Well explained piece - and entertaining to watch. What would be really useful would be some guideline costing - e.g cost per metre for a 1 metre retaining wall, cost per metre for a 2 metre retaining wall - materials & labour. If anyone has some indicative numbers I would be happy to hear them - even if not 100% accurate and always accepting that local conditions can have a significant bearing. So just use best case scenario.
You don't actually want the steel 'H-beams' to be perfectly straight. Yes left & right axis you need it straight but the other axis it is best if you slightly concrete them in with minimum fall towards the side that it is retaining ie towards the high side. It works the same with dam walls they are always angled back towards the water
It will depend on the height. For low walls you don’t need a lean. The system is very strong. Even for bigger heights you can include two layers or even three layers at the bottom. We did a 4 m wall amd it was triple at the bottom going to double and then single st the top.
@@hannesRSA It is highly recommended to have a slight lean back. One reason is that if the wall moves at all forward it will immediately be in a failure condition in serviceability limit state. This means it will look like it is failing and will be aesthetically unpleasing. Secondly most cantilever walls are designed using Coulomb or Rankine earth pressure theory which assumes an active state in the soil behind the wall which requires a slight movement of the wall. So the wall should move slightly to engage the friction on the failure plane of the soil. If the wall is slightly leaned back then it can move forward and still not go beyond vertical. Hope that makes sense for all those people who haven't studied soil mechanics, geotechnics and structural design theory of retaining walls.
A couple of string lines and a spirit level is all you need to get the posts straight. A dumpy level if you have one. its not "very, very tricky at all."
Also it would be easier if you had some 90 by 30 timbers cut to the exact size of the concrete sleepers for the spacings as you go. I'm going to be looking at a retaining wall soon about 1.5 meters high. But I'm worried about finding to much rock.
Hi thanks for your video - at 3:33 you say the timber "is rotting because they don't treat the ends with..." and then I can't make what you say next - Please could you tell me what that is? I am from England so we might have different product names to Oz. Thanks.
@@rkk8004 Did you not understand his answer he said for whatever height you go up you go down the same distance it was clear as shit to me. But then I'm an Ozzie!!
I like this concept because it fits my needs for space, ease, & longevity for the project I have planned. The US eq H beam galvanized is about $50/ft at this time. My personal project requires 43 beams varying in length above grade from 18" to 40". My frost line is 36"... so I am looking over 10k usd just for posts. Still have to source several hundred sqft of sleeper. Not realistic at all for me. So, I am thinking if I go this route, I would diy concrete posts to accept diy sleepers. What spec/standard would a concrete post need to be made to? I was thinking 6"deepX8"wide with channels 2in deep by 3in wide, that would accept panels having a 2x3in tab but be 4" thick to sit flush with the front of the post. The below grade portion of the beam would be full dimension & sit on a concrete footer that is surrounded by gravel. Using UHPC (10k+ psi & 1500+psi for both tensile & flexural) & perhaps inert rebar (basalt) to build both the posts & panels. I am not a concrete guy or a structural engineer. I do work in precision manufacturing & can read & follow directions. Anyone with experience or thoughts on something like this?
You'd be a lot cheaper to use .60 treated 6x6 (rated for sea-walls) It's something you have to special order, but it's only about 15% more than the less treated stuff at the box stores. I'd have confidence that they would last 75 years, as long as they are done properly.
@@abacab87 Thanks! Due to weather, I've slowed my project & will be shelving it till spring most likely. I've cast 32 sleepers thus far & driven some galvanized posts in the areas where the overall height will be less than 24". Sleepers are 3.5x9x72 with 2 pc/s 1/2 rebar. 1 sack of ready mix, 2lbs cement, 2lbs CSA, polymer, & basalt fiber x2 per sleeper. They are ready to demold in less than a day, but I have been keeping them covered & moist for at least a couple days before demolding. I will for sure look into the treated 6x6 for the posts in areas where I am concerned about the structural integrity. Where can I learn about "doing them properly" if you don't mind?
