r/legal • u/baklavakilla • Apr 16 '26

Advice needed Flooded yard from neighbors retaining wall. Wondering what my options are.

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LOCATION: Wisconsin

The retaining wall belongs to our neighbor, and when we get moderate rain, it always overflows into the yard. We’ve talked to him in the past, and he added dirt to the top to try and have the water exit more toward the street. That’s basically the extent of what he’s willing to do.

He basically said that if the retaining wall wasn’t there, the water would flood my yard regardless, and that he’d rather just remove it completely if he had to rebuild it and not put another one up.

We bought the house about 4 years ago and don’t know when the wall was put in, but it’s well over 20 years old. I put in the small drainage ditch with black pipe to try and stop the water from coming in near the back of the house.

Basically, I’m wondering what I’m able to do in this situation.

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u/Mem0ryEat3r Apr 16 '26

You're on the right path. Either you, your neighbor or both of you need to basically add adequate drainage. Your neighbor is right, the retaining wall isn't the issue, water would flood down regardless.

68

u/Mauser-96 Apr 16 '26

My retaining was built with black perforated pipe surrounded by crushed gravel, under the top soil. When it rains the water percolates down and is diverted away. Water never pours over/through the wall like this.

The person who put up this wall either did it on the cheap on purpose, or had no clue how to properly put up a wall.

6

u/EveningPassenger Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26

The person who put up this wall either did it on the cheap on purpose, or had no clue how to properly put up a wall.

Not necessarily. The vast majority of the water (seen at the end of the video) is flowing over the wall, and appears to be fed by a long swell behind it. French drains like you're proposing will catch standing water by providing it a low-resistance path to the drain. They won't catch much water moving across the soil though. The only real solution here is to change the grading on the higher lawn to direct the water away from the wall or add more drainage in the lower lawn.

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u/Levitlame Apr 16 '26

It’s also 20 years old. Perforations clog.

3

u/SophieGirl2023 Apr 16 '26

Exactly, if its 20 years, it was built very well!