DIY repair: Got a cracked retaining wall? Try this fix.

Retaining walls serve an important role in multilevel gardens, or between properties. Here’s a handy fix if one starts to crack.

OUR DRIVEWAY has a high retaining wall between us and our neighbour’s property. During a particularly wet winter a few years ago, a crack opened at a point closest to our house. Over time the crack widened to 15 mm, so, as a midsummer project this year, I decided to stabilise it before the problem escalated and potentially caused the wall to collapse, which would’ve cost a lot to rebuild.

YOUR retaining-wall structure might differ from mine, but the principles of this repair job can be applied to various scenarios. Just be sure to mount your hinges and brackets only in structurally sound portions of your wall, and increase tension very gradually over time, ideally after a period of dry weather when the ground that’s being retained by the wall is almost free of moisture.

MOUNT YOUR HINGES AND BRACKETS ONLY IN STRUCTURALLY SOUND PORTIONS OF YOUR WALL