How to Build a Timber Retaining Wall | This Old House

This Old House landscaping contractor Roger Cook shows how to construct a wood-timber retaining wall to create a play area. (See below for a shopping list and tools.)
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Shopping List for How to Build a Timber Retaining Wall:
- 1x3 wood stakes [] and nylon string [], used to establish layout lines for timbers
- 6x8-inch pressure-treated landscaping timbers [], used to build retaining wall
- wood preservative [], to treat cut ends of timbers
- 3/4-inch stone [], used as base and drainage material
- landscaping filter fabric [], used to prevent soil from clogging drainpipe
- 4-inch-diameter perforated drainage pipe [], for draining water away from retaining wall
- 1/2-inch-diameter (No. 4) x 4-foot-long metal reinforcing bar [], used to stake timbers and dead men to ground
- 12-inch landscaping screws [], for fastening together the landscaping timbers
- bark mulch [], used to cover the ground in front of the retaining wall
Tools for How to Build a Timber Retaining Wall:
- hand tamper [], used to compact the soil and stone base
- wheelbarrow [], used to transport stone and mulch to jobsite
- shovel [], for excavating the ground
- circular saw [], used to cut timbers
- impact driver [], used to drive landscaping screws into timbers
- drill/driver [] with 9/16-inch-diameter spade bit [], used to bore holes in timbers for rebar stakes
- sledgehammer [], used to drive in rebar and wood stakes
- 6-foot level []
- torpedo level []
- foam paint brush []
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How to Build a Timber Retaining Wall | This Old House
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