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Rustic Charm with a Wood Retaining Wall

A wood retaining wall or railroad tie retaining wall serves to break up a slope or create a vertical feature in your landscape and has a definite rustic charm.

TOOLS NEEDED:

  • Shovel
  • Drill with ½” x 8+” bit
  • Sledgehammer
  • Level
  • Builder’s square

MATERIALS NEEDED:

  • Landscape fabric (as long as the wall will be)
  • Gravel
  • Landscape timer or railroad ties

    • retaining wall wood
  • 18” to 3’ lengths of Rebar
  • 4” drainpipe

    • The digging is definitely the hardest part of this project. Choose the site for your wall with the understanding that you probably can’t construct it sturdy enough for any more than a 3 foot height.
    Given that you are using wood, the wall also needs to be straight (unlike the dry stack retaining wall or brick wall that you can curve). curved retaining wall

    The easiest way to make a straight line is to use spray paint to mark the ground for digging.

    Ok, now for the hard work. Dig a trench to lay in the first timber that is about 6” deep- DON’T FORGET TO CHECK PLACEMENT OF UTILITY LINES FIRST -and 12-18” wide and as long as your wall.

    Put that soil you’re digging out up the slope rather than down it.
    In this trench you’re going to lay down landscape fabric (this will also run up between the gravel layer and the slope so have the excess width on the slope rather than wall side) and then top that with about 2 inches of gravel.

    Lay down the first layer of your lumber for the wood retaining wall making sure the ends butt up against each other.
    At the end of each railroad tie or piece of lumber, drill a hole using your ½” bit and pound a spike of rebar into it and down into the ground.

    If you are making sides on the wood retaining wall, be sure to have a 90 degree corner and place the side timbers behind (rather than next to) the front facing of the wall.

    The the next layer of lumber should be about ½’ closer into the slope and staggering the cut ends will add to the railroad tie retaining wall’s overall stability.
    Again, you’ll want to drill those ½’ holes at the ends of the ties and scratching a mark onto the tie on the layer below it, drill into that one too. Lay your level on top of this layer to be sure it is level. Now pound the rebar into these holes until flush.

    Repeat the same on process for the third layer remembering to stagger into the slope another ½”.

    After anchoring down the ends of the ties with rebar, you need to lay in “deadmen” anchors every 8-10’ along the length of your wood retaining wall. In the long run, you need these to keep the wall intact. You make a deadman out of the same railroad ties or landscape lumber you are making your wall from.
    It should be “T” shaped made with 4’ length and a 2’ length screwed together.
    After you get your third layer of lumber down and leveled, dig a trench perpendicular to the wall back into the slope with the top of the “T” furthest from the wall. That trench should be as level as possible with the top of the third layer and in the shape to accommodate that T shaped deadman retaining wall bracing Lay the bottom of the “T” on top of the third layer and drilling into that end, use rebar to connect them together.
    Repeat this along the third layer every 8-10 feet.

    At the fourth layer of lumber on the wood retaining wall (or railroad tie retaining wall), you will pour in more gravel on one end and slope it so that it is several inches lower on the other end.
    On top of this lay the drain pipe.

    retaining wall drain pipe Preferably, the end of that drain will lead towards a sewer or at least away from your house. Draining away excess water from behind the wall will help prevent too much pressure from building up behind it.

    Continue now, adding as many layers of timber as you need, checking for level all along, but going no higher than 36-42” inches.

    Once you get it to the height you like, back fill gravel right behind the timbers leaving at least 12-18” on top to fill with the dirt you dug out from your trenches. If you have excess landscape fabric, fold it up and over the gravel.

    Cover that all with soil and grass or plants if you like. See landscaping a slope.

    Nicely done! A wood retaining wall that will last you many years to come.


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