Treated pine sleepers are often a favorite choice for landscapers when they're building a retaining wall, either to hold back soil and moisture or as an anchor for a garden or landscaping feature. If you're ready to build your own wall, you want to consider why pine is such a good material and a favorite choice for many. Note a few of the advantages it offers so you can determine if it's the right choice for your property.

1. Cost

Pine is easily one of the most affordable materials available for retaining walls, and you need to consider this carefully. Your retaining wall often doesn't just sit on the topsoil but needs to be built to a certain depth underground in order for it to remain level and secure. This will mean that you may need more material than you assume, and this cost can then easily add up.

2. Ease of fabrication

Pine is easy to cut and you can even cut it with a handsaw if you have the strength. This makes it a good choice for smaller spaces where you know you'll need to trim down some wood boards; trying to cut a denser wood can be difficult, and breaking bricks and rocks takes skill and often special tools that can actually make those cuts.

Pine can also be painted or stained very easily; this is a simple job that most homeowners can handle on their own. If you want your retainer wall to look like the furniture you have on your patio or to complement the color of your home's aluminum siding, you don't need to worry about painting or staining concrete or trying to choose just the right shade of river rock or another material. You can easily paint or stain pine and get just the right color and tone you want.

3. Easy to recycle and move

Concrete that you use for a retaining wall might be recycled, but this would involve calling a contractor who can remove the concrete from your yard, or having to break it up and haul away heavy pieces on your own. The same is true of rocks you might choose; they can be reused, but it's difficult to haul them away. Pine, on the other hand, is easy to disassemble for transporting to a recycling center.

It's also much easier to move and adjust a retaining wall made of pine than one made of poured concrete or rocks. If you want to adjust the space of your retaining wall or find that it's not working as it should, using pine can mean being able to do this on your own without the help of a contractor and heavy-duty equipment. 

For more information, talk with tree services and timber companies, like Australian Treated Pine.

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