Handy Guides for the Home Improver

I know a lot of people would be thinking, no way I can’t do my own retaining walls! But in fact, in many situations, it’s not as difficult a job as you may first have thought. Although if the required retaining wall is over 1m in height a qualified contractor should be contacted as this shifts the goalposts considerably!

With the auger drive attachment, 450mm diameter drill bit and the Mini Diggers loading and lifting capabilities, doing your own retaining wall could never be easier!

See below the basic steps on how I’ve done it in the past, this is just how I’ve found it easy but there are plenty of other ways to get the job done.

• Firstly make sure you have your materials and tools ready, work out if you are going to order delivered pre-mixed concrete, dry pack bags or mix it yourself. (I always order pre-mixed, too lazy lol)
• Next make yourself up some timber spacers, pine stud will do and one for every bay is handy. I make mine 2020mm as the sleepers are always slightly bigger.
• Mark a line on either side of the steel post to where the underside of your bottom sleeper will sit allowing a little extra to fit, for an 800mm wall I would allow 810 or 815mm.
• The major difference with the method I use is I don’t support the post in the ground however I weld two small lengths of 12mm reo bar to the bottom of the post, this enables you to be less accurate with the hole depth,let’s you go deeper to put more concrete in and also ensures the bottom of the post won’t push out when the concrete is filled into the hole. If you don’t have a welder the steel place you buy the posts from could do it for you very easily. I’d leave 500mm out the bottom of the post you can always cut it shorter with and angle grinder if you need to.
• Set the height and line of either the inside or outside face of the posts is to be with a string line so you can measure for the required depth and line up/level the post.
• Spray paint the ground where the holes are to be dug.
• Dig your holes effortlessly with the dingo post hole driller. (Make sure you are aware of what may be in the ground, always “dial before you dig”)
• Once the holes are drilled you can drop the posts in, shimmy each one around with a level up against each edge moving the bottom of the post around until you get it right. It should be just touching the string-line on the face you set it up for and a couple of inches higher than it.  Once satisfied that the post is level hit the top of the post down with a mallet / sledge hammer until it sits at the correct height set by the stringline, or a laser level if you’re that lucky!
• Place your timber spacer against the face of the beam and set up the next post until they’re all done.
• Pour concrete into the holes, adjusting the posts with the spirit level making sure they’re all in the correct location.  Once all the concrete is in, continually go from post to post ensuring they haven’t moved, once the concrete is in the posts shouldn’t move as the pressure of the concrete and the reo bar in the ground will pretty much hold them up.  Don’t pour the concrete higher than the mark you have made for the underside of the bottom sleeper, if the concrete is far lower just make a little pad for the sleeper edge to sit on.
• Once the concrete has gone off, usually the next day, simply slip the concrete sleepers in, don’t squash your fingers! You may need to cut the last bay if your wall length has to be exact, It may pay to know this measurement and have them pre-cut from where you buy your sleepers or order these last when the wall is up. 
• If you need to you can now cover the back of the wall with a damp proof membrane, drop your agricultural drain in and use the dingo to backfill with crushed rock and fill.

It wasn’t that hard was it!  You have just saved yourself thousands of dollars in one weekend!