Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 12, 2014 7:52 pm Hi All, Wondering if anyone has previously DIY'ed their own timber sleeper retaining wall and had some advice on tool selection and general tips/learnings, Im going out tomorrow to grab some power and hand tools and wondering if i needed at circular saw or drop saw to cut 100mm treated pine sleepers? Id also need to cut these diagonally as we have a sloping block. On another note, the wall is going to be 200mm from the boundary at a height of 800mm, after the wall is completed (approx 24m) we would erect timber fencing, anyone had trouble with fence toppling over or moving over time due to it being so close to the retaining wall? Any help appreciated Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: Cutting timber sleepers for retaining wall help ! 2Nov 12, 2014 8:09 pm The timber sleeper walls that I have built had "dead-man anchors" going back into the dirt behind the wall (I.E. every 2.4 metres of wall had a sleeper installed at right angles to the wall going back into the dirt). This type of construction cannot be used so close to a boundary as the anchors would be on your neighbours property. The alternative might be to use buried steel H-sections to restrain the timber sleepers. These steel section need to be buried quite deep and be concreted in as they work as a cantilever. These retaining walls should also be built leaning back, not vertical. I cut my sleepers using a large, but cheap circular saw. I save my expensive drop saw for more accurate timber cutting. Re: Cutting timber sleepers for retaining wall help ! 3Nov 12, 2014 8:17 pm Thanks Beetaloo, The plan was to use the steel H-section beams with treated pine sleepers. Will most large circular saws cut thru 100mm sleepers? I would need to get the horizontal cuts pretty clean and spot on as these will be on display, the rest i can conceal in the h-section Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: Cutting timber sleepers for retaining wall help ! 4Nov 13, 2014 7:31 am Quote: Will most large circular saws cut thru 100mm sleepers? When I cut the sleepers longitudinally, I used a sharp blade and make two cuts half way through, one from each side. I then ran over the join between the 2 cuts with an electric plane. I also took the sharp corners off the sleepers with the plane. Re: Cutting timber sleepers for retaining wall help ! 6Nov 13, 2014 9:07 am B STAR Your fence will fall over if the post are placed into fill and not natural ground. Any post needs to be set into natural ground to be sturdy. So the fence will fall over if placed into fill not natural ground? I find that difficult to believe So allowing for the backfill to settle for a few months will not do anything? Or deepening or widening the fence post hole won't help? Surely I'm not the only one attempting this, we are in extremely stiff clay Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: Cutting timber sleepers for retaining wall help ! 7Nov 13, 2014 1:23 pm Are factors come into play. It also depends how long the fence is and how much wind loading it is subjected to. But I see it happen a fair bit. Depends on how good you want your end result. My suggestion is to get the fence down before you backfill, and use longer posts so the fence will be in the solid ground. Remembering every site is different. But going into solid ground is going to give you the best result. Re: Cutting timber sleepers for retaining wall help ! 9Nov 16, 2014 6:02 pm Thanks Hitman, Definitely one that didn't cross my mind Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: Cutting timber sleepers for retaining wall help ! 10Nov 19, 2014 4:38 pm I've done this... I used retain it galvanised posts and used 2.4m lengths. Minimal cutting required as i placed the posts at the correct distance from the next one, using the sleeper to measure. The ones i did have to cut, i just used a good wood saw. Could have used a circular, but was cheaper to cut 4 pieces of wood with my wood saw looks ok to me, round logs retaining walls are better than sleeper walls, more even preservative treatment and stronger since they include the whole tree and not just part… 1 2594 Thank you again Simeon.. I will call my certifier for that. Have a good day 4 5099 Thanks for your reply! All valid points and I agree with you on many of them. I am in QLD, any recommendations on a construction lawyer would be helpful 3 2623 |