Railway sleepers as Garden steps

str · 8 Mar 2011

Planning to make a terrace at the back of the garden, full width, replacing a grassy slope with some steps.

Have bought some new railway sleepers and should only need 3 steps to take in the slope.

However need advice as to footing for the bottom sleeper? Should I I have a hardcore base below the bottom sleeper, or a concrete footing?

Concern is that the bottom sleeper may slip out over time?!

DAZB · 10 Mar 2011

Another option would be to get two lengths of steel bar around 20mm or so and maybe a couple or three feet long and drill an 18mm hole slightly angled into the center of the sleeper at each end and then literally nail the sleeper to the floor. Then you could leave the bar just below the surface of the sleeper or sink it an inch and fill the hole.

LooPrEvil · 11 Mar 2011

My suggestion is similar to Daz's, but would not require having to drill the sleeper. Hammer the metal rods into the ground in front of the sleeper, about 6" in from each end. This will prevent the movement. You could repeat this for each sleeper you install.

Pyromaniac · 12 Mar 2011

There are steps made from old sleepers where I work - probably the Creosote/oil in them - but they get very slippery when wet and we put chicken wire on them for grip.

Might not be a problem with new sleepers ?

htgeng · 12 Mar 2011

Check out this website. Very informative and was very handy when I was building a sleeper retaining wall. Hasn't fallen down in 4 years

http://www.railwaysleeper.com/Index.htm

r896neo · 12 Mar 2011

sleeper steps = Broken neck

I work with sleepers a bit and think they have many great landscaping uses so i'm not down on them for the sake of it. I have one customer in particular whose garden is treacherous when wet because there are so many.

If your dead keen on the look most paving manufacturers now do sleeper effect flags which are long and thin to look like sleepers and to be honest i think they are pretty good. The bradstone one in particular.

http://simplypaving.com/view/area/Catalog/section/Details/for/Price/ref/2441

rustymcspoon · 16 Mar 2014

Hi Str,

I stumbled across your post and just wondered how you got on and what you did? I'm looking to do something very similar to what you have written and I'm struggling with how to approach it.

Hope you got on better than I'm doing with it right now!
Russ

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Railway sleepers as Garden steps

str

DAZB

LooPrEvil

Pyromaniac

htgeng

r896neo

rustymcspoon

DIYnot Local

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