Well be showing you how we made a railroad tie retaining wall in between two of our shops. Cutting a large part of a sloping yard out to make room for a livable, usable back yard is a possible solution with the addition of a retaining wall. Dig out the dirt sitting within 3 feet of the retaining wall using a shovel. Well show you how to build an attractive retaining wall thats firm, solid and will stand the test of time. Remove any ties that are spongy, cracked or crumbling on any side. The yard needed a gravel pad so we can eventually build a shopgarage. How to build a railroad tie retaining wall plant care today. Railroad ties are thick, durable, cheap, recycled wood that forms longlasting barriers for beds, paths and retaining walls. How to build a retaining wall stronger the family handyman. And perhaps the easiest way to build such a wall is with used railroad crossties. My husband built a retaining wall from railroad ties. Some of the ties are buried back into the dirt pile, called deadmen.
The wood is preserved by soaking it in creosote, which is composed of over 300 chemicals, many of them toxic and persistent in soil. How to build a railroad tie retaining wall step 1 measurements. First, we leveled the area where to wall was going to be. Wooden timbers and railroad ties are popular choices for creating alternatives to retaining walls. How to build a railroad tie retaining wall nevada railroad. A railroad tie retaining wall can last up to 40 years in a dry climate, maybe only 15 in a wet one, depending how its treated. Before making a supply order, you must know how much sleepers you need. This is how we made a basic retaining wall using railroad ties found on our farm.
Estimate the number of linear feet in the length of. Cut the area to make a snug fit for the railroad ties. Thus, the thought to build a railroad tie retaining wall comes in. Ogb presents this project by ted elsasser, owner of. Take some railroad ties, rebar and gravel, and you have all the materials for building a. How to build a retaining wall with crossties diy mother. Take some railroad ties, rebar and gravel, and you got all the materials for building a simple retaining wall. As you know, ties are 6 x 8 feet x 8 inches more or less chunks of pine. With railroad ties you should use a 4 foot length of a tie that goes straight into the hillside and is also resting on the wall itself.
How to build a perfect retaining wall out of railroad ties, this is the third wall ive built i get all my railroad ties from the home depot, i get a. They are especially useful for building raised flower or garden beds and in terracing hillsides. A retaining wall allows you to turn a useless for landscaping purposes slope into a terraced, flat area. Before making an order for supplies, you need to find out how many railroad. We had 18 inches of a hill that needed to be retained. I have a retaining wall that is roughly 5 railroad ties high by about 60 feet wide that needs to be replaced. Take some railroad ties, rebar and gravel, and you have all the materials for building a simple retaining wall, like the guys at such and such farms did. Treated wood provides a natural look and longevity to a landscapes design. Reposition the railroad ties so they sit in a slight step configuration. When building a retaining wall out of any material, and especially with railroad ties, you must have some sort of tie between the wall and the ground it is holding back. Fortunately for everyone, they also documented all the major steps, complete with some great pictures. Feb 24, 2014 take some railroad ties, rebar and gravel, and you got all the materials for building a simple retaining wall. The advantage of the railroad ties was the number of them dropped onto the market as local rail lines got torn up and the creosoted wood was. You see them everywhere and many consider their distressed appearance naturally attractive.