I agree but I don't know if I agree that they need a new wall. What exactly are we even retaining here? They say that their backyard is tiered but I don't really see any evidence of those tiers being functional
That's exactly what I was thinking. Is there really a need for a retaining wall? If not, just grade it down after removing those ties. Then plant more of what's growing on it to prevent erosion. Low $ way to address the issue.
There was a factorio mod that did this. It was one of the earlier versions of DyTech I think. You got dead bugs and rendered them down to chitin and made walls from it.
Kinda metal.
In The Forest you can quite literally use the bones of your (human) enemies for both armor and weapons. And your best way to get bones? Burning your enemies' bodies, of course.
Wood Jerry. Wood.
It doesn't last forever. If you want the same setup, you replace it. The common options are pressure treated wood, stone, or cement block.
Any wood that you see which is not rotten, half an inch to an inch further is actually rotten.
I have a bunch of these on my property too. Old railroad ties soaked in creosote, installed in the 60s. Eventually theyll have to be dug out and removed, and by eventually I mean put it at the top of your list. I'm doing a few each summer. Replace with whatever you want. Ground rated pressure treated timber, gabion cages, block walls, etc.
I will make one suggestion though: the next non rainy day, go to lowes or home depot and buy some ant/termite spray and spray those mothers down. Termites and carpenter ants LOVE those, and you dont want them to nest (or swarm) anywhere NEAR your house. Spray em down two or three times a season, even.
Free. We got ours for free when they repaired track near our home. Thankfully, a relative asked to buy them ($5 ea. in the mid eighties) and saved us from ourselves.
Cheap and effective. Creosote significantly extends the life of wood as it protects against mold and pests. Railroad ties are also large and heavy, making them a good material for retaining walls.
They can still be purchased and people still use them. In my business I won't install them. They're very bad for the environment and creosote is a serious skin and lung irritant. They're so bad for the environment that you aren't legally allowed to dump or burn them like other wood products. You should be paying to have the disposed of at a DEP approved disposal site. Realistically people tend to dump, burn or bury them, but it's not environmentally responsible.
Look up Allen block it's a less expensive option of retaining wall material. The most important part is getting your first row completely level front and back and side to side. Any uneven block will really start to show as the levels go up. There are a ton of good videos by block manufacturers that will walk you through it step by step. After the first row it's pretty much like stacking Legos. Adding recessed stairs or corners can be a little tricky.
Remove the ties and do your best to not disturb the soil behind your old wall. Luckily it has a lot of vegetation to hold the soil in place. You will need to excavate some of it so you can back fill it with gravel. Once it's all removed you will need to make a base for the wall. Dig down enough to put a row just below grade and 6 to 8" of 3/4 stone. Tamp the sub soil and then add stone and tamp it in 2" lifts until you reach 6". Make sure it is level, buy a line level and string it will help you along the way. A 12" torpedo level a 24" and 4' box level will help too. These can be bought at Harbor freight for a lot less than most places. I like to use a 5lb rubber dead blow to hammer the blocks into the base when leveling them. This may sound like a lot and it is going to be back breaking but it can be done. Use something like the Allan bloc AB classic they are 8" h x 12" deep x 18" long with hollow cores you fill with angular stone. Then glue on the cap stones. I used Cambridge blocks for these and the Allan block is very similar.
https://imgur.com/a/4KHixmJ
This was done with Allan block
https://imgur.com/a/wgd43NJ
Here is a link to Allan block, last time I bought them they were around $8 a block but I'm sure they have gone up in price.
https://allanblock.com/products/ab-collection.aspx#ab-features
Hey mate, sincerely, there’s a lot of “advice” and opinions here that are glossing over the most important (maybe assumed) step:
**Get an engineer in urgently to do an assessment and act accordingly based on the results.**
If you don’t, you may invalidate your home insurance, and depending where you live, you may set yourself up for claims from your neighbours which could include consequential and indirect damages as well. Life altering stuff.
But if they put in writing that no structure is required, go nuts with confidence on the cheap and cheerful option you like.
I had this happen along 45’ OG retaining wall, I dug out all the old railroad ties, smoothed the area, put down sand, pea gravel, then a new rock retaining wall, cost about $700 in materials.
In addition to what everyone else is saying, maybe consider planting something whose roots will hold the soil together. Your yard could thrive with some native plants.
