Best way to fix a buckling retaining wall.?

Question

My mom has a retaining wall (part of her garage) about 20 feet long and 8 feet high. The lower portion of the wall (bottom 3-4 feet) holds back the neighboring property. About 20 years ago it was rebuilt with cinder blocks and a ton of rebar but now the lower section is pushing in and the wall is cracked down the centre. Is there a way to "push "the wall back and repair it? Tearing it down will be a huge cost based on it's size and location and the amount of internal rebar. She is a low income senior and we need to figureout the best way to deal with the situation. Any helpful responses would be appreciated.

Answer 1

USA   If the damaged section of wall is not too large - about 4 or 5 feet wide, you might be able to remove that section, remove the material behind it, and rebuild the wall.  If you cannot remove the section of wall, you can have anchors installed through the wall back into the material the wall is holding back.  The anchors are generally 8 feet long or more, up to 20 feet long.  The wall should not be moving, if it was built correctly.  The vertical rebar in the blocks should have been tied to the horizontal rebar in the footing.  You are either going to anchor it in place, which will not push it back in, but will stop it from pushing out further, or remove the damaged section and rebuild the right way, with a footing and rebar and blocks solidly grouted.

There is no cheap way out that will only cost a hundred dollars.  If you have a lot of free labor, rebuilding is the least expensive.  The anchors are drilled in with special equipment and are not too cheap.  

Answer 2

Call someone who pumps concrete. They can raise the wall by pumping concrete under it. This is maybe your only hope. They can also give you their professional opinion on if it can be saved.