Railway sleeper lifetime

Andrea B.

Hi, cosidering a driveway kerbing of railway sleepers.

Not enthusiastic about the "real" ones because of treatment.

Has anyone any advice as to what lifetime I should expect fro this type in link layed on gravel with pebbles at one side and earth (protected by plastic or other membrane) at aother side?

Many thanks

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/gardenplants/3337210

rje66

Andrea B. wrote: »

Hi, cosidering a driveway kerbing of railway sleepers.

Not enthusiastic about the "real" ones because of treatment.

Has anyone any advice as to what lifetime I should expect fro this type in link layed on gravel with pebbles at one side and earth (protected by plastic or other membrane) at aother side?

Many thanks

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/gardenplants/3337210

They are softwood and wouldnt last too long. 7-8 years and they will srart to deteriorate. new look hardwood sleepers are avail. But on the down side they arent treated.

paddy147

Larch or oak sleepers would last quite a longtime (hardwood),but you will pay more for them.

My missus used old reclaimed railwaysleepers for part of a path,when rennovatiing a back garden a few years ago.
It was a combination of raised sleeper beds,split level gravel areas and sleepers used for a path,to give a nice look to the garden.

Looks very well IMO,considering how horrible and weedy it was at the start..

Oldtree

only problem I found with used sleepers was the tarry stuff that used to seep out on a hot day.

paddy147

Pic.:)

Nonmonotonic

Hope the hedgehog survives the creosote poisoning , Paddy!

You can clearly see the creosote in the sawn cross-sections in the background of your first photo.

Common sense is required on where you are going to use them and if they are tar or creosote treated. Some practical ( if biased ) advice here

Basically if you are not eating off them / lying on them, you will probably be OK. Untreated wood in contact with the soil will not last ( maybe teak or oak might! ) so you are going to have to be sensible about your choice.

paddy147

Nonmonotonic wrote: »

Hope the hedgehog survives the creosote poisoning , Paddy!

You can clearly see the creosote in the sawn cross-sections in the background of your first photo.

Common sense is required on where you are going to use them and if they are tar or creosote treated. Some practical ( if biased ) advice here

Basically if you are not eating off them / lying on them, you will probably be OK. Untreated wood in contact with the soil will not last ( maybe teak or oak might! ) so you are going to have to be sensible about your choice.

Relax there fella



For your information........

It was a hedgehog that we found walking around the back garden.

He/she was using a small hole in the bottom of a woden fence to come in each evening and rummage around on the gravel.

We put out some catfood and water on a plate,incase it was hungry/starving.

The hedgehog stayed around for about 5 days and then left our garden and went back into the neighbours garden and rummaged around there for approx 1 week.It would go in under the base of the neighbours wooden shed,where the shed was a bit rotten gap.





That garden has nothng growing in it that is for eating purposes.

That garden was done for a family member who really liked the old railway sleepers.She had allways liked the idea of low maintanance areas,raised beds,reclaimed railway sleepers and gravel too.

But all she had was a boring,overgrown weedy mess of a back garden,which seemed to keep her spirits down some of the time

So we decided to surprise her with a new back garden,based on what she had said she liked.
Needless to say she absolutely loved it,when she managed to come home from hospital and see her new back garden.

The beaming smile on her face was absolutely priceless.She couldnt thank us enough.:D



PS-I have New PT sleepers in my own garden,again my missus did all the work..:)

glineli

paddy147

that garden looks brlliant, i love it. Your missus does a fantastic job in fairness.

if she is ever bored she can come to clare and give me ideas on my garden

paddy147

glineli wrote: »

paddy147

that garden looks brlliant, i love it. Your missus does a fantastic job in fairness.

if she is ever bored she can come to clare and give me ideas on my garden

Thanks very much.:)

Shes a tough little cookie allright.

She a hard worker,absolutely loves her job,and she takes absolutely no sh!t from anyone (me included).

paddy147

Just slightly off topic for a second............

