How to replace wooden beam in retaining wall?

[Terry66]

Hi everyone. I wonder if anyone knows how to replace an individual beam of a retaining wall which has become waterlogged, rotting and bulging outwards after 10+ years. 

The rest of the retaining wall is in great shape so I would prefer not having to take the whole thing down just to replace a single beam.

Each beam is bolted to the retaining posts and is around 240cm long, 20 cm wide and 5 cm thick.Lower beam rot 

Thanks for your advice. 

Regards

Terry

[JacobZ]

Hi @Terry66,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

As you've mentioned the rest of the retaining wall is in good condition and it is relatively low in height there shouldn't be any reason you can't simply replace the rotting member.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to remove and replace it without doing some digging. You'll have to dig out the soil behind the wall to release the pressure on the sleeper and allow you to remove and replace it with a new sleeper.

Once the soil has been removed, you can reattach a 200x50 2.4m Treated Pine Sleeper to replace the one you have removed. 

It can be screwed to the posts using galvanised batten screws of a suitable length. Assuming the posts are 100x100 or 90x90, then a 125mm batten screw such as these 125mm Class 3 Galvanised Bugle Batten Screws will be perfect. 

Once you've screwed your sleeper back in place, you can backfill the hole behind the retaining wall.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob