Deck / Retaining Wall

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

Rather large deck structure at the rear of the home.

Deck supports are resting atop a 20-25 foot high retaining wall.

Wall is bowed outward mid span with additional indications of settlement / movement.

Thoughts....?

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by jhagarty

Thoughts....?

Hi Joe,

In this part of the country a retaining wall is not considered a foundation for anything, and of course a wood retainer is even crazier to be considered for a supporting foundation.

But you knew that............

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

Additional photo of the deck itself....

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by jhagarty

Additional photo of the deck itself....

It is a nice deck Joe....I would just jack it up, pour a wall, and feel safe having a beer with a nice view..............

[Dale Duffy]

Hey...did you take that picture recently?

You know, there are places in this country with leaves on the trees in May.....

And some places they never fall off.............

Beautiful country there though!

I can picture myself now swatting things with wings and teeth......!!!!!

[jbreazeale]

My thoughts are the the owners had better take some appropriate corrective action or they will find themselves.....decked!

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

The last photo was scanned from the advertisement left at the home.

That picture was taken at the time of the listing.....

[Dale Duffy]

Originally Posted by jhagarty

The last photo was scanned from the advertisement left at the home.

That picture was taken at the time of the listing.....

...............

You know I'm just harassing you.......

[afrost]

in the last photo of the series of 4, i don't see any tie-backs that would anchor the ret. wall back to the earth. so it looks like a non-standard construction that should be evaluated by a structural engineer.

was the wood punky? it would be hard to verify that it was treated for contact with earth unless you could see a tag or stamp that said as much.

[Larry D. Kage]

Originally Posted by dduffy

In this part of the country a retaining wall is not considered a foundation for anything...

Agreed.

[jking2]

That railing has some issues also that are especially important considering the height of the deck: More than 6" clearance beneath railing, climbable railing, railing possibly less than 36" high.

Jim King

[Joseph Hagarty, CMI]

Originally Posted by afrost

in the last photo of the series of 4, i don't see any tie-backs that would anchor the ret. wall back to the earth. so it looks like a non-standard construction that should be evaluated by a structural engineer.

was the wood punky? it would be hard to verify that it was treated for contact with earth unless you could see a tag or stamp that said as much.

There was only 1 tieback and that is pulled back from the center of the wall. It may not be visible in the photo.

Lumber is pressure treated timber.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Should it not have looked something similar to this?

We can see the crib butts clearly on this one that tie backs the pressures of the backfill.

Marcel

[homebild]

Since both structural columns or walls greater than 10 feet high and retaining walls greater than 4' high are required by Code in Pennsylvania to be engineered, your best approach here is to refer your clients to a structural engineer for an appropriate assessment.

[rwand1]

More importantly what provisions have been installed for drainage? Weeping tiles, proper backfill (stone), fabric filter...?