I have a 6 ft tall masonry wall on my property boundary. Blocks have horizontal and vertical rebar and it’s tied to horizontal rebar in the concrete footing. All blocks are filled with grout. It’s well built.
New construction started on the property next to mine. They lowered the existing grade 5-6 feet on their side, to within 2 feet of my wall’s footing, and built a poured concrete retaining wall on their side.
They did not compact their backfill behind their new retaining wall. In addition they did not pull a permit for the work and it appears the retaining wall’s design (height, no drainage, etc) is non-compliant with applicable codes in my town. Chances are the inspector will stop their project.
But here’s my problem: recent heavy rains washed away some of their retaining wall’s backfill. Their retaining wall was not contiguous, so muddy backfill found it’s way out and washed away.
This exposed my wall’s footing in several places, and the original undisturbed soil under my footings has washed away in several places. The footing has sections where as much as 2-3 linear feet of my footing is spanning empty air, and I even have sinkholes open up on my side of my masonry wall, where my soil slid under and away from my footing.
The original grade on their side (before they lowered it 5-6 ft) was level, flat, and had been undisturbed for at least 50 years. Rains in past years never caused any erosion or any problems.
Attached are some examples.
- Footing pic is taken from their side. My wall & footing is in upper-right corner. The bright white in lower left corner is top of their retaining wall, spaced about 3 ft from my wall.
- Sinkhole pic is from my side of my wall, directly on the other side of my wall
What are my options for restoring proper support under my walls’ footing? Seems I need some kind of structural underpinning now.
- Should I having screw jacks placed under the affected sections of my footings, with steel angles or I-beams to spread the load? Then fill in the empty gaps with concrete & rebar? Should rebar be doweled into my existing footing?
- Some other kind of pier design to hold up my footing?
- Is it possible to use mud jacking or slab jacking to support my footing? Seems that might require complicated forms on both sides of my footing to contain the grout’s pressure when it is pumped in, else the grout will just spill out or overflow instead of building up pressure under my footing.
- Any other ideas or approaches I should consider? I’m not going to be doing the work but want ideas on right and wrong ways to fix this.
TIA.
Replies
1) call the county inspector
2) call a lawyer
I think you are going to have a legal problem with your neighbour so I would go by the book, don't repair it with your own ideas have a professional look at it and follow that opinion. When you go to court you can present a professional report for the repairs and the cost of.
I've already filed a request for inspection with the the town's Building Dept ... soonest they can make it out is this Tuesday (closed Monday for a holiday).
I'm wondering if best action is for me to hire my own licensed structural engineer to advise and provide written recommendations? Seems this will carry more weight than finding another contractor to give advice.
And besides, there is so much building activity in my So Calif town, many of the contractors are quick-buck opportunists who don't necessarily use good practices; the guy who built the retaining wall being a case in point.
Cost of engineer and lawyer could add up to thousands $$ :-( , clearly any satisfactory resolution will require reimbursement for my costs from the offending contractor next door.
Hire an engineer all the way and lawyers, talk with your neighbour. tell him your intentions, he might comply and fix it between the two of you, but still use an engineer.
I would cal the engineer and lawyer first. Your neighbor is going to be liable for the damages and legal costs.
Here, they would not be allowed that "structure" withing fifteen feet of the property line, at best, so they would also have fines as well as resstoration costs to bear.I would hope to see the engineer almost immediately to prevent further erosion and plan on ( with his approval) doing some gpouting as a temporary seal, but whatever you rdo, it has top be all perfectly legal to avoid compromising your case.How's it feel to have idiots for neighbors?
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Don't do any work without documenting prior conditions and clearing with a lawyer. They could claim your work was unnecessary or worsened conditions otherwise.
Not that you would have any experience in this sort of thing...tee hee, you old rock thief!
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around here you cannot build ten feet from property line, that mean he could not lower grade elevation within ten feet of property line.
nor should it be reduced at a pitch greater than 5/5
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Here's a pic of my masonry garden wall from the west elevation (neighbor's side). This should give a better overall view.
First thing tomorrow, I am going to locate a structural engineer to assist on the problem. My town gave me a list of about 10 engineers who are approved to practice in the town. I will have to check that the engineer doesn't have a personal or business relationship with the offending contractor that could cause conflict of interest.
