Fixing a retaining wall

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swimmer_spe

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Spring has sprung, revealing many issues around my yard. One of them is a 2 foot high retaining wall that encloses my septic bed.
My plan is to remove the blocks, rebuild the base, then lay them again, using proper construction adhesive.
My issue is the dirt behind it. Can I just leave it as is and remove the blocks, letting what falls fall and remove it, then put it back when the wall is rebuilt? I have about 100 feet to rebuild. (picture to follow)
 
Here is the wall.
 

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I have about a hundred & fifty feet of a similar block wall ( but they are the seventy pounders ) around my garage and the wife's flower garden. Both have been in for a decade and one is leaning and the other is loose & shifting.
All I can share is that the base or foundation is critical for the walls to remain solid. On the one wall that's leaning I had dug down over a foot and then packed in crusher run stone ......... apparently not enough because it still moved with all the moisture in that area. Going to big a big job to get it all reset.
 
You said it is around your septic base?



If that is the case it is like a raised mound system that someone dressed up with a wall. If it were mine I would remove the wall and blend it down with a sloping berm. Something gradual enough to be able to mow and not look like a raised mound septic.

Use the blocks and caps for a different project.
 
You said it is around your septic base?



If that is the case it is like a raised mound system that someone dressed up with a wall. If it were mine I would remove the wall and blend it down with a sloping berm. Something gradual enough to be able to mow and not look like a raised mound septic.

Use the blocks and caps for a different project.

Not a bad idea. My concern is how shallow the field bed components will be. The bed is about 10 years old.
 
depending on the design and the code in your area at the time it was built . Most likely they will be very close to the surface but will not be real close to the edges. Get a load of dirt and start removing the wall a little at a time and back filling tapering out the edge. Most plans show a steep berm like 45 degrees but if you feather it out to 20-30 degrees it wont stand out and will be easy to mow.

If you want to get it done faster as a DIY rent a skid steer for 4-8 hours and it will be done.
 
depending on the design and the code in your area at the time it was built . Most likely they will be very close to the surface but will not be real close to the edges. Get a load of dirt and start removing the wall a little at a time and back filling tapering out the edge. Most plans show a steep berm like 45 degrees but if you feather it out to 20-30 degrees it wont stand out and will be easy to mow.

If you want to get it done faster as a DIY rent a skid steer for 4-8 hours and it will be done.

The challenge is that we get winter So, I need to make sure the cut isn't too shallow otherwise I will run into it when plowing snow. It sounds like I should pay for the plan for it so I know where the closest one is and how much space is needed.

As far as time, I have lots of it.
 
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