wrote in message ...
Broadback wrote:

I had a "professional" landscape gardener in to do very similar, three
years ago, it has started leaning. I have just started proceedings
through a solicitor to try get it sorted. I had several landscapers in
to see if they could cure it, none would touch it. Similarly builders
said the only way they would do it was with a Structural Engineer's
plans. We were talking costs in excess of £20,000, maybe as much as
£30,000, one builders guess.

While I was prepared to pay a reasonable amount to get rid of the
problem I cannot afford that. If I had the job done properly from the
offset it would have been much cheaper, and a lot less hassle.

So is this an argument for or against using a professional?

Probably an entirely neutral argument. What is important whether you employ
a professional or DIY is to ensure that they use the services of a
Structural Engineer if the height warrants it, and it didn't sound like
Broadback's guy did this.

An interesting thing is that Cormaic - who tends to be a pretty
authoritative source of best practise -says that professional design should
be sought for any retaining structure 1m in height, so the OP's
requirement for a 3m-ish wall is seriously over this limit.

http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur03.htm#retain


--
Richard Sampson

mail me at
richard at olifant d-ot co do-t uk