Timber Retaining Walls

Timber Retaining Walls

Natural strength. Timber walls offer a warm, organic look and are a budget-friendly solution for grade changes.

A timber retaining wall lives or dies on what happens behind the face you can see. We build with pressure-treated 6x6 timbers set on a compacted gravel base, then batter the wall slightly back into the slope so it leans into the load rather than away from it. Courses are pinned together with long landscaping spikes or rebar, and on taller walls we tie the structure into the bank with deadman anchors: perpendicular timbers buried into the soil that stop the wall from bowing outward over time. The single most important detail is drainage. Behind every wall we place a zone of clear crushed gravel and a perforated drain tile that carries water to daylight, because in a Vancouver winter it is standing water pressure, not the weight of the soil, that ruins most walls.

Timber has real limits, and honest walls respect them. For anything over roughly three feet we recommend engineering, terracing into two shorter walls, or switching to concrete block or armour stone. Terracing is often the better call on a steep or wet lot anyway: two low walls with a planting shelf between them handle water more gently and give you usable garden beds. Keep the bottom course above finished grade so the timber is not sitting in wet soil, and avoid backfilling straight against the wood with native clay, which holds moisture against the timber and shortens its life.

Timber suits informal and cottage-style yards, garden bed edging, and terraced planters where the softness of wood complements the plants. If you want a crisp modern edge or a wall that will outlast the house, we will tell you when stone or block is the smarter investment rather than sell you timber that will not last.