Sloping soil - process of leveling and need help with wood retaining wall
 

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

You should dig all the dirt that's piled up by the fence because the
moisture will rot the wood. THEN install the retaining boards (pressure
treated) next to the fence. I've got 120' of fence that's constructed
with 2x12's next to it to retain the dirt which is higher on my property
than the neighbors. It's been holding up well for more than 13 years.
The previous fences didn't last but a few years w/o PT wood and retainer.

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

Thanks David,
Just the answer I was looking for and from someone who has done this!
I plan on using PT wood...
Couple of other questions:
How deep did you dig ie is each 2x12 buried to the surface?
I'm thinking burying and leaving a couple of inches exposed
Anything else done to the wood...or just use back fill and fence to
hold in place?
Since I have a grading going from 6 to 24, should I use 2x12 by 8 feet
long?
Did you connect boards?
Thanks for your quick response.

While you are at it, make sure the Condo Rules will let you do this. =
Some are pretty sticky concerning "yard work" and what is really =
allowable.

--=20

PDQ
--
=20
"David" wrote in message =
...
| This was one project that I didn't do myself. The boards were =
attached=20
| to the fence posts. If you have to retain more than about a foot of=20
| dirt, you'll want to provide additional support for the retaining=20
| boards, I'd think. The boards are exposed about 1-2 inches. If you=20
| face the boards with a couple of layers of heavy plastic, the moisture =

| load on them will be less until the plastic rots away, which it will =
do=20
| in a few years. I did that on a short retaining wall, but I didn't =
use=20
| PT on THAT project and the boards eventually had to be replaced due to =

| termite damage encouraged by the moisture in the wood. PT should last =

| over 10 years, easily.
|=20
| The boards the fence co. installed were just butted together. The=20
| boards haven't shrink much in length, so I wouldn't worry to much =
about=20
| that aspect of the installation.
|=20
| Dave
|=20
| Meatball wrote:
|=20
| Thanks David,
| Just the answer I was looking for and from someone who has done =
this!
| I plan on using PT wood...
| Couple of other questions:
| How deep did you dig ie is each 2x12 buried to the surface?
| I'm thinking burying and leaving a couple of inches exposed
| Anything else done to the wood...or just use back fill and fence to
| hold in place?
| Since I have a grading going from 6 to 24, should I use 2x12 by 8 =
feet
| long?
| Did you connect boards?
| Thanks for your quick response.
|

This was one project that I didn't do myself. The boards were attached
to the fence posts. If you have to retain more than about a foot of
dirt, you'll want to provide additional support for the retaining
boards, I'd think. The boards are exposed about 1-2 inches. If you
face the boards with a couple of layers of heavy plastic, the moisture
load on them will be less until the plastic rots away, which it will do
in a few years. I did that on a short retaining wall, but I didn't use
PT on THAT project and the boards eventually had to be replaced due to
termite damage encouraged by the moisture in the wood. PT should last
over 10 years, easily.

The boards the fence co. installed were just butted together. The
boards haven't shrink much in length, so I wouldn't worry to much about
that aspect of the installation.

Dave

Meatball wrote:

Thanks David,
Just the answer I was looking for and from someone who has done this!
I plan on using PT wood...
Couple of other questions:
How deep did you dig ie is each 2x12 buried to the surface?
I'm thinking burying and leaving a couple of inches exposed
Anything else done to the wood...or just use back fill and fence to
hold in place?
Since I have a grading going from 6 to 24, should I use 2x12 by 8 feet
long?
Did you connect boards?
Thanks for your quick response.

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

David - thanks.

PDQ - actually, part of my need for posting is that we have a condo
meeting this weekend, and I want to tell them what I am doing.
I was initially going to work with my neighbor (they are not a condo),
but that is just not feasable.
I am hoping that digging and placing pt wood next to the fence will be
approved. (assuming wood pieces could easily be removed).
I thought about railroad ties, but that was not ok with the condo.

As long as the Condo is happy, you have some good advice with which to =
work.
Good luck.

--=20

PDQ
--
=20
"Meatball" wrote in message =
oups.com...
| David - thanks.
|=20
| PDQ - actually, part of my need for posting is that we have a condo
| meeting this weekend, and I want to tell them what I am doing.
| I was initially going to work with my neighbor (they are not a condo),
| but that is just not feasable.
| I am hoping that digging and placing pt wood next to the fence will be
| approved. (assuming wood pieces could easily be removed).
| I thought about railroad ties, but that was not ok with the condo.
|

Not to put a damper on the party but did you happen to notice that this is
the rec.woodworking group ? May want to try alt.home.repair or some other
group next time for questions like this.

I'm sure you got some good answers here though - now if they only had
something to do with woodworking... But with the way this ng has been headed
lately it appears to be turning into - rec.askanythingyouwant anyway. Just
thought I'd toss that out to see who bites...

Bob S.


"Meatball" wrote in message
oups.com...
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

BobS wrote:
Not to put a damper on the party but did you happen to notice that this is
the rec.woodworking group ? May want to try alt.home.repair or some other
group next time for questions like this.

I'm sure you got some good answers here though - now if they only had
something to do with woodworking... But with the way this ng has been headed
lately it appears to be turning into - rec.askanythingyouwant anyway. Just
thought I'd toss that out to see who bites...

Bob S.


CHOMP!

Hey! It was more on topic than a lot of the recent c**p. It had the word
"wood" all through the posts eh -- even if it was that PT crud!!



LOL



"Meatball" wrote in message
oups.com...

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






--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek

Meatball wrote:

David - thanks.

PDQ - actually, part of my need for posting is that we have a condo
meeting this weekend, and I want to tell them what I am doing.
I was initially going to work with my neighbor (they are not a condo),
but that is just not feasable.
I am hoping that digging and placing pt wood next to the fence will be
approved. (assuming wood pieces could easily be removed).
I thought about railroad ties, but that was not ok with the condo.

My question would be why is it this way to begin with and wasn't
corrected when the condo built? Seems to me like it would have been
builder's responsibility to leave grade at appropriate level...

Thanks to all who replied.
BobS...the reason I asked hear was more for direction on working with
wood to solve a landscaping problem.
Having taken shop classes in HS, I do recognize the distinction, but
felt there might be someone on here who uses wood to solve most
problems.
The other sites only talk about using cement, stones, or othe pre fab
type installations, which are not an option.
I will use wood, hence it will be a wood working project...in my mind.

Meatball wrote:

Thanks to all who replied.
BobS...the reason I asked hear was more for direction on working with
wood to solve a landscaping problem.
Having taken shop classes in HS, I do recognize the distinction, but
felt there might be someone on here who uses wood to solve most
problems.
The other sites only talk about using cement, stones, or othe pre fab
type installations, which are not an option.
I will use wood, hence it will be a wood working project...in my mind.

I'm still curious as to why there's a ledge on your side wrt to the
other side of the fence, anyway. My first inclination would be to
simply grade it to level even if there's some slope.

A picture would be worth a 1000 words....basically, 2 family units
burned down in a row of attached brownstones.
So, contractors built 2 units and joined them. The backyard was made
into one even area, which created a gap
against the neighbors fence. I was able to measure both sides and that
is how I discovered the lean.
My wife is concerned that when the wood fence finally gives, it will
collapse into the neigbors side, and potentially mess
up their deck.
I am surprised the neigbors or inspectors didnt say anything...unless
it had been done years ago.
The only way I noticed is that when I was prepping for seed, parts
collapsed.