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Wondering what are people's thoughts on retaining wall. I am in the process of buying a house off 55 in cary and the builder did not mention about the specifics on a retaining wall.
Nothing in the contract, but the various sales folks gave differing idea - none matching the proportion of what they finally built.
It extends from the back corner of the home and goes straight through to almost end of property line. It is about 6 feet tall and they are going to put a 4 feet metal fence behind it (for safety).
One one side of this wall, they filled in dirt - the house next to me is on height and without basement. Mine has basement. The backyard was
leveled before the wall was built - now with the wall, they filled dirt behind it and formed a channel for the rain water to flow down the backyard.
So, few questions, do people consider thing an eyesore?
Is it legal to build structures and not disclose in a contract?
What is the life of such a structure?
What are my rights? (not seeking any legal advice - just thoughts/opinions)
Thanks in advance.
--
|
|
wall ---> |
| dirt filled here
| and channel formed to drain water
---------------------|-- --> house on this side does not have
| basement
|
House |
|
There are lots of questions you should ask. I would not recommend buying either house (the one you are considering or the one above the wall) until you are provided copies of the construction designs and specifications for the wall, which you then have thoroughly reviewed by a licensed civil or structural engineer. Some site testing to validate the builder constructed what the original engineer designed may also be prudent.
The house on the high side may be placing an additional load on the retaining wall called a "surcharge". The wall is also loaded by the soil on the back side and any water which accumulates in the soil. How deep is the footing? The footing has to prevent both sliding of the wall and tipping of the wall. Are there any tie-backs? Is there any space to do future repairs or replacement of the wall?
A properly designed, constructed, and maintained (keep the drains clear) retaining wall can last the life of your home's foundation - 50 to 100 years. An improperly designed or constructed wall may fail within 10 years, and may result in irrepairable damage to adjacent structures on both sides when it fails.
Almost any landscaping book will give you lots of ideas on how to make a retaining wall a beautifully inviting (or fully hidden) element of your yardscape.
You need an independent professional opinion, from other than the builder, his engineer, or the Realtor!
I would also add that retaining walls can cause drainage issues. Most jurisdictions in NC require there to be zero drainage impact on your neighbors from any changes to your site. this is also something an engineer can check.
I'm curious-is it in Harmony? Our builder is the same builder as Harmony and we have lots of retaining walls around exactly as you described. My street goes downhill and our neighbor has a basement but we don't. Aesthetically speaking, I don't find it unattractive. Our neighbors have had major water issues though and the wall has already been taken apart and rebuilt once (with some extensive damage to the basement).
There are lots of questions you should ask. I would not recommend buying either house (the one you are considering or the one above the wall) until you are provided copies of the construction designs and specifications for the wall, which you then have thoroughly reviewed by a licensed civil or structural engineer. Some site testing to validate the builder constructed what the original engineer designed may also be prudent.
>> The builder is not providing any documentation - initially they did not acknowledge that a document existed, mentioning that they will build the wall and grade on the fly as needed!
>> I then hired a local builder (civil enginer) who inspected the wall (without diagrams) and mentioned that it was ok and well constructed.
The house on the high side may be placing an additional load on the retaining wall called a "surcharge". The wall is also loaded by the soil on the back side and any water which accumulates in the soil. How deep is the footing? The footing has to prevent both sliding of the wall and tipping of the wall. Are there any tie-backs? Is there any space to do future repairs or replacement of the wall?
>> Behind the wall, the dirt got added to level off with neighbor (and form a channel). The footing is about 1 feet deep - max 1.5 feet. I own about 10 feet of land on the other side of the wall where dirt was filled and then another 10 feet is owned by the neighbor (on height). Yes, they have that
plastic mesh like tie-backs at two levels that I can see. The individual stones were interlocked with fiber-glass rods. If the wall is damaged/breaks, that would require digging the dirt that was filled to make repairs/replacement.
A properly designed, constructed, and maintained (keep the drains clear) retaining wall can last the life of your home's foundation - 50 to 100 years. An improperly designed or constructed wall may fail within 10 years, and may result in irrepairable damage to adjacent structures on both sides when it fails.
Almost any landscaping book will give you lots of ideas on how to make a retaining wall a beautifully inviting (or fully hidden) element of your yardscape.
You need an independent professional opinion, from other than the builder, his engineer, or the Realtor!
>> Absolutely agree, so I took the services of another (unaffiliated small time builder from out of area, who is a civil engineer by education).
>> I forgot to mention that they are putting a 4 feet metal fence behind the wall to prevent people from accidently tripping over the wall and falling into my yard.
I'm curious-is it in Harmony? Our builder is the same builder as Harmony and we have lots of retaining walls around exactly as you described. My street goes downhill and our neighbor has a basement but we don't. Aesthetically speaking, I don't find it unattractive. Our neighbors have had major water issues though and the wall has already been taken apart and rebuilt once (with some extensive damage to the basement).
>> You guessed it right! It is harmony.
>> Can you point me to your subdivision and I can have a look? Amberley? Breckenridge? Which street has such construction?
>> As you describe, we have the same situation, the road is going downhill and the builder has used the natural grading and not expended on fixing the grade (also considering the grading the inter-unit spacing is pretty low)
>> Unfortunately, there is no documentation regarding the wall and I don't know and am not getting an answer/commitment regarding the warranty on the wall.
>> Can you point me to your subdivision and I can have a look? Amberley? Breckenridge? Which street has such construction?
>> As you describe, we have the same situation, the road is going downhill and the builder has used the natural grading and not expended on fixing the grade (also considering the grading the inter-unit spacing is pretty low)
>> Unfortunately, there is no documentation regarding the wall and I don't know and am not getting an answer/commitment regarding the warranty on the wall.
Highland Oaks in Cary (off Highhouse between Cary Pkwy. and Maynard. Most of them are on Belrose Dr. (the street you enter on).
>> Thanks sls76. I will check them today before sundown.
I went there yesterday afternoon and definitely saw one. We peeked into two other back yards on that road parallel to Highhouse, but did not see any walls - those were the houses with basement.
The one we saw was almost in the middle (between two backyards) and had a fence on top of it.
If that were the case, I might have been ok - in my case, the wall is
built starting from the back corner of the house, extending back and the
outside of the wall till the middle of the two properties has been filled with
dirt/mud (where it was flat before till the property line)
After some "dialogue", the builder is giving a 10 year structural warranty. I have not seen that paper, but I will only move ahead if I get it in writing from them.
Anything else I should get from them or watch out for?
I will definitely get a structural engineer examine the wall and the whole house structure again (did get another independent builder have a look at it already).
Thanks for your help.
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I have designed retaining walls before....
