Timber Pole Retaining Walls
We dig the post holes about 450mm across and take the depth down to roughly the same measurement as the finished wall height. A 1.2m wall gets a 1.2m hole. Poles go in at 1.2m centres, we brace them.
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Built strong. Built to last.
Timber Retaining Walls in Christchurch
Top Retaining Walls Christchurch builds timber retaining walls across Christchurch, from a 600mm garden edge in Papanui to a stepped 1.4m terrace on a Cashmere slope. Timber suits most flat and gently sloping Canterbury sections, it goes up fast, and it costs less per metre than any other wall type.
- We set 200mm H5 poles at 1.2m centres in concrete footings
- Every wall gets drainage metal, drain coil and geotextile
- Stepped terraces when one tall wall would trigger consent
- Drainage on every wall300mm of metal, a drain coil and geotextile. Never an optional extra.
- H5 poles as standardThe right treatment for timber that lives in wet ground.
- Consents handledChristchurch City, Selwyn and Waimakariri, start to finish.
- Itemised quotesYou see what the drainage and the spoil actually cost.
Timber Retaining Walls
Timber Retaining Walls we build in Christchurch
The parts that matter on a timber wall are not the parts you see. Anyone can nail rails to a post. The wall lasts because the poles carry an H5 treatment, because the footing goes deep enough, and because there is 300mm of clean metal and a drain coil behind the face taking water away.
Get those three right and a properly drained H5 wall commonly runs 25 to 40 years. Skip the drainage and the same timber can rot out in 10 to 15, because the posts sit in wet ground the whole time and the soil behind stays heavy.
H5 Treated Pine Retaining Walls
New Zealand grades treated timber by where it is allowed to sit. H4 covers timber in contact with the ground in normal conditions, like a fence post. H5 covers timber in ground contact where it stays wet,.
Read moreTimber Sleeper Retaining Walls
We set H5 posts at 1.2m to 1.5m centres, then drop heavy H4 sleepers down between or behind them. The sleepers stack rather than fix individually, so the wall builds up fast, and the face stays perfectly.
Read moreMacrocarpa Retaining Walls
Macrocarpa heartwood resists decay reasonably well without any chemical treatment. It is not as durable as H5 treated pine in wet ground, and it will not last as long, so we normally build the wall as.
Read moreTimber Crib Retaining Walls
Crib walls use H5 treated headers and stretchers laid in alternating tiers, a bit like a log cabin with open cells. We set the first stretcher course on a concrete foundation or a well compacted base to.
Read moreGarden Retaining Walls
Sleepers give you the cleanest lines and suit a modern garden. Pole and rail costs least per metre and suits longer runs. Keystone block gives you curves, because segmental blocks step around a radius in.
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The part you never see
How we build a retaining wall that drains
Nearly every failed wall we get called to in Christchurch failed the same way. Water sat behind it, the soil got heavy, and the wall leaned out a little more each winter. So we build the drainage first and the face second.
- At least 300mm of clean free draining metal sits behind the wall face
- A perforated drain coil runs the full length at the base
- Geotextile cloth wraps the top and back so silt cannot block it
- The coil discharges to daylight or to stormwater, never a dead end
Where we work
Timber Retaining Walls across Christchurch and Canterbury
We cover the whole city plus the Selwyn and Waimakariri towns within a sensible drive.
Not sure which wall type suits your section?
We will come out, measure it and tell you straight. The site visit and the written quote are both free.