Depth has to do with sidewall bearing pressure, 1:1 (socketing) is basically like a rule, but treat every job like the exception. Also noting, that if you intend not to have any drainage allocation behind the wall you will need to assume a higher sidewall bearing pressure is needed. e.g higher soil cohesive value or target rock. There are other methods if sidewall pressure can't be achieved
As he says, it's "sleeper" not "slipper." The reason it is called a 'sleeper' is because they used to employ time-expired or no-longer-used railway sleepers to construct such walls (and other such structures that were prone to rotting). They were favoured because they were deeply impregnated with hot tar and/or creosote preservative back in Victorian times and up to the late '50s, making them last for a very long time. The railway tracks were laid down on these sleepers. Later on, and to this day, the wooden sleepers have been replaced by reinforced concrete 'sleepers.' Even though they 'slip' in between the 'H' beams, they're not called 'slippers.' I guess, in fairness, to a Greek speaking person, like the presenter, without intimate knowledge of the English language, it's an easy mistake. No problem...but I hope this helps him to understand the terminology and the reason they are 'sleepers' not 'slippers.'
And it was completely obvious that this was so@@Remedial_services. Maybe racists don't get your sense of humour, but then they rarely have a sense of humour themselves, so no surprise there I guess.
I don’t think you are right mister. They were called sleepers when used in railways. And just to clarify you also speak Greek. Your lunguage has 113.000 words from my lunguage. Also English is a very poor lunguage. You have around 550.000 words while the Greek one has 5.000.000 and existed thousands of years before you arrived in the world. So don’t be a racist please to me. I am your tutor and you owe me. Even the name europe where you come from is Greek.
Bad idea! You want all the H-beams to be set and the sleepers to actually sit on top of the concrete level which you have troweled to the correct level
Thank you for watching my video. We service all greater Sydney areas. My number is 0474113325. If you want a price I will come to have a look. Thank you. Harry The Solutioneers.
Mate, you have to be careful with that one, that is only a rule. The actual depth depends on the sidewall bearing pressure. e.g. a weak or very reactive clay might not sustain 1:1, in such a case to attain sufficient sidewall bearing pressure the diameter might go higher, even 800mm!! (Depending on the calculation) in which case it's best to keep 450mm? and go deeper. Then you get other variables like refusal of auger. Reason I say this, is if old mate was working ON fill, to retain fill, the first bit of soil will be fill, so even if 99% compaction was done, the soil 'cohesion value' will be less than 'VENM' (Virgin earth) and 1:1 won't work for the long run. Just sayin.
Excellent video; A little out on costs for besa blocks Should also talk about drainage behind the wall particularly for Dincel What is the height max on this system. Cheers from Canberra
@@salmabegum424 not sure what country that is but in Australia is 1m. I just did some retaining walls found the most economical to be sandstone slabs 500 X 1m long
Yeh nah, NSW anyway, it's 600mm without engineer or council. The only work around for council is if you are repairing an old wall, then it comes under SEPP 2008 emergency works, I think clause 15 from memory? Then you don't need council, but the wall may need to be like for like in which case, you might need something like old mate said in the video, concrete inside and brick outside. So 600mm max height in NSW, but stay tuned it might change.
Ed Carra please email me on Thesolutioneers4u@gmail.com the length and the height and I give you an estimate. Can we use our small excavator which needs 1 m access?
brick is the best material for retaining walls but you need to know what you're doing. how you build a brick wall will determine whether the soil being retained will work on downwards pressure or sidewards pressure. ill build you a retaining wall with brick and I put 100 years on no matter what height. concrete becomes brittle and will eventually crack the brickwork you showed looks 50 years plus id like to see concrete sleepers after 10 years don't knock a produced to sell rubbish mate
You can build a wall worh brick but it will be more expensive because you need a much wider foundation. Usually here in Austraria the pour a small concete footing and place a double brick wall on top. Of course after a while it will give away. The concrete sleeper option is much cheaper and faster.
Thank you for that great advice. I shall certainly go for concrete with the H beam.
Well explained piece - and entertaining to watch. What would be really useful would be some guideline costing - e.g cost per metre for a 1 metre retaining wall, cost per metre for a 2 metre retaining wall - materials & labour. If anyone has some indicative numbers I would be happy to hear them - even if not 100% accurate and always accepting that local conditions can have a significant bearing. So just use best case scenario.
The cost work out at around $800 AUS per square metre.
Those faux timber sleepers are beautiful.
@@hannesRSA you can clad the posts so you don’t see them. The cladding is the same with the sleepers.
Thank you
You don't actually want the steel 'H-beams' to be perfectly straight. Yes left & right axis you need it straight but the other axis it is best if you slightly concrete them in with minimum fall towards the side that it is retaining ie towards the high side. It works the same with dam walls they are always angled back towards the water
@@hannesRSA you’re incorrect. Let me guess you’re not an engineer
@@cd1168
Agreed, building code in America requires 4 to 7 degrees set back depending on the type of materials used.
