New to the community so please forgive me if this has been asked before.. having had the garden landscaped 8 months ago I am now noticing how warped the supposed oak sleepers are becoming. is this normal ? They seem to be only screwed at either end with 1 screw. Should I be concerned or is this just natural shrinkage due to the heat ? Any advice would be appreciated as what looked a first class job now looks a bit of a mess.
This is a result of the very, very hot weather drying out the moisture content within the timber...cant be helped as it is due to the extraordinary weather conditions this year. Nature is a very powerful beast.
I'm guessing it's green oak, which has been cut before it's thoroughly seasoned. It's normal for it to shrink and twist as it dries out, and I would think the very hot spell has accelerated that process and made it more severe. Even if bolted more securely I'm not sure if it would have helped, I've had screw heads snap with the pressure.
As been mentioned, it's green oak that has unfortunately been blasted with extreme heat, it doesn't look to be a Cowboy job as post two stated.
More pictures would be useful. Some of them look like they are a retaining wall which if so could potentially have been better supported. Could well just be warpage from the weather as stated though that is an awful lot of movement. Possibly could have been lessened if they were pinned through.