Per my city's written guidelines, the neighbor's retaining wall requires a permit and engineering unless it is less than 4 foot high from bottom of footing to top of wall. Plainly this wall is not exempt from a permit. The city building dept told me No permit was granted for this retaining wall; they seemed surprised when told of this wall's existence. I also viewed the architectural plans on file at the city. No where on the plans was there any mention of a retaining wall! That hopefully strengthens my case.
Thank you for all your comments. It has really convinced me to get the whole setup properly reviewed by an engineer and possibly an attorney ...
Don't do anything until you talk to a lawyer.
Talk to the lawyer...ask him what you should do.
Got it...talk to the lawyer first...not second, not third...talk to him first!
FIRST!
If you want this to go easy, talk to the lawyer first.
blue
ps Did I mention, talk to the lawyer first?Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
There is no question in my mind that the neighbor is liable for the damages. I don't think you will have much of a problem persuading a jury or judge of that, either. You will probably need a lawyer to determine all the applicable laws and regulations that have been violated by the neighbor, but it should not be a difficult case to win.
One of the primary considerations would be to find out what the legal setback is in your area--that's the area either side of the property line within which no construction can be done even with the neighbor's consent. To build in the setback area, you need a minor variance from the municipality; such a variance would never be granted without hearing from the affected neighbor(s).
Another important consideration would be that you will probably need a surveyor to sign off on where the property line is, and if there's any dispute you may need to start a separate court proceeding to get a court ruling on this. It may be different in California (lots of stuff is, LOL), but here, a surveyor's report is considered only a professional opinion--it's the judge who actually decides where the property line really is, based on that report. Of course, the neighbor has the right to hire another surveyor to render a different opinion. That's why the judge has to decide which professional smells better to him....
From a structural angle, you need to:
1. Prevent further erosion. It looks from the photos like the first thing to do would be to block that gap at the end of the neighbor's wall and replace any missing fill to bring it up to original grade on your side. Then you can tarp it to drain any further rainwater to a safe (non-erosive) place.
2. Get temporary support under those footings. A two-foot gap undermining a well-built wall like yours probably won't cause damage immediately, but you ought to think about forming around the gap and pouring in some concrete to replace the washed out fill. A plywood or 2x form supported by fill on the outside would probably hold well enough for this. It doesn't matter if the form swells some; this 'patch' will be buried afterwards thus unseen.
3. Have a PE design a permanent solution. And, of course, the design fees get charged off to the neighbor in the lawsuit, too....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
This is rich ...
The project manager for the job next door job calls me today (BTW, the development company owns the lot, and is building a spec house).
I tell him that my only acceptable permanent solution will require design and engineering by a licensed PE.
He responds, "If it's holding back less than 3 feet dirt the wall doesn't require a permit".
I tell him, "By the written City guideline, if the retaining wall is taller than 4 feet it needs a permit. It doesn't say anything how much dirt is held back. Are you saying this is not a retaining wall?! "
You all can judge for yourselves from my previous pictures of the retaining wall. At its tallest the wall is nearly 6 feet. To claim it's only holding back 3 foot is a ridiculous lie. What a blow-hard.
Yes indeed, it is very apparent why I will need an attorney ...
Update-
The city building dept issued a "stop work" order to the contractor-developer, for their whole project. The contractor is now suddenly much more cooperative and eager to fix their problem, imagine that!
The city is making them:
So this may all work out OK.
I'll be checking w/ attorney to ensure my potential liability in future won't be adversely impacted.
Edited 1/18/2005 6:32 pm ET by nick_h
this is good to hear...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
This would be a good thread to point back to when somebody complains abnout city insopections and codes and blah blah blah
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I had already bokmarked it for that reason...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
I've read the thread and I still have a few legitimate beefs about some code and inspectors...
blueJust because you can, doesn't mean you should!
Warning! Be cautious when taking any framing advice from me. There are some in here who think I'm a hackmeister...they might be right! Of course, they might be wrong too!
I'm sure there are legitamate ones, Blue
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
If you're anywhere near LA, I can recommend a lawyer who specializes in construction defect litigation. He's also licensed as an architect.
-- J.S.
I love it when the good guys win.
If that fancy formwork is any indication...good luck. It sounds like reason and the county is on your side.