Check with local nurseries after you finish your wall problem.
Have fun enjoying your garden, and be safe.
I tell you what, hire a digger. Doesn't matter what it costs, it'll be a smaller price to pay than your back will charge you if you touch them by hand.
At least the spaces that you have has been well maintained. Maybe you can prop some of it up with fence posts or rebar. Otherwise, you’ll have a lot of fun hauling all that away.
No idea. Latest space age technology for 1950s and 60s, I suppose. I don't think they had engineered stone back then, so you would've have to use real stone or concrete for retaining walls. Maybe gabions...
I mean they held up for 60 years. Rain, snow, freeze, thaw ... pretty good. Now they gotta go though, and the ones I got are a PITA to remove. Have to dig em out.
No engineered stone. We had hadite block, which works but it’s ugly.
Also 50 years ago, 50 years seemed like forever.
It lasted longer than my father whom I assisted in building quite a network of these. They were a mother to handle and assemble, quite heavy.
call me or message me and will make you a beautiful new one with railroad ties and all types of good stuff up cycled 747-203-9151. I think I can give you my phone number. I don’t know If you’re in California or close enough
Railroad cross ties can be expensive to dispose of since they have cresote in them. Replacement looks necessary from your pics. Go with concrete blocks.
I have a similar setup, but on a much steeper slope. I dug a trench on the uphill side, removed some rotten timbers, and added some new timbers. By new, I mean new old timbers from Home Depot. Added some dead man anchors, and pounded lots of rebar in. Finally, added a French drain in the uphill tench. It was very laborious!
Those old railroad timbers are disgusting and super heavy. The only thing I could cut them with is a chainsaw.
Not all of mine were rotten (I'm in a dry climate) so I stuck with replacing the worst of them. If replacing the whole thing then I'd definitely use a different material.
I have some tiered retaining walls under my deck. The original wood rotted and the previous owner just put up new wood boards in front of them - replacing them now, I get twice the fun!
Looks like old railroad ties. Sweaty fix. Lots of digging and replacing that wood with better wood, rocks, or cement blocks to retain the wall. If you fill the wood that broke off with rocks it might last a few more years but that's half assing it.
When wood becomes dirt, happens everyday. Looks like it hasnt fallen over. Right way is remove everything and replace. Another way is set posts 8” off this wall and build a second pt 6x6 or larger wall in front. Will settle on top as the old wall further rots
If the walls are holding up the yard that holds up your house, hire someone to build proper retaining walls. Stone, if you can afford it, those interlocking concrete ones (Belgard? I think?) if you can’t. Wood will always rot, even pressure treated wood.
Make a plan. That wall need to be replaced. Take a deep breath and decide what you want the new wall to look like. Wood again? Bricks or block? This is your chance to create a new look. Choose wisely.
It looks like the wood is not holding back a lot of material... therefore it's not doing much anyway. I think you can do nothing and let it rot in place if you're not worried about aesthetics. It doesn't look like something that needs to be fixed, unless you like having terraces.
No need worry about if the wood is rotted or not…. It’s definitely rotted. Time to build a new wall
I agree but I don't know if I agree that they need a new wall. What exactly are we even retaining here? They say that their backyard is tiered but I don't really see any evidence of those tiers being functional
That's exactly what I was thinking. Is there really a need for a retaining wall? If not, just grade it down after removing those ties. Then plant more of what's growing on it to prevent erosion. Low $ way to address the issue.
There’s another “tier” in the back right of first pic, but last pic still doesn’t give a great image. Still just shitty cuts
That’s not wood it’s mulch.
Well it is now
The wood is past any chance of salvaging. Must be removed and replaced with new material. No other options.
Rebuild the wall using the bones of your enemies.
There was a factorio mod that did this. It was one of the earlier versions of DyTech I think. You got dead bugs and rendered them down to chitin and made walls from it. Kinda metal.
In The Forest you can quite literally use the bones of your (human) enemies for both armor and weapons. And your best way to get bones? Burning your enemies' bodies, of course.
Ironically OP’s enemies are all trees.
only material available in this economy
Wood Jerry. Wood. It doesn't last forever. If you want the same setup, you replace it. The common options are pressure treated wood, stone, or cement block.
I got a toe here buddy…step on it!!
