I have a stocked rock wall that helps to keep my hill from falling. I also should mention that I live on a hill made of ash as well. Over the years of my nanny living here and now me the rocks have falling out in some places and in one part of the hill a big section has completely fallin out. I have two questions one do I need a permit to fix the stacked rock wall? And two how would I even go about fixing it? If you need pictures I can get them. I just don’t want to hurt myself or get I’m trouble for restacking the rocks or even replacing them but it most definitely needs done as soon as possible was tryin to do it myself to save money. I’m a single mother so every penny counts. Any help at all would be much appreciated oh and I live in Pennsylvania if that helps with the permit question. Thank so much!!
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Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. – Community Apr 30 '22 at 06:19
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1Is the dry-stacked wall acting like a retaining wall and holding back the hillside? – Jurp Apr 30 '22 at 10:24
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Hi, we can't comment on whether you need a permit as that is very local and we do need pictures of the wall to give a good answer, thanks – kevinskio Apr 30 '22 at 12:01
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What do you mean by "ash" ? Generally plants would be the low cost method to stabilize a slope. – blacksmith37 Apr 30 '22 at 13:32
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Presumably volcanic ash. Or smelter ash? – Ecnerwal Apr 30 '22 at 13:34
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Pennsylvania ; my first guess would be something from a steel mill, crushed slag, fly ash, coke oven ash, etc – blacksmith37 Apr 30 '22 at 19:38
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If the wall goes uphill as well, make sure you start repairs or rebuilding at the top end. I was formally taught this. – Polypipe Wrangler May 01 '22 at 08:41
1 Answers
The question of "is a permit needed" is one you have to ask the local authorities - in most areas "landscaping" will not require a permit, but that may not be true in your area, or it may not be true if the wall is serving a structural purpose that might render it a hazard to the public. In any case it's up to the Local Area Having Jurisdiction, and you have to ask them, whoever they might be - local (town or county, rarely state) government or planning board or something like that, typically.
Rebuilding a dry-stack wall is pretty much a matter of re-stacking the rocks, and can be something of an art in terms of getting them to be stable (as someone in the past did not do quite well enough in this case, evidently.) If it's serving as a retaining wall you typically want a slight tilt into the hill.
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