Hopefully I am picturing this correctly in my mind.

I have a house, with a walkway next to it (gravel), a 4' retaining wall as yours, and then a sloped back yard.

You should have a french drain on the back side of your retaining wall and a second french drain between the house and that retaining wall. That will allow the water to drain away from the house, and it will keep the foundation of the retaining wall solid as well. This is all quite a bit of work. But in my mind I like to do these things ONCE rather than over and over again.

I learned quite a bit about french drains when I bought my country property 2 years ago. The previous owner let dirt coast down onto the wood siding, up about 6-10" from slab level. That is the worse thing that can happen to you. So I became familiar with how to construct french drains and now everything is squared away.

Water is our enemy! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] (And also our friend, I guess!)

Let me know if you have any questions about how to put those things in.

Martin