Hi,
I plan to build a 10ft x 10ft extension at the back of my 1900 end o terrace, using new, untreated oak sleepers. I'm very interested i corresponding with anyone who would like to, or has done somethin similar.
Thank
-- cantorthomas
Are you planning to use the oak for a frame, or make the walls out of solid oak ? You will have to comply with regs for insulation etc., but I suppose you won't have to paint the outside ! Simon.
What on earth is this obsession with railway sleepers all about? Railway sleepers are 8'6" long, 10" x 5", not made of oak, treated, and often have three dirty great holes bored near each end. They are thus singularly unsuited to most of the purposes people now try to dream up for them.
Could have been worse, I suppose: the OP could have wanted to use secondhand ones: "What's that black stuff oozing out of the ceiling, daddy? Oh, it's just old creosote - and the brown stuff is errm..."
In message , Autolycus writes
You can nowadays get oak 'sleepers' - basically big bits of oak in a (roughly anyway) sleeper size. Presumably for people who want to use them in gardening type projects.
But why someone would want to build an extension out of them....
Much better to use bits of rapidly grown softwood, kiln slag & cement blocks, and thin layers of gypsum slurry sandwiched between paper....
you forgot to add - "roughly nailed together and covered in gypsum slurry slap to make it look good and hide any blemishes, all standing on a sawdust and glue floor"
LOL!
But does it really sound any worse than "a bit of stuff we dug out of the ground mixed with cow shit, horse hair and straw and left to dry in the sun, built on a few odd rocks we found lying around and a bit of sawdust (no glue) to cover the bare earth floor, roof made of dried plant material that you had better not let catch fire"?
MBQ
You can get different sizes. You can also cut them down.
You can get new oak sleepers.
You can get untreated new oak sleepers
Good source of new green oak, I should say. I've no idea whether it's cheaper elsewhere, but I'd guess probably not much.
Narrow gauge?
New railway sleepers are not made of oak, they're often concrete these days.
Then they're not railway sleepers.
MBQ
Dunno. Sleepers come in different lengths, for NG (so poss. yes), and for points, etc.
See below.
Google: new green oak sleeper
That's the point of these "sleepers". They are a cheap source of oak. They make a good if rustic fire surround. I'm not sure why they are cheap. Anyone know ? Simon.
Where would you get new oak sleepers? Sleepers have been concrete for many a year.
There is at least one place (whose name escapes me) based in Nottinghamshire that does wood sleepers both new and used from all over the world. Concrete might be common in developed countries but wood is still widely used.
Found the one I was thinking of:
yes, I've seen them. They seem to be trendy around here to use as front garden gate-posts. Every single one I have seen has developed huge splits that appear to severely damage their integrity. (not properly weathered?)
Pete
Right.
I can see that if it's locally sourced and plentiful. But in the UK perhaps only used for those 'period' lines?
It doesn't sound much (any?) better :-)
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Matt saying something like:
to fasten to."
Aye. Those Norman railways were a bugger.
... having to repaint the Royal Train every time Henry's new wife decided she didn't like the colour scheme.
Must have been *hell* for passengers on the stagecoach substitution service when trains terminated at Watteford during the Great Fire.
Seriously, 19th and 20th centuries, even if wooden sleepers aren't used in the 21st, justifies the "ad-man's plural".
Owain
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