AboutMarc Chapelle, ASLA Expertise As a licensed Landscape Architect, I am available to answer general questions about style and design, ideas and suggestions for site amenities, larger site-planning issues, or recreational and park design. I prefer you ask somebody else why your petunias are not as perky as they should be...I'd LOVE to tell you how can use those petunias to increase your home's value!
Experience Member, American Society of Landscape Architects(ALSA); My clients are mostly contractors, developers and local civil engineering/architecture firms, plus the occasional homeowner. I am currently located in the dry Great Basin area (Reno/Sparks), so use of landscape materials OTHER than plants is emphasized. As a licensed Landscape Architect on the East and West Coasts, I have been in practice over 18 years. My website: DesertLA.com
Question Our neighbors on 3 sides' yards are higher than ours so my husband says that we need to level ours and put in a retaining wall. My question is-do we need to do this, how far away from the fences (they are about 24" higher) do we need the wall, and do we need drainage installed first? We live in Sacramento, CA. Thank you!
Answer Hello, Sarah -
The good news is that if you live in Sacramento proper (not Sacto County, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, etc.) you don't need a building permit to install such a low wall. If you are in another community, you'll have to check with their building department.
Retaining walls not over four feet in height measured from the bottom of the footing to the top of the wall, unless supporting a surcharge (a fancy term that means you're holding back the neighbor's dirt), don't need a permit.
the Uniform Building Code (or UBC) says you have to stay back 2 feet from the property line, although it sounds like your neighbor's didn't bother to follow code. OR, these walls were part of the original builder's subdivision site improvements.
The reasoning for additional drainage is that your neighbors are responsible for their drainage coming off of their lots, as you are for yours...If it were my home, I'd install drainage, and make sure it dumps into the storm gutters out in the street, and not onto the neighbor's property. I don't want to have to pay for *their* flooded basement.
Is it (the walls & raising grade) necessary? I don't know. It depends on the exsiting drainage pattern, and if your neighbors' elevated lots are causing your lot to flood. If they are causing the grief, maybe *they* should pay to fix the situation.
It isn't cheap, either! The walls are not cheap, and the dirt to raise the backyard isn't cheap...Plus, you may be screwing up the drainage that is currently going AWAY from your house, and driving it back towards you!! I am, of course, assuming that we are NOT discussing a vancant lot, but you have a house on it already.
With your neighor's permission (IN WRITING!) you may be able to fill back towards their retaining walls. This will require you consult a local expert, however, as I cannot see the particular situation from here.
I'd consult a local landscape contractor, surveyor, or civil engineer to make sure you aren't creating a bigger problem because you & your husband feel like you are in "a hole".
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a good rule to live by.
