Garden Bench

Doop

I'm doing a big job on the small rear garden at the moment, Building a block built shed and while I'm at it I'm building block raised beds. I've left a gap between two raised beds where I intend to bridge the gap with sleepers by way of a bench. I'm starting to doubt myself that they may be too rough to use as a bench top.

Any thoughts... ? I could sand them down but I dont want to remove the water replant treatments on them either....

These are what I was intending to use...

https://www.goodwins.ie/products/new-sleeper-treated-beam-200x100mm-2-4mtr.html

Lumen

FWIW there is no water repellent on that product, the treatment is to prevent rot.

The brown colour is a dye added to the treatment, I'm not sure I'd want to sit on it in light coloured clothes.

Doop

.... valid points... yes I should have said rot treatment... but i take your point about the staining ...I dont know what to do now!

The plan was to top the block raised beds with a sleeper like a capping so to speak... and then run this into a bench also. I guess I could keep the sleepers for the top of the raised beds...Do you think it would be a better bet to use something like this for the bench lats which could be sanded and varnished?

https://www.goodwins.ie/products/Treated-Rough-Sawn-Timber-100x44mm-2.4-Metre-4x2-8ft-.html?filter_set[]=20,266,1395

or another thought... could I sand and varnish the top side of the sleeper? is the colored dye impregnated in the timber or just on the surface? as in would it sand off... I dont want to end up with a bench looking like a dogs dinner!

Lumen

TBH I'd avoid that crappy treated softwood.

I use untreated oak. It's not that much more expensive, it ages beautifully but you can stain it/oil it if you grow tired of the way it naturally greys over time. And then eventually you can cut it up and burn it in a stove.

I got mine from mcnamarafencing.ie a couple of years ago. This is a pic of them in the yard. They were twenty something euros each.