Retaining wall

[Hippymonk]

Hi all.
I have not long purchased a house with a decent size back garden, however the house sits below the level of the garden ( Back door approx 6ft below top of garden) The garden is in an L shape ( across the back and down the side of the house) and slopes. There is a walkway down the side of to the house approx 700mm wide between the garden and the house leading onto a patio area, back door, Patio doors, etc. We would like to build a retaining wall out of poured concrete, approx 6ft high for about 12ft then turn It down the side of the house, drop the level to 4ft and 20ft run. The walk wsy will be widened (Double the width). The garden is to have 2 tiers the tier that runs down the side of the house being about 2 or 3 ft lower and both tiers levelled. My question is how deep and how thick do we need to make the concrete walls.

 

[Ian H]

That is a decent sized garden!! 6ft would be a massive retaining wall, could you not do 2 x 3ft ones or 3 x 2ft ones a few meters apart?

It would be nicer to look out onto and probably easier/cheaper to build.

 

[Hippymonk]

Thanks for your reply. Do you mean stepped as it already is in the first and last picture? The rreason for the single wall is to widen the walkway. The wall will then be either rendered or some sort of facia put onto it, lights added and perhaps a water feature ( she has yet to decide and give me my orders).
The idea is to level the high point of the garden, build a pergola, and install a hot tub where the Bush is in pic 1...... I just do as I'm told as it makes for a quieter life...

 

[Halitosis]

I believe a wall over 1.2m requires planning/building consent or a structural engineer involved in the planning. Suggest you enquiry at your local planning office or have a casual chat with an architect.