Side return off existing retaining wall

[Robertspaw]

Hi
I live in a victorian terrace house on a fairly steep hill in bristol. We've got a nice big kitchen we want to fit in a utility room and downstairs wc so are looking to extend into the side return. The side return is about 7m long and 1.3m wide with the boundary wall about 10ft high retaining wall which appears to lie on the centre line between mine and my neighbours boundary. Ideally to minimise cost and maximise space I would like to build directly off the existing retaining wall (would only need a brick course or 2) and then get a glass roof over the space.

Does anyone know if I can do this?

Thanks

 

[Norcon]

No idea but I'd just say that if the retainer moves then it will make mince meat of the rest of your home.

And many do move and flex. Lego doesn't stand up well to heavy forces.

 

[Robertspaw]

Anyone???

 

[noseall]

I can see this being impractical for several reasons.

The obvious one is how do you deal with soffit and gutter etc?

Will your neighbours agree? What if they would like to do something similar i.e. build close to the boundary?

Will the wall and foundations be suitable?

How are you going to deal with the inevitable damp/salts ingress problem.

What if the wall needs maintenance work or re-building in the future?

Worse still - how would you build a wall in front of the retainer without compromising the existing foundations? Pile concrete and beams?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

It’s possible but it depends on who owns the wall, its construction and condition. If all of those happened to be favourable (which I doubt very much) then it could be plausible but if not it’s a no go.