Cost Guide for Timber Retaining Wall

LFrankAbagnaleJr on 06/10/2022 - 11:25

Hey fellow bargain hunters,

I'm hoping someone here with a little more intellect and/or experience might be able to provide me with a rough cost guide for a retaining wall I am trying to have replaced.

There is currently a 20m long x 300mm-900mm Besser block wall with a colourbond fence on top of the wall but the wall is failing (cracked and starting to lean). The fence can be reused but will require new fence posts.

I haven't had much luck with finding landscapers/fencers/carpenters to quote in the last 3 months but the one quote I managed to received was $12k to replace the wall with timber sleepers and posts + extra cost if they run into any other issues.

Being someone who is genuinely ignorant to the costs involved, is this considered a reasonable price for the work?

Cheers!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Muzeeb on 06/10/2022 - 11:58

    There is no accurate rule of thumb when it comes to retaining structures.

    There are so many variables.

  • Fergy1987 on 06/10/2022 - 12:42
    +4

    I had one built out the back of our house with concrete sleepers which was about 15m long and it was 16K, they ran into a bunch of issues having to dig into rock so was worth it

    I'd pay the extra and get concrete instead of timber.

    • FrankAbagnaleJr on 06/10/2022 - 19:14

      Cheers, makes sense. I did speak to another bloke today and he recommended redoing the blocks if the footings are still alright. Said removing the current footings would add a lot of work.

  • drogba on 06/10/2022 - 13:46

    If your young, fit and have plenty of time on your hands you can do it yourself. It's not hard, just a lot of physical work.

    But yes the price does sound about right.

    • JIMB0 on 06/10/2022 - 19:07

      Over a certain height they need to be done by professionals.

      • FrankAbagnaleJr on 06/10/2022 - 19:15

        Yeah we need pros because we'll need to engage an engineer due to the height.

        • drogba on 06/10/2022 - 20:24

          Have you considered doing a terraced wall instead?

          I ended up doing a 3 tiered wall at 0.75m high for each level instead of one big one. A lot more post holes to dig but at least they dont have to be as deep so doable with a post hole shovel.

          • FrankAbagnaleJr on 07/10/2022 - 06:56

            @drogba: Unfortunately not really an option as it connects to council land and has my shed 900mm away from the fence line.

      • Euphemistic on 06/10/2022 - 20:40

        Don’t have to be built by professionals, but do need to be designed and approved by council which also implies they may need to be inspected as part of the construction process.

        Like Owner builders.

  • Euphemistic on 06/10/2022 - 20:41
    +1

    Price sounds about right.

  • Tobias on 06/10/2022 - 22:59
    +1

    Possible price is on the low side but depends how quickly it goes from 300 to 900.

    At least use 5mm thick steel posts instead of timber.

    They'll also remove about 30-40cm of ground behind the retaining wall so your fence might be impacted - foundation complications.

    Any water tank above & near the retaining wall will need to be drained.

    Been there, done that, all the best.

    • FrankAbagnaleJr on 07/10/2022 - 06:59

      It's fairly gradual from 300-900, most the wall is probably 450-600mm, but yeah the more I think about it I'm realising just how big of a job it is.

  • FrankAbagnaleJr on 07/10/2022 - 06:58

    Thanks for all the feedback, looks like the price appears to be about right, just wasn't sure given the difficulty getting multiple quotes. Time to set a savings plan and get it done.

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