Retention Wall repair

[Gp G.]

Hi All,

Happy Monday. I have very limited knowledge relating to construction. This is not specific to my location contractor question but a general question. One waterproofing contractor said the retention wall (wooden railing as in the picture attached that is a bit rotten) is not in good shape and costs a lot of money to fix. He says if I do not change quickly the retention wall may cause more foundation cracks, foundation syncing.
Has anyone had to replace the retention wall recently? If yes, what was your experience like that you can share? This is 1995 property. Once in how many years do I have to rebuild the retention wall? Thanks in advance.
Regards.

[JD Martin]

That retaining wall is likely doing nothing for or against your house right now; you've got at least 60-70% of the foundation exposed in the picture you put up, so it is unlikely that little bit of dirt left is keeping your walls from kicking out. In any case, unless you had severe pressure from inside the walls - i.e. if the entire basement was filled with dirt and heavy waterlogged dirt is providing horizontal pressure on your walls - you really don't need virtually any dirt around it at from a structural point of view. The wall is useful to slow down the speed of water coming down the hill and preventing erosion, from the picture. It is made of railroad ties which are treated with creosote and do eventually rot, though it can take many, many years.

If you rebuild the wall with some kind of structural block, with proper drainage behind it (the main reason retaining walls fail), it should last as long as you'll be worried about it, 30-50 years or more. If you rebuild it with treated 6x6s or railroad ties, you can probably still get 20-40 years out of it with proper drainage and some landscaping cloth against the wood.