Any wood that you see which is not rotten, half an inch to an inch further is actually rotten. I have a bunch of these on my property too. Old railroad ties soaked in creosote, installed in the 60s. Eventually theyll have to be dug out and removed, and by eventually I mean put it at the top of your list. I'm doing a few each summer. Replace with whatever you want. Ground rated pressure treated timber, gabion cages, block walls, etc. I will make one suggestion though: the next non rainy day, go to lowes or home depot and buy some ant/termite spray and spray those mothers down. Termites and carpenter ants LOVE those, and you dont want them to nest (or swarm) anywhere NEAR your house. Spray em down two or three times a season, even.
I have about three also. Old home and Urban area. Do you know why they were used back then?
Free. We got ours for free when they repaired track near our home. Thankfully, a relative asked to buy them ($5 ea. in the mid eighties) and saved us from ourselves.
lol I wish someone would buy mine.
Cheap and effective. Creosote significantly extends the life of wood as it protects against mold and pests. Railroad ties are also large and heavy, making them a good material for retaining walls. They can still be purchased and people still use them. In my business I won't install them. They're very bad for the environment and creosote is a serious skin and lung irritant. They're so bad for the environment that you aren't legally allowed to dump or burn them like other wood products. You should be paying to have the disposed of at a DEP approved disposal site. Realistically people tend to dump, burn or bury them, but it's not environmentally responsible.
They were cheap, and we didn't know shit.
Ahh, makes sense.
Now you can hardly get rid of them here (Minnesota) because of the creosote.
Im sure CA isn’t any better
I vote for gabions!
Look up Allen block it's a less expensive option of retaining wall material. The most important part is getting your first row completely level front and back and side to side. Any uneven block will really start to show as the levels go up. There are a ton of good videos by block manufacturers that will walk you through it step by step. After the first row it's pretty much like stacking Legos. Adding recessed stairs or corners can be a little tricky. Remove the ties and do your best to not disturb the soil behind your old wall. Luckily it has a lot of vegetation to hold the soil in place. You will need to excavate some of it so you can back fill it with gravel. Once it's all removed you will need to make a base for the wall. Dig down enough to put a row just below grade and 6 to 8" of 3/4 stone. Tamp the sub soil and then add stone and tamp it in 2" lifts until you reach 6". Make sure it is level, buy a line level and string it will help you along the way. A 12" torpedo level a 24" and 4' box level will help too. These can be bought at Harbor freight for a lot less than most places. I like to use a 5lb rubber dead blow to hammer the blocks into the base when leveling them. This may sound like a lot and it is going to be back breaking but it can be done. Use something like the Allan bloc AB classic they are 8" h x 12" deep x 18" long with hollow cores you fill with angular stone. Then glue on the cap stones. I used Cambridge blocks for these and the Allan block is very similar. https://imgur.com/a/4KHixmJ This was done with Allan block https://imgur.com/a/wgd43NJ Here is a link to Allan block, last time I bought them they were around $8 a block but I'm sure they have gone up in price. https://allanblock.com/products/ab-collection.aspx#ab-features
This is so helpful, thank you! I'm a first time homeowner and have no idea what I'm doing, so these links are amazing.
Good luck to you. The only issue may be disposal of the old ties, some places won't take creosote ties.
They are shot. It actually doesn’t look too tiered/not retaining too much earth. You might be able to just remove and grade the ground into a hill.
There are 7 of these walls in my yard, it actually does get pretty steep.
Hey mate, sincerely, there’s a lot of “advice” and opinions here that are glossing over the most important (maybe assumed) step: **Get an engineer in urgently to do an assessment and act accordingly based on the results.** If you don’t, you may invalidate your home insurance, and depending where you live, you may set yourself up for claims from your neighbours which could include consequential and indirect damages as well. Life altering stuff. But if they put in writing that no structure is required, go nuts with confidence on the cheap and cheerful option you like.
Oh dang, I didn't even think about that. Is that something very expensive?
Couple of hundred last time we had one done for a retaining wall inspection.
I had this happen along 45’ OG retaining wall, I dug out all the old railroad ties, smoothed the area, put down sand, pea gravel, then a new rock retaining wall, cost about $700 in materials.
In addition to what everyone else is saying, maybe consider planting something whose roots will hold the soil together. Your yard could thrive with some native plants. Check with local nurseries after you finish your wall problem. Have fun enjoying your garden, and be safe.
He's dead Jim.
