Large Retaining Wall Thoughts/Advice

[bexdiy]

Hello,

I'm looking at buying a property built into a hillside, and it has a two-tier retaining wall around the house, with small garden bit in between the two.

I'm trying to work out the risks of this long term, as I imagine if it fails, it's a seriously expensive thing to sort out given the size.

The first one is about 6 foot, second one further back maybe 4 foot. You can see the first one has probably had paint failed to stick to the render that's been removed, I guess this shows it isn't tanked? But the first one does look to have drainage holes at least.

Should I be wary of buying a house with these walls? Or can they last for 40+ years no-issue?

[PhilboSE]

Can they last 40 years? Of course they can. If they are built adequately. Very hard to know unless you gave access to the plans. However, you can check if they’re plumb and if they are theb that would be reassuring. I’d check for cracks, repairs, and any evidence of historic movement.

Retaining walls like this don’t have any damp management like a DPC (apart from weep holes) so they’re pretty much permanently damp. Which explains why paint didn’t hold to them. Ideally they’re faced off with something a bit more attractive, like flint, but you could put a thin coat render on which would tart it up.

In short, I’d ask for as much information about it as possible, age, construction methods, plans etc. if all you have to go on is the wall itself then it’s physical condition is the only evidence from which you can infer future maintenance.

[Jeremy-75qq8]

Retaining walls are usually built with a decent foundation with rebar.

You then have vertical rebar tied into it. Blocks go over the rebar and are then filled with concrete. It will never move.

Ask how it was built.