DIY project - railway sleeper garden wall

[Deleted member 7181]

When we had our extension built, part of the building regs stated we had to build a retaining wall 1M back from the house. We've never really had the time to get it done so obviously now was ideal.

So over the holiday weekend while Zoe wasn't working, we got to digging. Pretty much filled an 8 Yard skip so there was quite a lot taken out!



On Monday morning these arrived. Delivery was quite a faff since we'd had the road dug up outside out house after a power cut, so we had to hand ball them off the truck and onto the drive, then back garden.



After 2 days in the blazing sun I've lost about a Stone but we have something resembling a wall. I'm sure you pro's will spot plenty of flaws in my handiwork but for my first time doing this kind of thing I'm quite happy. Timber work is pretty much finished but the slab steps need levelling out (with a slight forward slope to let the water run off). I went for slabs as I had a few left over, and I've that heard sleeper treads can be slippery when wet. It'll take time but I'm hoping the sleepers will weather and soften a bit, hopefully blending with the fence.









Rest/modelling day tomorrow I think, then I'm putting some weed membrane behind the wall and backfilling with soil. I'll also need to level the grass off with the top of the wall in places, didn't realise how up & down it was until the flat topped wall went in!

Gap between wall and house will be levelled off, membrane put down, then some kind of gravel when SWMBO decides which one she wants

 

[Mini Me]

Cracking build Andy! What scale is it?

 

[yak face]

Excellent job andy , looks brilliant . Sleepers make a great retaining wall , I got the old, creosoted reclaimed ones for mine , theyll never rot! cheers tony

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Cheers Guys.

I considered reclaimed ones Tony but decided against it. These are pressure treated and I gave them another coat of "stuff", especially on the cut ends, so hoping they'll do for at least 10 years.

 

[yak face]

Cheers Guys.

I considered reclaimed ones Tony but decided against it. These are pressure treated and I gave them another coat of "stuff", especially on the cut ends, so hoping they'll do for at least 10 years.

I’ve had mine in for about ten years now Andy , and to be honest it’s only the last couple of years that the creosote smell faded !

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Finally our gravel has arrived so I can post "completed" pictures. Not something I do very often

First thing was to put down some heavy duty weed membrane. The slab is levelled on a bed of sand underneath the fabric.

And a 1 ton bag of cheap pea shingle/ beach gravel later

I'm sure we won't win any garden design awards for it lol, but it does the job, ensures proper drainage, and the multiple colours will look okay once it has rained a few times to clean the stones up. We very rarely walk on this part anyway, so the annoying crunch you get with gravel won't be an issue.

And here's another view showing my model making shed. You can see just how low it is compared to the small one next to it. I can't even stand up straight in it so most of my spraying takes place with me kind of stood up and stooped over. Hopefully that will be my next DIY project, as I deconstruct it and rebuild with better headroom and some decent insulation to keep it frost free in the winter, less than sweltering in the summer, and add some natural light.

 

[grumpa]

Oh, to have the spunk to do such a project!
I moan about cutting the lawns, and I'm just sitting on my a##.

Great job on it, nice and straight and clean.

Jim.

 

[PaulTRose]

Cheers Guys.

I considered reclaimed ones Tony but decided against it. These are pressure treated and I gave them another coat of "stuff", especially on the cut ends, so hoping they'll do for at least 10 years.

these are also at least half the weight of reclaimed ones.......i did similar years ago, damn near killed me lifting them, and there was 2 of us!......but they will last for donkeys years......left that house 14 years ago and i know they are still there

 

[Ian M]

Nice tidy job that. Looks great.

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks chaps.

A relatively simple project but it's much better than the weed infested ditch we had before!

 

[JR]

Its gets a 10 from me Andy, a grand job, Id be pleased to have done that myself !

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks John. We're just waiting for the grass to recover now. I've top dressed & seeded a few bare areas so hopefully it'll sort itself out soon.

 

[JR]

Thanks John. We're just waiting for the grass to recover now. I've top dressed & seeded a few bare areas so hopefully it'll sort itself out soon.

It will next week with the weather we have coming, you got this done right on time Andy.

 

[Peter Gillson]

Nice job Andy.

i used similar sleepers to make some raised beds, and can vouch for how heavy they are!

Peter

 

[adt70hk]

We done Andy!

 

[colin m]

That looks great, but dug by hand. Good heavens....

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Cheers Colin, I don't think my shoulders will ever recover from the digging!

I suppose the exercise helped to keep me from ballooning during lockdown.

 

[yak face]

Looks excellent now its all done andy , looking forward to the shed revamp ! Cheers tony

 

[Deleted member 7181]

Thanks Tony.

Yes, I can't wait to get on with the shed myself after all this time talking about it. It's not like I need a posh space to work in, but I definitely need another project to get on with. Zoë calls me the Energizer bunny, I just can't sit still!