On Apr 21, 11:07*am, John wrote:
My backyard is higher than my neighbor in behind me. *To keep the
ground level, there is a three foot retaining wall at the back of the
yard, which is only a few inches from the fence. *The wall is built
from 6x6's, and is not normally visible (even the top of the wall is
hidden by bushes and flowers in front of it.

The problem is that the 6x6's appear to have started to rot. *I
imagine they were put in place when the house was built 25 years ago.
This year, the neighbor's want to rebuild the fence, so I was thinking
of replacing the retaining wall at the same time to give easier
access. *It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional, and as long
lasting as possible (and preferably fast to build without breaking the
bank). *The wall is about 25m (around 90') long, and I live in Canada,
so there's lots of freezing and thawing going on.

I'm wondering if I should consider concrete, brick, or wood again (and
what the advantages are), and if anyone has any advice that I might
not have thought of.

Thanks

John

John-

Budget? Time horizon?

If it was my yard in SoCal, I'd go with a fully grouted 8" block wall.
But we don't have the frost issues.

I built had my block wall built with an "I" style foundation 14" x
34" because I wanted to minimize foundation intrusion into the yard.

In order to assure longevity and good performance a block wall in your
yard would suggest using an engineer or maybe your local building dept
has "stock plans / deign guidelines". Providing for drainage is key
as well..... otherwise the wall could suffer lateral frost heave.

Just a WAG here...... ~ 350 8x8x16 blocks, ~20 yds of concrete
concrete for footing, ~2.5 ys of grout, ~600 lbs of steel

The idea of a natural slope is sounding better & better.

As others have posted, high quality used RR ties are probably your
best bet.

Where in Canada are you located?

cheers
Bob