Meatball wrote:
Good afternoon!
Hi, I'm new here. Great site!
We are in the process of adding lots of dirt to level our 32'x26'
backyard.
It has taken months to get the dirt ready for seeding (new construction
had left all kinds of trash in soil).

My next problem is that my lot angles from 6" to 2' sloped on one side
of my neighbor. There is a fence which is supporting the dirt, but I
want to reinforce on my side. I was thinking of digging in and putting
2x10s the length of the fence and filling the dirt back.

Any suggestions?
PS...its a condo, so I am limited in what I can do ie using cement or
some more permanent fixes without board approval....
Thanks!
Chris


Chris:

Find out the depth to which your ground freezes -- if at all. Ignore
this if your ground never freezes -- unless it is very wet.

Are you in a northern climate? Do you get freezing? If so I would
recommend some "backfill" as in crushed rock etc for drainage -
otherwise you get freeze-thaw cycles which heave anything placed in the
ground.

Typically here north of Lake Ontario we dig below frost level for cement
structures -- don't know requirements for wood structures -- then put in
6 inches of crushed rock.

The plastic someone mentioned can be a good idea...

Dig out, Put plastic in against earth, fill in some crushed rock, put it
PT wood, add more crushed rock around wood.... Try to make sure you have
some drainage for the water as well...

I think you are in NJ based on your comcast posting address - that's why
I mentioned it.

A good home supply, rock supply or reno-building supply should be able
to clue you in to the local building code or local common sense
requirements.

Placing the 2X10's on crushed rock and backfilling should extend the
life of the boards as well.

This wasn't done at our current place and the PT wood used for the rock
garden and terracing -- placed by previous owner of less than 5 years --
had started to decompose. We dug it up after two years here...

--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek