Wowee raised beds made from hard wood sleepers your talking hundreds and hundreds of pounds. Lovely result but you certainly need to be in the higher income bracket.
Great summary - thank you! A project for the Spring for me. I saw a nice lighting detail on another video which I’m going to use - sleeper wall built up on their edges with a top sleeper capping wide side down. Routing a groove along the underside to take an LED strip light. Looked great!
Great video! On the second method, you fixed the corners with posts sitting inside the bed (hidden) but I was wondering what you did on the corners angling the other opposite way? I don't really want to put a post on the outside. Thanks.
Good greef, have I been watching these vlogs 6 years!!! How time flys and I remember watching those. But hey, your children where just babes then!!!!! Here's to the next 6.
The colour on this sleepers at time 3:05 is absolutely fantastic deep colour. I heard you mentioned Osmo which I used for my internal oak flooring, but would anyone know what colour this is from Osmo external? Absolutely great job btw with those sleepers, its given me a bit of inspiration for another project, and i'd like them to colour match yours in the video!
Hi in the raised beds (2nd project in this video) around 4:31 mins, you have some kind of black plastic lining with holes , is this for drainage /protection from soil touching the sleepers? And what is it called ? Many thanks , great work as always :)
Can you advise what kind of 25mm drill bit you used or would use (anyone) to drill all the way through those sleepers. I want to use a good one that won't get stuck.
Great video, thanks. What did you line the beds with at 4.34, and how did you fix it to the timber - stapled? Would DPM sheet do the trick? Presumably you have geotextile on the bottom? Thanks!
I did method #1 last year, followed your video. Very heavy work on your own, but results great. I bought the oaks dowels, but only used them as detail, I did not fancy being spun by the drill! Thanks for videos
I used a concrete strip footing and through bolted the the first row of sleepers down., Similar to a timber frame house. You have to counter bore the holes so the stud and nut sit below flush and you can get a socket on it. Its easy to get everything level first with the shuttering for the concrete. I just timberlock screw the rest together. Rock solid.
Thank you, I had so many questions about doing this properly, and you answered all of them. At least now I can do it with confidence and knowing it won't move or break.
I’ve watched every single one of your videos and still loved this .. I helped a friend lay a decking many year ago...we were novices ( and not too young ) and he sent a picture over after he had pressure washed like you do in isolation..and it’s still strong looking good...so proud! It’s good to look back and see these project stand the test of time. 🙋🏻♀️🇬🇧💕
Used your method before for stacking! Great video as always. I am going to do vertical now for a retaining wall on a driveway(sloped) how deep does the the trench have to be to support the load behind? Cheers!
@@TheWidowMaker. Hi, what I did was cement a sleeper deep every 6 and used fence rails on the back side and have a smaller trench in between. I cemented the trench and applied tar to the back to protect them. You might want to do every 4 or so deep or a deeper smaller trench as your wall will be higher than mine but it should hold, I've had no problems since I finished the project.
You completely inspired me to build a Sleeper wall. Would never have had the confidence before so thank you. Its gone great and looks wonderful. Would you be able to provide a link to the osmo oil you used as I love the finish and colour you ended with?
Have been watching your channel for ages, but only now getting a chance to put things into practice. Can I ask how you found the weight of the sleepers? Any advice on which ones to get? I am a female diy-er with help from my husband when he can, so needing advice whether to get lighter ones (if there is a such thing!) so I can attempt the project alone or best to wait for when my other half is free to help shift them about. We're hoping to do a vertical sleeper wall project about 1-1.2m high and 14m long. Thanks so much.
Hello, You did a wonderful display of workmanship and skillfulness on this build and I hope you would be kind enough to answer those few questions: 1- You have anchored yours down to the ground using metal spikes to concrete, I have seen many builds where they dig a 3' long metal spike/peg into the ground but not sure how that will hold up over time as metal will rust out over time. I prefer your method. 2- If we're comparing the same build to a stone retaining wall, would timber be more cost-effective, and if so, by how much? 3- What would be the longevity expected from this wall compared to stone/cement build? I'm really looking to do my own retaining wall and I already know hiring a professional is going to cost thousands and having watched a few vids, it looks more than doable but there's always questions to be asked. Of course there's engineering involved in this and absolutely no cutting corners or cheaping out and but the results are definitely worth it. Many thanks again! :)
Thanks for a great reminder video, very useful! I'm planning to put a retaining wall using sleepers in the middle of my sloping garden to create 2 separate flat terraces. Can you please suggest how should I tackle drainage in the garden area which will be behind the 600mm sleeper wall? The subsoil is heavy clay..
ALWAYS use stainless steel with OAK...Tannins react with Iron and go black and it never stops. With stainless it'll good fot decades, with normal steel it will look terrible in less than 3 months. If you want OAK to look amazing and not silver for years, use clear preservative (Barrentine) and then use OSMO UV oil - 420 clear. Your OAK will retain a beautiful honey colour for years. Silvered Oak is very nice, but alot of people want their expensive oak to look the way it does day 1.
For anyone looking to build raised beds which will last I recommend using oak gravel boards. These are fairly cheap compared to sleepers and are still thick enough for raised beds. Much longer lasting than pressure treated woods and won’t leach chemicals into soil!
