I have lived on a steep hill for 3 years and the railroad tie berm seemed to be just fine at time of purchase and was not flagged by inspector. The berm is mainly if not totally on my side of the property line but literally holds up my entire 80 foot long driveway on the side of my house. It is 1 foot tall at the road but almost 10 feet tall at the end of my driveway as his yard tapers downward. With above normal rainfall the last 2 years there has been noticeable deterioration in the ties and some are splitting outward while others are just rotting away causing the driveway to shift a bit and dip.

Over the last month I have been getting bids on my volition as the neighbor is a nice older veteran who mainly keeps to himself. He has agreed to let any construction or remediation crews have full use of his yard and driveway and has been very cooperative. Since the berm is on my side of the property line I had assumed that the entire thing was my responsibility but with the average cost for a new wall roughly equal to the total value of my home I am in a real pickle.

A friend who used to be a tax attorney stated that normally in these cases the responsibility for walls or fences that divide property is shared between homeowners yet this was news to me. Do I have any alternative than to pay the entire value of my house to get the wall rebuilt or am I screwed ? Attorney friend says if neighbor refuses to help just do nothing until he changes his mind. I will lose a driveway but there could be untold damage to his property were a collapse to occur.

Thanks for any input.

Your side of the property line, your problem and you can be liable for damages.

This.....

This.

If it’s too $$$, it might be more reasonable to look at re-grading to reduce the elevation changes rather than have a giant wall.

Don’t listen to your attorney friend. Knowingly letting it damage your neighbor’s property will not help the situation.

I always consult with former tax attorneys on property rights and liability issues.  🙄

It's yours - you fix it.  If you choose not to remedy the situation, be prepared to be sued for any damages that your negligence causes.

A tax attorney is not a real estate attorney.  In his defense it sounds like he doesn't have as much information as you posted here, because that's pretty clear.

If it is on your property it is completely your responsibility and you are liable for any damages occurring to the neighbor.

Thanks very much for the responses. Not what I wanted to hear but makes total sense as my initial take was correct.

That's exactly what I am considering at this point.

It’s your responsibility.

I’m willing to bet most people posting have no actual experience in property/real estate law and are simply giving you their opinion.

For the amount of money at stake, I wouldn’t take anything said on here as fact based and would reach out to an actual real estate attorney. Many attorneys offer free consultations and if not the $200-300 would be worth the peace of mind.

Also, you can google-foo and get some case law/precedent for your state.

Buy neighbors house?

This is the reality.

Sometimes neighbors would split the cost of replacing fence along their property (common benefit), but a structural matter like a retaining wall on your property is your responsibility.

Using railway ties to make a structural retaining wall was unwise, for reasons now all too clear. Usually a structural retaining wall (at least in Texas) would be reinforced concrete to prevent deteriorating in the elements.  You might want to check what your current building code requires. When you replace "old" stuff, the replacement typically must meet "new / current" code.

20 + years in real estate.  

Bigger_Hammer

Yep. I think the only remaining uncertainty is the actual property line and if the wall is indeed on my side or splits the properties. A survey plus a potential attorney consult will likely cost around $1000 total but may be worth it in the long run just to be sure.

Prudent advice.

Well, when it collapses and blows out his living room wall and kills him in his Lazyboy- problem solved. amiright?

That's why I was kinda hoping a leftist lived there instead of a kindly vet.

I was told that my wall was my responsibility.

LOL go ahead and follow the advice from the tax attorney and don't worry about your wall on your property. When it falls over you can pay to rebuild the wall as well as any damages to your neighbors property.

If it falls down will your homeowners policy cover it?

Please, this kind of post doesn't help.
I already admitted to discounting his advice as I was skeptical in the first place. I have just lost the entire value of my home and insurance will not cover this situation. As you indicated I will also be responsible for any damage to my neighbor's property so how about some constructive advice without shitting on me ?

Instead of conventional retaining walls call your nearest concrete plant and get a price on the big Lego blocks.

Around me they will come and stack them for you when delivered.  And is the most cost effective.

Thanks, looking into that.

Some additional context might help.

Do you know how old the house and the wall are? Is there any chance a permit was pulled to build the wall?


A 10' railroad tie retaining wall sounds nuts. More so if it failing is damaging your driveway and threatening your neighbor's house - that sounds like the packed together houses on steep hills up in the coal regions.

We can guess the railroad tie wall was pure amateur hour. Depending on your township and what kind of friends you have - you might be able to restore / replace it with the same - but that will eventually have the same problem.

I'm guessing that you have been getting bids from contractors for an engineered, poured concrete wall. That means a soils study, Engineering and stamped prints, a site plan, a drainage plan, a building permit and then they get to bring in the equipment and get to work.

It might be worth your while to find an engineer who can come to the site and give you an opinion. If he's working for you, you might get a more reasonable design.

Concrete blocks are a great idea, but you will likely still need some kind of footer.

The wall was built by the seller and did hold for 50 years. House is 125 years old and I doubt the seller got a permit back then. It was in acceptable condition upon moving in 3 years ago but with the added rainfall or shift in water table the deterioration became noticeable within the last year or so. Most of the bidders are not including the engineering study, permit, etc which could add another $10,000 to the cost. Even though it wont last long I'm almost inclined to just replace the current wall (no need for study) and sell the damn house, although you are correct in stating that few companies do the RR tie systems anymore because of the above issues. A dead man system would have to be added to hold the treated ties in place on the other side of the driveway if we were to go that route.

This whole ordeal is making me want to drop back 10 yards and punt....

Have you talked to the local redneck guys?

Around here, you could pay four times the price for a septic system just by calling the big company. Wells are the same way.

I'd bet there's a halfway reasonable solution in comparison by some good ole boy. Maybe skip the guy that wants to use used tires though.

Those guys are shying away due to the hill and scope of the work unfortunately.

I’m not an expert, but I can think outside the box.

What if you remedied the problem by digging some water drainage lines on your side to reduce the pressure on the wall?  Then at some future point when it dries out, drill some anchors through the timbers about 10 to 15 feet into the packed earth under the driveway.

The likeliest replacement wall is stacked concrete not cast in place.look at what the DOT does.

Won’t work.

I think if I had done that a couple years ago it would have helped but I'm thinking it's too far gone at this point. Drainage will be important no matter which remedy is finally implemented.

That is actually not a bad idea, I don't know the building code where you live but in NC anything over 4 feet has to be engineered so that is something to check into. As far as the value of your home being lost once you fix this the right way it will add value if done right but don't use some half baked fix like more timbers. I have been involved in building lots of retaining walls of all types on commercial, residential and major highway projects and all of them holding back any kind of fill used some kind of dead man or geo mat that runs back into the compacted fill to keep the wall from falling over.

Unbalance fill or water pressure will push a wall and cause it to lean and fail at some point add a driveway on top and the extra weight and vibration will make it worst. Pay once and cry once and do it correctly

Every one of those type of walls I have been involved with sat on a footer that was nothing more than compacted gravel.  Didn't matter if it was a state highway project  or a commercial or residential project. What was different was the back fill and dead man wall support Some used dirt with Geo mat and some use wash stone with metal straps laid down on every course running back into the fill as much as 30 feet.