Browse Forums Building A New House Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 2Jul 14, 2009 8:13 pm Da Vinci Outdoor Living Architectural landscaping http://www.davincioutdoor.com Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 5Jul 15, 2009 9:48 am I was under the impression it was to do with the distance to the boundary, therefor the ability to batten back. We are on a similar block to the OP, around 1m of cut but we are 2650mm from the boundary where the cut is. But it is closer than a metre to the dwelling. Believe it or not... this does not require a retaining wall. We will be putting one in though. http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u353/joles_photo/2009-06-18_16-47-39_18062009851.jpg This pic shows the distance to the garage. http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u353/joles_photo/2009-07-07_12-50-33_07072009950.jpg On the fill side, the FFL of the house is around 1.2metres higher than the boundary, but we have between 5.5m and 6.5m to the boundary. If we were on a smaller block, we'd need retaining walls everywhere, but we don't actually need any. http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u353/joles_photo/2009-06-18_17-01-49_18062009856.jpg So as Snake said, I think it all comes down to the gradient it can be battened away at.... if it can't be battened, that's where retaining walls come in. I'm pretty sure someone told me that a gradient of 1:3 was the maximum before walls are needed. (don't quote me on that though, not 100% sure). There are some houses on my estate that have metres and metres of cut and fill that has been battened away because they have enough room on the block to do so. The depth of the cut is not necessarily the deciding factor in whether or not walls are required. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 6Jul 15, 2009 9:55 am Same as the others, If you can have a 45 degree batter then no retaining wall is required. Distance must be equal or greater than the height of the cut/fill in question. If the batter is going to be at an angle greater than 45 degrees then you will need a retaining wall. I also agree with davinci in that a retaining wall will be much easier to install pre-build, rather than afterwards. What's you rear yard access like? We finished our rear retaining walls a couple of months back and had to get an excavator in which was a pretty tight fit and I remember sh!tting myself thinking it was going to hit the house. Much less stress doing it pre-build IMHO. Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 7Jul 15, 2009 12:49 pm Like others have said, a retaining wall pre build is easier and should be cheaper. Given that you plan to put in a retaining wall eventually, why not get a couple of quotes. If the builders price is competative, why not get them to do it now. If the builders price is not competative then you k know what to do. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 8Jul 15, 2009 8:38 pm Thank you to all of you for your replies Particularly you Snake; we are obviously under Whittlesea council too so it's good to know what their regs on this are. I queried the retaining walls with our administrator today and her answer was, "if you move your house an extra 500mm to the right then we can do without the retaining walls on the left." Ideally, we don't want to do this though because we will end up with close to 3m on the relatovely useless blind side of the house and around 1.5 on the living/alfresco side. Think we will stick to having 2-2.5m on either side and cop the retaining wall costs. We can get good access to the backyard through the rear roller door in the garage, and will need this to dig out the rest of the backyard to make it level. Great idea to get a few quotes! Thanks! God this forum is useful!!! Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 9Nov 11, 2009 9:27 pm Can anyone tell me if they think I need a retaining wall to hold back fill at the front of my place. On the left side of the house I have 1.2m from the boundary fence to the house. There is 20cm of fall between one end of the retaining wall and the other to hold back fill from a small cut. Is this ok to batter or is a retaining wall needed? Henley want a retaining wall alongside the fence. Felistopher Thank you to all of you for your replies Particularly you Snake; we are obviously under Whittlesea council too so it's good to know what their regs on this are. I queried the retaining walls with our administrator today and her answer was, "if you move your house an extra 500mm to the right then we can do without the retaining walls on the left." Ideally, we don't want to do this though because we will end up with close to 3m on the relatovely useless blind side of the house and around 1.5 on the living/alfresco side. Think we will stick to having 2-2.5m on either side and cop the retaining wall costs. We can get good access to the backyard through the rear roller door in the garage, and will need this to dig out the rest of the backyard to make it level. Great idea to get a few quotes! Thanks! God this forum is useful!!! Building in the Maples, Laurimar. Follow our blog at http://newhousemapleslaurimar.blogspot.com Currently nearing completion Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 10Nov 18, 2009 12:57 pm Although that doesn't sound like a lot of fall, you might need the wall. My brother had 30cm of fall on his block(i.e. essentially flat) but when they dug it out he realised he needed a retaining wall 2 sleepers high along half of his left hand side. Sometimes even blocks with hardly any fall need a little retainer, but just as often the builders seem to include them for no good reason... Do you have a site plan or elevations you could post to show us? Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 11Nov 18, 2009 2:12 pm Felistopher we are obviously under Whittlesea council too so it's good to know what their regs on this are. FYI, it took me 3 months to get a building permit for retaining walls from the Whittlesea Council, so I'd start the application process now. Though, we were raising the ground level and needed lots of build over easement and fencing provision approvals. Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 12Nov 18, 2009 3:15 pm That long???? Whoa, thanks for the tip! I'll look into what the app process involves and get it happening. Is there a cost to apply for these permits? There always seems to be a cost with councils Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 13Nov 18, 2009 3:18 pm Felistopher Is there a cost to apply for these permits? There always seems to be a cost with councils Oh, yes. We paid ~$600 all up to council for all the permits and approvals. It's about $200-$230 for each application and we had a build-over-easement application, a building permit application and a revision of building regulations application. This does not include $1200 to Yarra Valley Water to raise the sewer access pit and $1800 to the council contractor to raise the stormwater pit. Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 14Nov 26, 2009 4:53 pm I'm having trouble uploading a pic of my site plan. I have spoken to builder and surveyors who say the area can be battered. I have 1.2m from the fence vs about 30cm high to batter. Therefore is less than 45 deg angle so not req by Whittlesea council. Of course they're going to include it if they can up their margin. I said no thanks and they have made it a provisional cost. Building in the Maples, Laurimar. Follow our blog at http://newhousemapleslaurimar.blogspot.com Currently nearing completion Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 15Nov 27, 2009 8:01 am That's a great outcome I think the batter will look fine. You might not even need or want walls- just plant it out. Always best to not have the builder do the walls anyway if you can. Easier and cheaper to get it done afterwards. Thanks for the update Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 16Mar 01, 2010 3:48 pm Felistopher That's a great outcome I think the batter will look fine. You might not even need or want walls- just plant it out. Old thread but i want to revive it to see what people think of this idea. My block slopes from house down to the rear fence. I want to create a level pad for a pool install. I have to cut down 2 metres and push out the dirt to create this pad and either build two 1-metre high terraced walls and returns (high cost as the block is 20m wide). Or as mentioned here, and by a builder, batter down to the pad at 45 degrees and then plant the slope out (saving thousands). Although this sounds like a good idea im not sure how it would look and im also concerned about rainwater drainage going on and into the pool and surrounds. Has anybody had experience this type of thing? Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 17Jan 17, 2011 8:09 pm Hi everyone, Also building in Whittlesea council area, and worried about difference in neighbouring site height. It's being built by a large private developer to sell once completed, and sits right on the boundary (1 metre from our house). Prior to their build starting our sites were the same height, but now their house slab sits just over 30cm higher than ours. Our fencing quote from them does not include a retaining wall, but we believe that erosion from their site will end up causing massive problems for us (and whoever they sell to, as the ground underneath their house slowly washes away). Their argument against a retaining wall is that it isn't required because the difference in site heights is not more than 30cm. They have also readily admitted that once the quoted colourbond fence is installed they will simply backfill on their side - all sites checked state colourbond fencing is absolutely not to be used for retaining walls. At this stage we have rejected their fence quote, but expect they will attempt legal action at some point soon. We know a low retaining wall will sort out the issue, but the neighbouring developer just won't do it. Any thoughts on how to manage this would be greatly appreciated!! Re: HELP- Retaining Walls- Law vs Folklore 18Jan 18, 2011 2:36 pm Hi Genna I can sympathise with how frustrated you must be! I'm not sure I know the correct answer to your question, but have you read this thread aswell? http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=42667&hilit=retaining+wall It seems lots of people have different opinions on retaining wall regulations! But there's bound to be something there that helps... Thanks for your reply! All valid points and I agree with you on many of them. I am in QLD, any recommendations on a construction lawyer would be helpful 3 2670 Render your bathroom walls, two opinions versus the one, makes you wonder. 3 6123 The spacing of the studs looks pretty large especially for a load bearing wall. 3 11209 |