And most building codes in America are just slight tweaks of the IBC.
It will depend on the height. For low walls you don’t need a lean. The system is very strong. Even for bigger heights you can include two layers or even three layers at the bottom. We did a 4 m wall amd it was triple at the bottom going to double and then single st the top.
@@hannesRSA It is highly recommended to have a slight lean back. One reason is that if the wall moves at all forward it will immediately be in a failure condition in serviceability limit state. This means it will look like it is failing and will be aesthetically unpleasing. Secondly most cantilever walls are designed using Coulomb or Rankine earth pressure theory which assumes an active state in the soil behind the wall which requires a slight movement of the wall. So the wall should move slightly to engage the friction on the failure plane of the soil. If the wall is slightly leaned back then it can move forward and still not go beyond vertical. Hope that makes sense for all those people who haven't studied soil mechanics, geotechnics and structural design theory of retaining walls.
Useful information and very entertaining 😁
A couple of string lines and a spirit level is all you need to get the posts straight. A dumpy level if you have one. its not "very, very tricky at all."
Also it would be easier if you had some 90 by 30 timbers cut to the exact size of the concrete sleepers for the spacings as you go. I'm going to be looking at a retaining wall soon about 1.5 meters high. But I'm worried about finding to much rock.
Great video - good explanations - thanks!
Very informative, loved watching this guy he has such a great personality I really warmed to him I’m thinking of asking if he will adopt me 🙂
Hahaha. Ok. Let’s build some walls together.
VERY INFORMATIVE AND HELPFUL THANK YOU FROM WA .
Hi thanks for your video - at 3:33 you say the timber "is rotting because they don't treat the ends with..." and then I can't make what you say next - Please could you tell me what that is? I am from England so we might have different product names to Oz. Thanks.
Pretty sure he says "Ecoseal" which is a brand name in Australia for timber treatments.
Wish we had you in the USA.
Where can I get H Posts here in the states, Portland Oregon?
giasou ore liaburi ise mangas good luck on your new life project
How deep do the steel beams need to be in the ground ? e.g. for a 1m high wall how deep, for 2m high how deep ? Is there a ratio ?
Craig Welsh hi. Whatever height you go up you have to go down. Under a metre the holes to be 300 diameter and over a metre 450 diameter
@@Remedial_services that does not answer his question. He ask how deep but the answer in diameter of hole????!!!
@@rkk8004 he gave 2 answers...
@@eland65 he answered that and then another...the diameter
@@rkk8004 Did you not understand his answer he said for whatever height you go up you go down the same distance it was clear as shit to me. But then I'm an Ozzie!!
Bro you look Greek from miiiiles away before i saw you name, keep up the good work motherland is watching!
Or Lithuanian ?
Great info, thank you.
I like this concept because it fits my needs for space, ease, & longevity for the project I have planned.
The US eq H beam galvanized is about $50/ft at this time. My personal project requires 43 beams varying in length above grade from 18" to 40". My frost line is 36"... so I am looking over 10k usd just for posts. Still have to source several hundred sqft of sleeper.
Not realistic at all for me.
So, I am thinking if I go this route, I would diy concrete posts to accept diy sleepers.
What spec/standard would a concrete post need to be made to? I was thinking 6"deepX8"wide with channels 2in deep by 3in wide, that would accept panels having a 2x3in tab but be 4" thick to sit flush with the front of the post. The below grade portion of the beam would be full dimension & sit on a concrete footer that is surrounded by gravel.
Using UHPC (10k+ psi & 1500+psi for both tensile & flexural) & perhaps inert rebar (basalt) to build both the posts & panels.
I am not a concrete guy or a structural engineer. I do work in precision manufacturing & can read & follow directions. Anyone with experience or thoughts on something like this?
You'd be a lot cheaper to use .60 treated 6x6 (rated for sea-walls) It's something you have to special order, but it's only about 15% more than the less treated stuff at the box stores. I'd have confidence that they would last 75 years, as long as they are done properly.
@@abacab87
Thanks!
Due to weather, I've slowed my project & will be shelving it till spring most likely.
I've cast 32 sleepers thus far & driven some galvanized posts in the areas where the overall height will be less than 24". Sleepers are 3.5x9x72 with 2 pc/s 1/2 rebar. 1 sack of ready mix, 2lbs cement, 2lbs CSA, polymer, & basalt fiber x2 per sleeper. They are ready to demold in less than a day, but I have been keeping them covered & moist for at least a couple days before demolding.
