 meters in Victoria. Sleepers are 200*75*2000 mm installed over 17 steel posts. I… 0 6830 |