Treating Railway Sleepers

Hi,

What is the best thing to preserve UK railway sleepers (I'm not sure of the wood), the sleepers in question will be sunk in to the ground and others used as soil retainers.

Is it as simple as putting creosote on and maybe using some sort of vapour barrier between the soil and sleeper?

Many thanks in advance,

Mark.

Reply to
Mark & Mel
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I would have assumed they would already have been treated???

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

Like the other responder, I would have thought that railroad sleepers (we call them ties on this side of the big pond) were already heavily treated with creosote.

The ones we used when we landscaped around the house and driveway were. We bought a substantial quantity of USED railroad ties and buried some and then built up from there to a height of maybe 20" - 24". We did not use a barrier, we did not used crushed stone/sand beneath the foundation course (which was underground or slightly below grade). We're in the "Snowbelt" of the Midwest around Chicago so the climate is not kind on outdoors wood. AFAIK, the ties we used have spent their entire life in this weather.

They're getting pretty ragged now and we'll be replacing them with retaining wall stones this year or next. All things considered using the as-is, where-is ties as we did worked out pretty well.

They were laid down in 1975!

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

Just ignore them. They're either creosoted already (in which case you can't buy them nowadays), or they're a timber that's already pretty resistant.

Arrange good drainage below them, which means gravel of a consistent size. Don't use a barrier, as it will collect more rain than it stops moisture heading upwards.

Search uk.d-i-y for more on sleepers.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

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