What do I do about THIS?? (storm damage)

[gavan]

Cleaning up the yard after the weekend storms and came across this. Any ideas on what to do about it?

The wife would like to knock the rest of it down and grade it, I dont know if that will cause a drainage issue.

It is the only retaining wall in the neighborhood, but the house is close to the flood plane (about 2 feet above), and the lower part of the yard is sometimes under water.

Building another retaining wall will be a huge PITA, getting the old one out and putting a new one in will take either alot of machinery or alot of hard manual labor. Hence the "bury it" thought.

 

[Jeff B]

Call your homeowners ins. & file a claim. Then fix it.

 

[uncc civilengineer]

Yeah I would think your insurance would cover it... that's a pretty old wall... not at all designed I would imagine.. A nice functional retaining wall would be what I would do...

If they dont cover it just rent a skid steer and regrade your back yard... It's not going to cause any drainage issues as long as you slope it properly and dont trap water... If you're 2' above the flood plain you'll still be 2' above the flood plain unless you decide to lower your house... just messing...

I'd say back from the foundation though...

 

[gavan]

I have a claim, they are a little behind with all of the storm damage in the area.

The wall is a very crappy design, no deadmen, not even any cross laid bricks. Just two rows of brick.

Since nothing actually hit the wall, and it just "failed", and it is not part of the house or structural support, my insurance company does not know if it is covered. We will have to wait for the claims guy, I guess.

 

[Yay!Gurrr]

Hmmm ya right I'm guessing your trailer went for another wild ride.....


Those DIY Stacked bricks would be nice... Just an FYI, don't go telling your neighbors, I think any 'wall' over X" needs a building permit. Or you could terrace it with 2 steps.. May be a nicer/easier way to plant stuff also...

I'd bust up the bricks and use em for drainage/fill behind the new stuff...

Got your u-bolts...

 

[kaiser715]

Personally, I wouldn't mess with insurance. Save that for the big stuff - 5k plus. The way insurance companies are nowadays, a few small claims can hurt you. A couple of hundred bucks worth of skid-steer rental will take care of this.

With a couple of helpers, you could build that up with RR ties in a day or two. Build some deadmen back into the back so it won't tip over, too. Or just slope it with the loader and be done with it.

 

[uncc civilengineer]

It's something like any wall over 4 or 5 feet in height has to be designed by an engineer....

You can very easily build a nice looking retaining wall yourself... just backfill the first few inches w/ washed stone (behind the wall) and leave weep holes in the bottom... and this shouldnt happen again.. no need for dead-men...

Keystone Retaining wall blocks or Versa-lok are nice and I dont think they're very expensive... I guess it just depends if your looking to "revamp" your backyard or something at the same time......

 

[CLRracer]

Id take down the noose before anyone else sees it

Duane

 

[Brit-Bloke]

Personally, I wouldn't mess with insurance. Save that for the big stuff - 5k plus. The way insurance companies are nowadays, a few small claims can hurt you.

x2, Home owners Insurance ought to be called 'disaster insurance' small claims will come back and bite you in the a$$ next time you apply for it. Happens all to often nowadays, its getting so bad even enquiry's are hurting people....

 

[gavan]

Id take down the noose before anyone else sees it
Duane

Don't be busting on my custom paint booth...