Great video and information, but how can I fix sleepers down on to a concrete base that's already there . I'm stacking them up on the higher side as your 2nd video.
Thanks. Very good/interesting video. I was thinking of making a sleeper 'unit' but I was thinking on having the bottom one FLAT & the others.on top of that on their sides, what do you think? Now I've seen this I will put post at each corner for added strength. I'm now thinking of drilling holes through them as you did.on your 1st build but using METAL bars through the sleepers that are on their sides as well as metal plates screwed to them, what you think? Thanks.
Your videos have given me the confidence to remodel our garden using oak sleepers. I'm using one course of sleepers between the patio and grass, because these will be walked on how would you fix them in? I was thinking a full bed of wet cement mix, or would leveling onto a bed of compacted mot and digging a hole each end of each sleeper and filling with cement and using stainless hex screws like you did be enough?
If doing one course the best to do an anchor bolt in concrete as you have suggested. If laying on wet concrete you would risk trapping water and rotting and also as oak shrinks and moves a little it may start to rock on the solid base. Other option is to drive metal stakes down through in to soil but you would then have to make the top look good with dowels or make a feature of them somehow.
Great video, I’m starting my own sleeper retaining wall project soon, I’m going to stack them with the thin side down as in your second video, with support sleepers at the front vertically, would you concrete in the first course of sleepers?
Very nice outcome and precise trimming. The only question I'd have is how long would it last without chemical treatment of that retaining wall at the end of the video.. I woul be suspicious. Done some projects myself and seems to me that not only the soil is culprite but moisture generally, concrete contact would do same in my opinion but i wished I'd be wrong.
Just spent most of today clearing paving and dirt ready to do exactly this,raised beds and seating combined. But where do I get nice oak sleepers like that and those great looking dowels? look great and keeps it nice and rustic but clean.
What do you think about painting the base and the sides of the timber where it meets soil with bitumen paint? Is it going to protect the oak from rot or the waterproofing mght be a bad idea since timber rots more quickly mainly due to water not being able to seep away? Thanks
Hi mate. Hope you're well. I'm in the process of building a sleeper retaining wall. I'll be using RSJs vertically concreted in. Might be a silly question but how big should I dig the holes. I'm doing half in the hole half out. It's just the diameter of the hole I'm curious about. Thanks
We’ve built our raised bed using sleepers but I can’t find how I should fill them. The base is old paving slabs so I need a base of gravel or something then a membrane and the soil etc. I’m just not sure about drainage and planting (furniture maker not a gardener ha) Good video by the way 👍
Love all three ideas. Currently looking to convert the front of my garden with sleepers. It’s a new build so the soil is very clayey and crap if I’m honest. Not the best at diy but hoping it doesn’t look crap when I’m finished lol
Converted my garage following your videos and am now looking to do our garden and searched retaining wall in RU-vid and couldn’t be happier to see you face - I haven’t even watched the video yet ha but know that I can trust your advice!
Hi Tim - not sure if you'll see this but if so I have a question. In my back garden I have a patio that goes most of the width of the garden but had about 70-90cm on the sides where it's just soil. It's a total mess and not be touched in 10+ years (I only just moved!) but my plan was to build a 'raised' bed with oak sleepers, maybe only two high. However I'm wondering if I can just lay them on top of the pavings at the edge? There is concrete at an angle at the end of the pavings and there is no tidy edging to them, so my plan was to disguise that with a sleeper on top as the break between paving and bed. Appreciate any response in advance if you're able to give one!
I doubt you would have any issues. We have a few that were ‘temporarily’ sat on soil as lawn edging and they haven’t budged in years. Perhaps shim them with some slate if they are rocking at all. I guess you just need to think ahead and see if it will be an issue for any future plans.
We have used method 1 & 2, using sleeper brackets to fix firmly into the ground for first ‘layer’, also keeps corners rigid. Loved your third way too...saw an example locally. Have you done one on sleeper steps?
Hi thanks for sharing this brilliant video. I'm going to be making a raised patio using the sleepers on edge method with 4x4 fence posts as supports (the 2nd way shown here). Apart from the fixings being stainless steel what thickness should the coach screws be? and how long? 7"? Thanks a lot. Really enjoyed watching the video. Thanks.
Hi there - your videos have inspired me - but I have one question. I'm planning to do a raised bed using sleepers - and in this video you mentioned that you can anchor the bottom layer of sleepers in the corners to small patches concrete. Do you recommend this, or would you recommend laying a bed of concrete along the length of the sleeper wall? My raised bed is going to be a standard rectangle roughly 4m x 1m. Thanks in advance!
If it has 90 degree corners then no real need to concrete at all, once all interlocked its not going anywhere as just becomes on solid frame. i.e not going to tip like a straight wall could.
....okay, got to that part in the video. I have a small circular saw. What can you do to make sure the cuts line up and you don't end up with ugly ends?
Awesome video thank you, very practical and helpful. Question on the second type, how did you secure the "internal corners". I understand on a standard external corner using a post into the ground as per your video. But on the opposite type of corner (which i have 2 to deal with). I'm curious about how you secured it to the ground.