I will for sure look into the treated 6x6 for the posts in areas where I am concerned about the structural integrity.
Where can I learn about "doing them properly" if you don't mind?
How deep do the vertical posts have to be.?
Is there drainage behind it ?
Usually as deep as the wall is high.eg ,1000mm high wall is 1000mm deep piers.
Depth has to do with sidewall bearing pressure, 1:1 (socketing) is basically like a rule, but treat every job like the exception. Also noting, that if you intend not to have any drainage allocation behind the wall you will need to assume a higher sidewall bearing pressure is needed. e.g higher soil cohesive value or target rock. There are other methods if sidewall pressure can't be achieved
Any reccomendations for brisbane suppliers/install?
We can do it for you. We have a team in Brisbane. We are located in Spring Hill.
@@Remedial_services that's great, where can I find details?
What is the approximate cost per m2 above ground? For material alone and for material plus labour and machinery?
It all depends on the ground conditions and the height. The higher the wall the cheaper the price.
Love this dude.
My railroad ties for a small wall lasted 39 years. Time to go.
You do need foundation drains or through wall drains.
What are holding the fencing posts ?
concrete mix... it's in the video
Shame you are not in Brisbane. Great video.
‘Looks likeOregon’. Shout out!
Whoop whoop!
As he says, it's "sleeper" not "slipper." The reason it is called a 'sleeper' is because they used to employ time-expired or no-longer-used railway sleepers to construct such walls (and other such structures that were prone to rotting). They were favoured because they were deeply impregnated with hot tar and/or creosote preservative back in Victorian times and up to the late '50s, making them last for a very long time. The railway tracks were laid down on these sleepers. Later on, and to this day, the wooden sleepers have been replaced by reinforced concrete 'sleepers.' Even though they 'slip' in between the 'H' beams, they're not called 'slippers.' I guess, in fairness, to a Greek speaking person, like the presenter, without intimate knowledge of the English language, it's an easy mistake. No problem...but I hope this helps him to understand the terminology and the reason they are 'sleepers' not 'slippers.'
Thank you for clarifying this. I was only joking.
And it was completely obvious that this was so@@Remedial_services. Maybe racists don't get your sense of humour, but then they rarely have a sense of humour themselves, so no surprise there I guess.
I don’t think you are right mister. They were called sleepers when used in railways. And just to clarify you also speak Greek. Your lunguage has 113.000 words from my lunguage. Also English is a very poor lunguage. You have around 550.000 words while the Greek one has 5.000.000 and existed thousands of years before you arrived in the world. So don’t be a racist please to me. I am your tutor and you owe me. Even the name europe where you come from is Greek.
How do you make corners with the slip system? How do you make stairs through them?
You can buy 45 or 90 degree beams for the corners not to sure about how to build stairs though .
What depth are you sinking the beams?
They need to be the same depth below ground as the height above. So if your wall is going to be say 1.2 metres high you would need 2.4 metre posts.
Do you know anyone like you in Melbourne (Eastern suburbs)?
Great system and a funny guy too!
Why don't you slip in one of the slippers while the concrete is setting, that way the posts are aligned perfectly.
Bad idea! You want all the H-beams to be set and the sleepers to actually sit on top of the concrete level which you have troweled to the correct level
Any product like this in the US?
Yes
Can I retain the soil almost 5ft height with this technology??
Yes but remember if you are retaining 5ft high then equally you need 5ft of the H-beam concreted. So you need 10ft long beams.
What a character.... ☺️
Is their a maximum permitted height for concrete sleepers. My Colah, NSW.
You can go up to 2 metres with the 75 mm thick and higher with the 100 mm thick. You can call me on 0449264474
@@Remedial_services can you please come over to Canberra for my retaining wall
κ. Χαράλαμπε, υπάρχει αυτό το σύστημα στην Ελλάδα;;
Not as far as I know. There are not available in Greece. Oxi den nomizo. Isos na ta fername emeis.
Can you go 10 feet high with this system?
how high can retaining walls go before it needs engineering
Up to 600 mm high in Australia.
Thank you for watching my video. We service all greater Sydney areas. My number is 0474113325. If you want a price I will come to have a look.
Thank you.
Harry
The Solutioneers.
Is this available in the U.S.?
I am sorry I don’t know. It should be.
Yes. Similar if not exactly the same.
