Advice on outdoor seating in cement retaining wall

[DiFerguson]

Hi, I am keen to have a go at building some wooden seating to sit atop my cement sleeper retaining walls.

I have envisioned a decking look that has an overhang. I am thinking of creating frames for each 2m section, that sits inside the first level of wall and attaching boards parallel to long edge. I would like the bench to overhang the cement sleeper.

I have never done this before but I want to give it a go.  I have carefully pulled apart a pallet, removed all the nails and sorted ‘good’ from ‘bad’ to use for a trial run IF that is a good idea.  

Challenges: 1) The H bracket joins where the sleepers sit. 2) The big chunks of cement left behind by the landscaping (I think I will take a sledgehammer to these). 3) How do I create the nice overhang? (

4) Leveling each section so the frames sit square (I have crusher dust and a manual whacker packer. I also have a drop saw

 

 

 

 

 

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I include photos of my site. The pallet wood I have for test runs and two Pintrest pics that are close to what I am thinking.

Thanks in advance, brains trust.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @DiFerguson. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about building a bench.

I'd be inclined to make the frame in one long length for the entire seated area out of H3-treated pine. I'd suggest connecting H4-treated posts at the rear that will be concreted into the ground. These will stabilise your bench and act as a cantilever for the weight of seated individuals on the overhanging lip.

I've created some rendering below to help illustrate.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[DiFerguson]

Thanks Mitchell.  I don't have a lot of depth to play with unless I dig out the road base etc. at intervals to sink the posts but that is not impossible and may be more stable and easier in the long run than having the box frame behind the cement sleeper. It would also solve the issue with the H frames (or whatever they are called).

Thank you for your advice.

Di