Hey Ags! I live in San Antonio and am needing to replace a retaining wall. The old wall was built with railroad ties and was much smaller than what I'll need to go back with due to erosion between mine and my neighbors property. In total the project would encompass:

- Putting a new retaining wall in. (approx. 3-4' tall, 110' long)
- Removing soil that's into my property over time.
- Rebuilding fence-line that sits above retaining wall.

I'm thinking I'd like either a wood wall or wall blocks. The kicker is I'm relatively new to San Antonio and don't know any good contractors to look for bids. Does anyone on here have some recommendations of who to reach out to?

**Pictures of Area to Follow**

Thanks and Gig'em,
Andy '16

Here are some photo's of the area. I'm no expert but believe a retaining wall is necessary along ~85" of the leaning fence-line shown:

Right side of fence-line:












Left side of fence-line:

No recommendation on a contractor but get several bids and check recent projects, as you would do with any project. I would suggest not getting someone to just take out the railroad ties and putting concrete blocks back, you are not addressing the problem of the soil shifting and eroding.

I am sure you have noticed the concrete at the based of the posts has been washing away. Depends on how much you are willing to spend vs permanence of any solution. There should be some folks on here that have been through this.

FKA,

Thanks for your response. The existing wall is approximately 45' long and I intend to go back with a 100' long, essentially the entire fence-line. You're right, the existing wall is not nearly long enough for what the property needs. I wish I could show a video of the amount rain water that runs through the fence line when it really comes down, it's like a river. The last rain we saw added what seems like 0.5"-1" of silt in some area's of the yard.

Luckily my neighbor acknowledges the issues that we're facing and has a plan to remedy the silt washing out of his yard once. He's on board with helping to cover costs for all the work. If I can find a good contractor to get this done I think we can eliminate just about all the issues we're seeing. I've got a formal bid package ready to send out, I'd just like to have a couple trustworthy recommendations and not have to rely on google reviews for every bid. Thanks again!

May want to post over in the San Antonio forum. Good luck.

Don't do wood.
I would use 6"tallx8"wide chopped Limestone block with a 12-16" wide x 6" deep concrete footing with 2 - #3 rebar. Backfill the wall with 1" limestone gravel wrapped with filter fabric. Install 3/4" weep holes every 5-6' (or just leave out the mortar in the vertical joints)

Apache's recs are spot on with what I would start as the initial plan, assuming no other issues with drainage.

Would one install the fence posts into the footing? If this route I would assume metal posts. the blocks, concrete and metal posts should keep it all tight from a structural standpoint.

Quote:

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Would one install the fence posts into the footing?

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Personally I would not. The posts would be installed first, then footing poured. The stone block coarse would be interrupted by the posts every 7-1/2' or so. Steel posts are 2-3/8" dia, so you'd have an awkward spacing between stones that would have to be mortared or *****ed in with smaller stones.

In the photos by the OP, I'd put the fence back right where it was with steel posts & a rot board; 3 horizontal rails & absolutely stain it. Stain really prolongs the life of a fence. Make sure the steel posts are set to 24" depth in this situation, you've got a slope & moving soil.
The retaining wall should be set a couple of feet inside the fence & then gravel the space between.

Hey guys. Thanks for the help in evaluating this. The wife and I sold this property early this year and ultimately were able to get by without having to do anything but paint the fence. Who woulda thought. If we were going to stay in the house for 3 more years we likely would have fixed this up.

Thanks again for the help and Merry Christmas to you all.