How deep those piers need to be for that height wall?
As high as you go up you have to go same depth.
Mate, you have to be careful with that one, that is only a rule. The actual depth depends on the sidewall bearing pressure. e.g. a weak or very reactive clay might not sustain 1:1, in such a case to attain sufficient sidewall bearing pressure the diameter might go higher, even 800mm!! (Depending on the calculation) in which case it's best to keep 450mm? and go deeper. Then you get other variables like refusal of auger.
Reason I say this, is if old mate was working ON fill, to retain fill, the first bit of soil will be fill, so even if 99% compaction was done, the soil 'cohesion value' will be less than 'VENM' (Virgin earth) and 1:1 won't work for the long run.
Just sayin.
@@ivanfsta1661 Are you an engineer
Post can’t be level there plumb. Vertical is plumb now a level can tell you if something is plumb. Just saying
Can we use fiberglass I beam instead of steel
I guess not, because of the allowance for deflection and strength.
Are you on the Gold Coast Qld I would like a quote please
Sorry we are based in Sydney. Must be a local contractor in your area.
thank you for your reply, you seemed like such an honest man there are so many shonky tradespeople up here.
Bravo re Harry
Excellent video;
A little out on costs for besa blocks
Should also talk about drainage behind the wall particularly for Dincel
What is the height max on this system.
Cheers from Canberra
Hi
You can up to 2 metres high.
We have done walls up to 2.5 m high. I don’t think there are limits.
We have done a wall 4 metres high.
He’s a good ol boy
what is the distance between the 'slippers?'😀
Usually come in 2m or 2.4m lengths and 200mm high each
Do you work in U.S.? If so, what states?
I am afraid we don’t. We are only in Australia.
Do you service the st clair area 2750
How much just for the material?
over 1m I think you need engineer design in Oz
It's 1.2m not 1m
@@salmabegum424 not sure what country that is but in Australia is 1m.
I just did some retaining walls found the most economical to be sandstone slabs 500 X 1m long
Yeh nah, NSW anyway, it's 600mm without engineer or council. The only work around for council is if you are repairing an old wall, then it comes under SEPP 2008 emergency works, I think clause 15 from memory? Then you don't need council, but the wall may need to be like for like in which case, you might need something like old mate said in the video, concrete inside and brick outside.
So 600mm max height in NSW, but stay tuned it might change.
over 600m, not 1meter
what kind of beam is that?
They look like specially made ones for his system. But I'm sure you could get some rsj's fabricated to whatever size you need.
He called them universally column, but if you Google galvanized steel H post / beams you'll find a few supplies - Bunnings even has their own version.
You probably wouldn't want to go past 600mm in height with bunnings version. When they are structural they have a kilo per metre designation.
Says it’s easy but we don’t have one of them drills
They "sleep" since they are literally pre-cast concrete panels.
you're cool! :)
‘Sleepers, not slippers’🤣
How much is this per m?
badgey all depends on materials used. Concrete sleepers are more expensive than treated pine but last you a life time and are much stronger.
haha of course he's Greek ;)
Come on he could have just as easily been Maltese
Cost ?
Ed Carra please email me on Thesolutioneers4u@gmail.com the length and the height and I give you an estimate. Can we use our small excavator which needs 1 m access?
This Is Australia email sent
@@Remedial_services I am also after a quote. Can I send the details to your email address?
brick is the best material for retaining walls but you need to know what you're doing. how you build a brick wall will determine whether the soil being retained will work on downwards pressure or sidewards pressure. ill build you a retaining wall with brick and I put 100 years on no matter what height. concrete becomes brittle and will eventually crack the brickwork you showed looks 50 years plus id like to see concrete sleepers after 10 years don't knock a produced to sell rubbish mate
You can build a wall worh brick but it will be more expensive because you need a much wider foundation. Usually here in Austraria the pour a small concete footing and place a double brick wall on top. Of course after a while it will give away. The concrete sleeper option is much cheaper and faster.
those H beams are not cheap.
compare to nowadays timber price, these H beams are reletively cheap
15 dollars a block!?! Come on really?
To buy and build that’s what it cost us. The block is $4.00 each
@@Remedial_services BLOCKS 390X190X190 $250 each here in Victoria
@@garryibbetson9912I guess you mean $2.5, not $250, lol
Does this guy come to the job site and entertain the home owner and the workers or is there an extra charge for that . 😂
What a salesman !
You talk to much and not show the work