Hi all again, Now building a planter made from 2.4 x 100 x 200 sleepers. Gone be stacked on the 100m edge and 3 layers high. So I have started building the first level of the frame and the wood so is twisted and bevelled I just cant get 90 degree join or have it sitting flat. I either have to compromise with huge gaps at the join or if I pull in tight with screws the while thing lifts of the floor and wont sit flat. Either option is terrible and wont work, especially when it comes to stacking the next layer. Now, I am no carpenter, but this seems un workable. I know the sleepers would not be perfect, but I'm thinking this is bad enough to get them to pick them up and get my money back? I'm just asking to see what your opinions are or if I am missing a trick that would sort it. See the pics, they don't really show how bad they are. I bought them from a local timber merchant Cushions in Norwich. Cheer all!
Not fit for purpose, but they look softwood,so it doesn't surprise me,a lot of wood today isn't seasoned correctly.
Thanks for a quick reply. Yeh they are soft wood. I imagine they wont take well to me asking for all my money back!
Well I would do it with posts that are high enough for all the layers then run the horizontals between the posts, so it doesn't matter if they are not completely square. I mean there is always a danger they will twist in future even if they are true when you buy them. They way you are trying to do it right now, each layer has to be absolutely square or you get a leaning tower of pisa effect. You could just pop in some large coach screws at the ends to hold the horizontals in place or just some thick galvanised brackets underneath each horizontal.
Yeh effectively I am trying to make something similar to this - mine would be 2 tier. 3 high at back, 2 high at front. (see below). I have some 250mm timber screws. which I was going to use vertically as well to make sure layers stay on top. But the layers have to relatively flat to start with!
Oh, I see what you are trying to do. Sorry I misunderstood the problem, or more precisely I didn't understand what you were making. Coach bolts will pull twists out pretty easily but really yes I would be tempted to say that you need them less twisted in the first place. Once constructed they should stay straight with minimal force.
Those are NOT sleepers, just 100x200 softwood, possibly treated. Reject them as not fit for purpose - I would expect timber to be a lot straighter than that.
Why not lay a 70 mm wide bed of mortar about 10mm deep to the internal side and bed down carefully , to get a nice shadow gap and will diffuse and timber imperfections ,
As mentioned above they aren't true railway sleepers. The Timbers look too long for raised beds, When cut the twist may reduce a bit. One way to straighten them before screwing is to fix one end, then use a big clamp or lorry strap to pull it tight and then screw down. I doubt whether you have the tools but I would be drilling a large hole and using something like a broom handle as a dowel to stop then twisting once fixed
I am glad everyone agreed they are a pile of *****. However, I stuck it out and got the job done OK. Would have been a lot better with decent wood!
That looks like an excellent job to me, alex. I'm a DIY numpty attempting a very similar raised bed, only longer. I too thought they'd all meet flush, to be screwed together in an hour or so. How did you do it in the end? -Just forcing them straight with timberlock screws?
Yeh, I just had to play around with each sleeper to find which ones fitted best and then used the timberlock giant screws with hex end to pull them tight. However, you have to fix wach layer to each layer if not they just pull up they were that twisted.
Looks a nice job, but put somemore timberlocks in to stop it from warpping once its full of soil. What have you put in the middle of the lower two, to stop them moving apart. ??