A walk through recent retaining wall jobs across Melbourne's South East. Backyards, shed lines, rural slopes - same crew, same standard.
Every wall sits differently. A shed-line wall has to clear a footing and run dead straight. A backyard wall has to hold the upper level back and drain clean so the new lawn behind it doesn't sit wet.
Below are two recent retaining walls we've built across South East Melbourne. Different sites, same approach: dig to line, set the footings, stand the wall, drainage rock and clean backfill behind.
Long concrete sleeper run set hard up against the shed line. Galvanised posts dug to depth, sleepers stacked tight, ground levelled clean. The wall had to run dead straight to clear the shed footing - excavator working off the unfinished side kept tolerances tight without disturbing the shed pad.
Sleeper wall running along a residential rear boundary, with the upper level cut back and re-graded for a flat, usable yard. Drainage agg in behind the wall before backfill so the new yard doesn't sit wet. Tight access through the side of the house - small machine work.
A sleeper wall holds for years when the prep is right. Here's the order we run, no shortcuts.
Mark the line on site, confirm levels, check the dig is clear of services.
Cut the bench, dig post holes to depth for the wall height. Spoil moved off the work zone.
Galvanised posts plumb and concreted in. Sleepers dropped in from above, stacked tight.
Drainage aggregate behind the wall, then clean backfill. Site swept down before we leave.
Dylan runs every job himself. You speak to the bloke doing the work, not a site manager passing it down a line.
That keeps the build clean: the quote matches the scope, the scope matches what gets done, and there's no game of telephone if something needs a call on site.
