Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So I saw a house that I like very much. This house has a brick retaining wall on the sides and at the back overall in this shape \_/ Backyard has a positive slope and and water damaged the back part of the wall trying to escape. There are gaps now and it looks like this \ _ / Gaps are like 6"at the top and may be a few inches at the bottom. Looks like the back portion is on the way out and will certainly need to be removed. So how can we repair this cheaply? I had a HUD consultant look at it - he says best option is to completely remove the wall and rebuild! I thought it was a bit ridiculous. Any suggestions?
Last edited by alpha_1976; 10-05-2017 at 02:58 PM..
He may well have been right. Once the integrity of the original wall was compromised, the thing may well have sunk into a situation where you'd just be throwing good money after bad. Water is often a bad thing to bet against.
Yes he might very well be. But I find it strange that there is no way to keep a large portion of the wall (it's like 60x60x18) just because some portion is going bad? There are minor cracks (maybe 2) away from the back portion but those could be fixed easily and there is no water damage there (seems more like due to settlement).
I agree although it may not be anything immediate. It could maybe wait a couple of years. If you're brave.
well I am but according to HUD consultant this will need to be fixed otherwise appraiser going to create troubles. He also saw some beams in the basement - he says we'll need to remove the beams and see why they are there! There is no damage of any kind there and somehow it caulked on the top and seems years old so no idea why he wants to open it up and see.
All that matters is what a structural engineer requires for the repair. I'd just guess if there are signs of movement that it'll need to be pulled out. There are methods of repairing an undermined foundation, (like piers and pumped concrete), but those may well be more expensive than installing a new wall the proper way (and they don't address the drainage, so they might not even be repairs that would last).
Just the inspection itself is several hundred dollars if no problem is found, so you're likely already beyond any "cheap" repair..
plus -- you'll need to fix the drainage issue or you'll have more problems down the road
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