Arro ECC Hardware in Santry are selling PT (pressure treated) sleepers for 18 euro.

90 litre galvanised wheelbarrows for 44 euro too.

Grange Builders Providers in Baldoyle are also the same price for both items..

daretodream

Am exactly in the same boat....looking at sleepers for kerbing. Would love to hear how it worked out in the end.

paddy147

daretodream wrote: »

Am exactly in the same boat....looking at sleepers for kerbing. Would love to hear how it worked out in the end.

magicbastarder

hmm. must see if arro are still selling barrows for cheap.

enricoh

i've old railway sleepers on my driveway 8 years now, have tarmac between them. i didnt treat them or lay them on plastic n they are grand. i do just slap on a quick lick of fencelife lidl stuff every year to get the wood colour back in them coz they go a bit grey

paddy147

magicbastarder wrote: »

hmm. must see if arro are still selling barrows for cheap.

Aldi are selling 85 litre barrows for 34 euro at the moment.

http://aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/special_buys3_26470.htm



Dont know if its of any use to you?:)

Had a quick look at them the other day....Heavy duty 85 litre capacity plastic tub....seems ok for the dosh..

magicbastarder

as long as it's not painted steel, anyway...

paddy147

magicbastarder wrote: »

as long as it's not painted steel, anyway...

It says galvanized frame....so its seems ok.

http://aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/special_buys3_26470.htm

daretodream

paddy147 wrote: »

Oh, they look absolutely perfect. Very beautiful. Can you say where you got them, cost, wood type, grade, if they were new or reclaimed etc, etc., Thanks.

paddy147

daretodream wrote: »

Oh, they look absolutely perfect. Very beautiful. Can you say where you got them, cost, wood type, grade, if they were new or reclaimed etc, etc., Thanks.

They are new and cost 18 euro,at the time...Pressure Treated Pine and Deal sleepers.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=80603718&postcount=10




You will get new larch or oak sleepers from any good gardening centre or nursery...they will be about 28-33 euro per sleeper.


The other sleepers in the 1st lot of pics on the previous page are old reclaimed railway sleepers (grade 1) and they cost 24 euro per sleeper,at the time.These have creasote in them.

daretodream

Are Larch sleepers new or old, tar or no? Have been told I can get aaa grade larch cut down the middle for kerbing and that aaa grade would be 'cleaner' as less tar on it.... I thought Larch was a self-preserving wood so assumed it wouldn't need treatments. But if it was used as a railway sleeper, then it would have tar, yes? Confused.com

paddy147

daretodream wrote: »

Are Larch sleepers new or old, tar or no? Have been told I can get aaa grade larch cut down the middle for kerbing and that aaa grade would be 'cleaner' as less tar on it.... I thought Larch was a self-preserving wood so assumed it wouldn't need treatments. But if it was used as a railway sleeper, then it would have tar, yes? Confused.com

Larch sleepers (garden centre or nursey) will be new and have no creasote in them...so too will new oak and the pressure treated pine and deal sleepers.

Larch will go a nice silverish/grey colour as its naturally ages,and is very hardy indeed.


Larch has its own protective sap/oil in it,and a tip here is to burn the surface of the larch with a blow torch.

This surface burning causes the larches natural fluid to come to the surface and go a dark black colour.Then a quick fine mist of water from a watering hoze

It makes the larch even hardier to the elements,and gives a lovely unique/unusual look.:)


Pic of new larch sleepers and also a larch sleeper on the bottom that has weathered out in the elements.

prospect

I was offered a load of reclaimed original sleepers (the proper big, super heavy, impossible to cut ones) just as I was planning my house build, late 2000.

I stacked them up and after the house was finished in 2004 I set them out as driveway kerbing as per the OP's post.

Since I got them I have not painted or treated them and they are now gone grey an there is no oily or greasy feel to them anymore.

This summer I am going to paint them with Fencelife or similar. But in terms of rotting, these sleepers will outlast me I'm sure.