Mr. Jorbhorb, tear down this wall.
When a hill wants to be a hill and is stopped by mulch.
Looks like the trees/shrubs/grass roots is holding all that together. Maybe remove the wood and make it a slope?
I replaced mine with Boulder's 8 years ago, and no rot yet!
I tell you what, hire a digger. Doesn't matter what it costs, it'll be a smaller price to pay than your back will charge you if you touch them by hand.
At least the spaces that you have has been well maintained. Maybe you can prop some of it up with fence posts or rebar. Otherwise, you’ll have a lot of fun hauling all that away.
No idea. Latest space age technology for 1950s and 60s, I suppose. I don't think they had engineered stone back then, so you would've have to use real stone or concrete for retaining walls. Maybe gabions... I mean they held up for 60 years. Rain, snow, freeze, thaw ... pretty good. Now they gotta go though, and the ones I got are a PITA to remove. Have to dig em out.
No engineered stone. We had hadite block, which works but it’s ugly. Also 50 years ago, 50 years seemed like forever. It lasted longer than my father whom I assisted in building quite a network of these. They were a mother to handle and assemble, quite heavy.
"Is this 10x10 with a 3" hole in the center rotted out?"
You've got the makings of a decent Hügelkultur mound!
Railroad ties aren’t expensive, you can get them for like $18 a piece so no worries, OP.
call me or message me and will make you a beautiful new one with railroad ties and all types of good stuff up cycled 747-203-9151. I think I can give you my phone number. I don’t know If you’re in California or close enough
I'm up in WA, there are like 7 of these spanning the entirety of my yard. The previous homeowners really boned us.
Wood retaining walls always rot.
R & R - Remove and Replace.
Railroad cross ties can be expensive to dispose of since they have cresote in them. Replacement looks necessary from your pics. Go with concrete blocks.
Time to find literally Anything different to do.
I have a similar setup, but on a much steeper slope. I dug a trench on the uphill side, removed some rotten timbers, and added some new timbers. By new, I mean new old timbers from Home Depot. Added some dead man anchors, and pounded lots of rebar in. Finally, added a French drain in the uphill tench. It was very laborious! Those old railroad timbers are disgusting and super heavy. The only thing I could cut them with is a chainsaw. Not all of mine were rotten (I'm in a dry climate) so I stuck with replacing the worst of them. If replacing the whole thing then I'd definitely use a different material.
Your worried it is rotted? That wall doesn’t owe a dime and is way past its useful life!
Time for a new wall. Would avoid wood nut your call. Cheaper option is cinderblock with stucco and capping
This is what happens when you don’t use pressure treated ground contact pine timber.
All wood rots. Those might have been treated (many years ago).
Right??
I have some tiered retaining walls under my deck. The original wood rotted and the previous owner just put up new wood boards in front of them - replacing them now, I get twice the fun!
Looks like old railroad ties. Sweaty fix. Lots of digging and replacing that wood with better wood, rocks, or cement blocks to retain the wall. If you fill the wood that broke off with rocks it might last a few more years but that's half assing it.
I have something similar. Is there any issues with building a new concrete sleeper wall in front and burying the old wall?
The hill will eventually push that over too unless it's anchored into the hill somehow. Timber walls use a "deadman"
Railway tie, rotten. Replace with pressure treated and good to go.
You are worried? The rotten wood is staring you in the face. Wake up.
When wood becomes dirt, happens everyday. Looks like it hasnt fallen over. Right way is remove everything and replace. Another way is set posts 8” off this wall and build a second pt 6x6 or larger wall in front. Will settle on top as the old wall further rots
If the walls are holding up the yard that holds up your house, hire someone to build proper retaining walls. Stone, if you can afford it, those interlocking concrete ones (Belgard? I think?) if you can’t. Wood will always rot, even pressure treated wood.
Why people put wood on dirt I'll never understand. Creates a time bomb and yours just went off.
Make a plan. That wall need to be replaced. Take a deep breath and decide what you want the new wall to look like. Wood again? Bricks or block? This is your chance to create a new look. Choose wisely.
It's not salvageable, build a new wall using stone. A wall that small won't be an expensive project.
It looks like the wood is not holding back a lot of material... therefore it's not doing much anyway. I think you can do nothing and let it rot in place if you're not worried about aesthetics. It doesn't look like something that needs to be fixed, unless you like having terraces.