Wood retaining wall versus Concrete Retaining Wall? Hi everybody, I am a life scout preparing to do a...
Hi everybody, I am a life scout preparing to do a retaining wall to prevent further creek pollution brought about by soil erosion and be wondering the benefits of a wood retaining wall as the park I am associated with has asked me to construct the wall using pressure-treated wood versus concrete. Is within any benefits to using wood?
using concrete would require digging for a foundation that would be reflective enough to hold a much heavier wall than one of wood.. the wood wall would require you to dig open but only were the post are going to be.. the concrete would require reinforced bar and building the forms for the concrete.. the wood one would not require that. consider what potentially you would have to try to retain and then integer if your going to need a dam or if something smaller quantity will be enough. it all depends on how long you want it to concluding ..the concrete will outlast the wood ..but looks ugly and unnatural ..however its not true that if you cut tannilised timber that it will need retreating ..tanilised (light green contained by coulour )..will last at least twenty years lower than any conditions ..to get tannilised timber you put it in a hermetically sealed chamber ..remove all the air to product a vacuum ..then introduce the chemical .this way you seize total saturation ...its used in the UK for most fencing jobs etc
The wood looks better at first, but it won't last. Pressure treated wood wishes to be re-treated every time it gets cut (The treatment is only on the outside, adjectives it exposes the untreated inside.) Also, pressure treatment causes the fasteners (nails, bolts, etc. to enjoy a chemical reaction and can corrode them. You end up have to use stainless steel or other high-grade fastener to prevent this. Wood is cheaper, but it won't last nearly as long.
If the park really requests that wood look, you can go with a wood plastic composite stuff (like Trex), which looks similar to wood, but doesn't deteriorate or have the chemicals that treated wood does.
Hope that helps! Good luck. Is this your eagle project?
Answers: Yes, the fact that you can deliver the wood to the jobsite much easier than having concrete deliver or hauling bags of ready mix concrete to the work nouns.
Wood also fits into the park setting better- is a more natural product vs. concrete.
You might mention that the wood does contain some chemicals which may leach into the stream - I bet they didn't think almost that one. If you construct a retaining wall out of wood, I would lean it back into the slope and put your vertical uprights every 4' bury them 4' in ground and lean them fund into the slope about 10 degrees. For extra strenght put a "deadman" on respectively vertical post. This is a steel cable from the highest earth covered point on the vertical to a buried stub of post in the order of 4' long. Backfill dirt on top of the deadman timber and cable. The dirt keeps pressure on the buried hunk of post which must verbs up and out of ground before the vertical post it is attached to, can move.
Good project.
Concrete last forever. Pressure treated lumber doesn't