I bought some land last not too long ago and I've been working to clean it up. On the West side of my place is this clearing where I plan to build a small structure. The clearing is on the very southwest edge of my place. On the west side of the clearing is a drop off. The drop off is I want to say 5 ft at the highest point. My property line extends past the drop off. So if you get on top of the drop there is about a width with a range of 4 - 6 ft between the property line and the top edge of the drop.
Now the drop isn't a perfectly flat face. It does have a slope in areas. Granted it is very steep in most of them. The face of the drop has several large rocks in it and there are multiple stumps from trees I've cut down. My questions is, would it be wiser to hire someone with a dozer to just grade it into a slope or put up a retaining wall?
The thing about my land is that it is mostly slope. It isn't all really drastic but is does slope. It all slopes down to this creek then on the other side of the creek the land slope back up to my neighbor. So any silt and whatever else is already washing down my land into the creek little by little. That is already happening. I mention this because I know some people will be concerned about me creating problems for neighbors and the people the creek flows down to. But I am only looking to redirect things around my clearing. Which should not cause problems for others.
I have a ditch on the south side of the clearing. The ditch is at a 90 degree angle to the drop. My initial thought was to just grade the drop into a slope and cut a ditch at its base and let that ditch connect into my south ditch. Then any water coming down the slope would go into the west ditch and flow into the south ditch, and down the slope of my land. I wouldn't be creating any extra silt going down to the creek, I'd just be re-directing it. There is also a black pvc drain pipe buried toward the back of my clearing with the end exposed actng as drainage for one of my neighbors. I don't know where it is coming from but basically one of the neighbors is using it as drainage and it is draining almost down the center of the East side of my place. So if I dig a west ditch I can dig up the small section of pipe and cut it so it drains into my ditch rather than straight down the center of my place. I have no idea where it is coming from or how to trace it without digging it all up.. So I'd rather just cut it and re-direct it since my land is lower than the land around it. No sense picking a fight over it. We all have to live around each other after all.
Or I could do a retaining wall. I'm very scared of the cost first of all. Tee thing about a retaining wall is I could just cut the drop face straight / back a little (Again, I'm going to hire this out to someone with a dozer or back hoe) which would give me more space in the clearing even. Plus it'd look nice and help prevent some of the erosion. I'm just concerned about drainage. I really like the idea of a West ditch. Could I have a ditch kind of at the feet of the wall and have a few pipes at the base of the wall to drain water into the ditch? What i mean is typically you bury perforated pipe behind retaining walls to help with drainage, could I just have a few holes in the base of the retaining wall where that pipe exits and flows into a ditch?
My plan is to just get some quotes by having people come out and look and while they are out go over my options, but I like to plan. I like to know as much as possible before hand. So I know what to expect and so I ask everything I need and want to. A lot of time people mention things you never considered. Which is why I like to hear as many opinions as possible.
Thanks for reading. Pics in the album below.
http://imgur.com/a/VSVJz
Now the drop isn't a perfectly flat face. It does have a slope in areas. Granted it is very steep in most of them. The face of the drop has several large rocks in it and there are multiple stumps from trees I've cut down. My questions is, would it be wiser to hire someone with a dozer to just grade it into a slope or put up a retaining wall?
The thing about my land is that it is mostly slope. It isn't all really drastic but is does slope. It all slopes down to this creek then on the other side of the creek the land slope back up to my neighbor. So any silt and whatever else is already washing down my land into the creek little by little. That is already happening. I mention this because I know some people will be concerned about me creating problems for neighbors and the people the creek flows down to. But I am only looking to redirect things around my clearing. Which should not cause problems for others.
I have a ditch on the south side of the clearing. The ditch is at a 90 degree angle to the drop. My initial thought was to just grade the drop into a slope and cut a ditch at its base and let that ditch connect into my south ditch. Then any water coming down the slope would go into the west ditch and flow into the south ditch, and down the slope of my land. I wouldn't be creating any extra silt going down to the creek, I'd just be re-directing it. There is also a black pvc drain pipe buried toward the back of my clearing with the end exposed actng as drainage for one of my neighbors. I don't know where it is coming from but basically one of the neighbors is using it as drainage and it is draining almost down the center of the East side of my place. So if I dig a west ditch I can dig up the small section of pipe and cut it so it drains into my ditch rather than straight down the center of my place. I have no idea where it is coming from or how to trace it without digging it all up.. So I'd rather just cut it and re-direct it since my land is lower than the land around it. No sense picking a fight over it. We all have to live around each other after all.
Or I could do a retaining wall. I'm very scared of the cost first of all. Tee thing about a retaining wall is I could just cut the drop face straight / back a little (Again, I'm going to hire this out to someone with a dozer or back hoe) which would give me more space in the clearing even. Plus it'd look nice and help prevent some of the erosion. I'm just concerned about drainage. I really like the idea of a West ditch. Could I have a ditch kind of at the feet of the wall and have a few pipes at the base of the wall to drain water into the ditch? What i mean is typically you bury perforated pipe behind retaining walls to help with drainage, could I just have a few holes in the base of the retaining wall where that pipe exits and flows into a ditch?
My plan is to just get some quotes by having people come out and look and while they are out go over my options, but I like to plan. I like to know as much as possible before hand. So I know what to expect and so I ask everything I need and want to. A lot of time people mention things you never considered. Which is why I like to hear as many opinions as possible.
Thanks for reading. Pics in the album below.
http://imgur.com/a/VSVJz
