How to Build a Vinyl Bulkhead

This is a sketchcast of how to build a vinyl bulkhead. From a side view, it covers the basic required components, a few key terms, and very general installation guidelines of a building a vinyl bulkhead.

It does not endorse any specific vinyl sheet piling brand because installation of most of them is the same with a few exceptions.



Vinyl Bulkhead Materials & Terms

Vinyl Sheet Piling - the piling itself, usually made of PVC with UV inhibitors.
Wale - treated lumber or timber used to support the front of the bulkhead.
Backboard - treated lumber or timber used to support the backside of the bulkhead.
Tie Rod - galvanized or stainless rod with threads on each end used to connect the bulkhead to the deadmen.
Deadmen - treated posts or short poles buried behind the wall and connected to the bulkhead to support the vinyl bulkhead and prevent it from collapsing into the water under extreme pressure from behind.
Top Cap - treated lumber or timber used to cover the top of the bulkhead. Usually connected to the backboard and front wale using screws or nails.
Mud Line - bottom of the water.
50/50 Rule - commonly used rule for vinyl bulkhead design stating that the sheet piling should be driven as far into the ground (below the mud line) as it is exposed. 50% of the sheet should be below the mud line and 50% of the sheet should be above the mud line.

Plastic Lumber & Wood

Synthetic lumber is rapidly becoming a more commonly used material in construction. In the past, it was used mostly for outdoor furniture or fixtures but with improvements in strengths and weathering properties, plastic lumber is being used more in capital construction.

In another post I covered some of the many composite deck options but this post is about the broader use of plastic lumber and some of current options.

Polywood, Inc, based in New Jersey, "manufactures structural plastic lumber from post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastics. Using our patented technologies, we’re developing and advancing the use of structural, industrial plastic lumber." They claim their polywood is "tougher and more resilient" than treated wood. I would like to know more about what they mean by "tougher" but you have to contact them for their technical data. I am always skeptical of imitation products.

Bedford Technology makes Fiber Force plastic lumber for building playground equipment, pedestrian bridges, and other small outdoor structures. "[Fiber Force is] made of recycled high density polyethylene plastic, colorants, ultraviolet stabilizers, and combined with fiberglass." It also comes in a variety of colors, including blue, red, and yellow. Amazingly, they offer sizes up to 12x12-20'!

American Composite Timbers (ACT) makes structural lumber and timbers (also up to 12x12) "composed of recycled plastic, fiberglass and select additives which offer a choice of colors, UV stabilization, and if special ordered, flame retardancy." To me, the flame option of adding a flame retardant is the interesting thing because there are not many outdoor products (especially in wood options) that are flame retardant.

TimberGuard is an interesting and durable option I have actually seen before. It is NOT plastic lumber but is polymer wrapped lumber so it has the proven strength of wood. It is made with a process that kind of pushes the lumber through a sheet of thick polymer materials that dries into a very hard shell around the wood. It is very tough stuff.

21 POLY is similar to TimberGuard but is a polymer coating that is sprayed onto wood (usually about 1/16" thick) and binds to the wood fibers. It is an excellent product and is very easy to work with. You can drill, cut, and nail it and it comes in tan, green, dark brown, and battleship gray.

I will try to keep up with plastic lumber and poly lumber options out there but this list is a good start for durable outdoor materials.

Pine Beetle Problems in BC

This is an excellent article in Inside British Columbia, written by Dave Neads, discussing the region's massive-scale pine beetle problem and its effects on timber supply, the economy, and even the society as it moves into the future.

To give you an idea of the scale of the forestry problem consider the Chilcotin, an area the size of Switzerland, predominantly forested with lodgepole pine. By 2010 it is estimated that the MPB will have killed roughly half a billion trees in the Chilcotin. Half a billion. That would represent 25 years of logging at current rates. All gone in the next few years.

Here is some Wood Science information about Southern Pine Beetles.

Tree Topping and Felling Video

In this video a tree is topped and then felled by a man in a bucket.

Loading Logs on a LoggingTruck

This is a great video of a logging truck being loaded by a loader. The loader is pretty talented. It is about the same all the way through so once you have seen the first 3o seconds or so you can probably move on to the next video.

Pressure Treated Wood and Gardening

I just ran across this article about using pressure treated wood in raised gardens on Compost Bin, a blog mostly about gardening.

It is a good article and includes information from John Bumby of The Maine Wood Treaters about various treated wood options and why ACQ is corrosive to hardware.

Here's another post from Projo Garden Blog on the topic of treated wood in your garden: "Pressure treated wood and gardening: newer solutions."

I built a raised garden this year and feel like the plastic liner I used made the treatment used to preserve the wood (ACQ in my case) virtually irrelevant.