Steps and side walls

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Neal
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:28 pm
Location: Glasgow

Post: # 13842Post Neal

Hi to everyone. I love the website... so much so that I bought Tony's book yesterday.

Anyway to cut to the chase. I'm replacing a retaining wall in my garden which held back a raised lawn about 80cm above my old patio level. My plan is to have a flight of steps up to the lawn from the patio. So that it looks something like this... ----|===|---- where --- are the walls, === is the flight of steps and | are the side walls. The side walls do not project in front of the main walls but the post wouldn't accept ___ which would have made for a better diagram.

I'm halfway through digging the foundations for the main walls but my question is what is the best way of doing the foundations for the side walls.

With five steps I calculate that the flight will run 1.75m in length from the wall and through into the lawn. Do I need to continue the foundations for the retaining walls at 90 degrees and at the same level 1.75m into the mass of lawn and earth that is facing me or can I used stepped foundations to follow the flight of steps.

I'm guessing that the side walls are still performing a fair bit of retaining function - especially at the front - so decent foundations are still in order, but I don't fancy excavating 1.75m into the lawn at the same level as the foundations for the main retaining wall.

All help and advice greatly appreciated.
Neal...
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Stuarty
Posts: 637
Joined: Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:35 pm
Location: Edinburgh

Post: # 13847Post Stuarty

you dont need to dig 1.75 m into the lawn at original depth, just step the founds.
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lutonlagerlout
Site Admin
Posts: 15184
Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 12:20 am
Location: bedfordshire

Post: # 13860Post lutonlagerlout

it also depends on whether it is virgin soil or infill,if it is virgin then steps are fine,if it is infill dig down till you hit virgin ground
"why do we call it virgin soil" ??
"because it hasn't had a f**k thrown into it yet"
one of the first craics i ever was told on site
cheers tony :)
"what,you want paying today??"

YOUR TEXT GOES HERE
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Neal
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:28 pm
Location: Glasgow

Post: # 13873Post Neal

Cheers for the replies lads. The steps are cutting into my lawn so there's ten inches of top soil and then it's clay with the odd sandstone chunk lurking around. I'm guessing at the bottom of the steps I can start the side walls off at the same level foundations as per the main wall and step them up as I work up towards the top of the flight.
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