Retaining wall - Block or Sleeper

[sidekickdmr]

Good monring,

I’m starting my garden kitchen build at the weekend and as part of the build I need to build a retaining wall, the wall will create the literal wall on 2 sides of the kitchen so will need to be about 2.4 meters tall, but it will only be retaining about 1.5 meters of earth at the highest point.

I was planning to use breezeblocks, and then render it and paint, but this seems very labour intensive and I've never laid a wall before, let alone rendered anything.

So I've also considered doing a sleeper wall, putting 3 meter sleepers vertically, concreted in the ground, and tied together near the top with a metal band. This would also give a nice "rustic" finish and I personally would prefer this finish to a rendered wall.

I would put some landscaping fabric up against the back of the sleepers and then a layer of gravel for drainage.

Any thoughts on either design, or any other ideas?

Thanks

[sidekickdmr]

Ok, you are all kind of echoing my concerns with the sleepers.

I'll probally stick to block wall then, but a good idea to timber clad, rather than render, I may look into that

Thanks

[sidekickdmr]

Tom_C76 said:

Forget the longevity, sleepers won't stand the weight without snapping. Plus an embedded retaining wall needs to be two thirds in the ground and 1 third out.

At 1.5m high you really should get the thing deigned, not just stab a guess and start building, but for a masonry gravity wall a rough rule of thumb is to make it 1/3 the thickness of the retained height, ie 500mm thick for yours. That can be by laying a front face and then pouring concrete behind.

1.5 meters was a genourous guess, it's less than that, and besides the slope is already "self supporting" so it's only the bottom section of the slope I am chipping away.

Here is my comprehensive scientifically accurate diagram:

[sidekickdmr]

227bhp said:

Gabions.

As this is going to end up as an "internal wall" I dont really want wire and stones on show.

Someone above mentioned timber faced Gabions, cant seem to find anything on them online.....

[sidekickdmr]

bobtail4x4 said:

the retaining wall is going to be the extension wall too?
that needs a lot more design than offered here,

Garden kitchen with no proper roof, a bit like this, so damp etc doesn't matter, doesn't have to be perfect!