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Only 2 Samples available in total per customer
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Our Canadian Oak Sleepers are cut, sawn and shipped directly from the sawmills of Canada. They can be used for a wide range of applications including raised beds, retaining walls, path and driveway edgings. Our new Oak Sleepers are extremely strong and hard wearing but due to the nature of oak you should expect some greying and small cracks over time as they weather. They are not recommended for structural building projects; they are intended for external landscaping applications only.
Canadian Oak Sleepers are grown in an extremely cold climate, resulting in denser, slow grown timber that is much more suited to the damp UK climate than timber sourced from Europe that will either be quickly grown Eastern European or French timber or cut from Turkey Oak trees (Quercus Cerris) which is an inferior timber that rots quickly and will twist and warp to a much greater extent than White oak (Quercus alba) that we source from our sawmills in Canada.
sleepers supplied as follows:
2.2m x 200 x 75mm untreated (also know as thin or half oak sleepers)
2.2m x 200 x 120mm untreated (also know as Large or Full oak sleepers)
NEW SIZE AVAILABLE SOON 2.2m x 200 x 100mm untreated
Over time, Untreated Oak will turn a beautiful Silver / Grey with the affect of UV from the sun, most people leave this natural process to happen, but if you would like to maintain the lighter fresh sawn colour, we would recommend using Osmo UV oil, this will help keep the greying affect away, but will require a lot more maintenance and care to keep them looking this way for longer.
If you're interested in finding out more about our range of beautiful Canadian Oak or need to check the stock levels of our sleepers near you, please contact our Hampshire branches in Portsmouth, Winchester and Tadley and our Dorset Branch in Poole for more details.
Untreated Oak Sleepers will require additional treatment, adequate drainage and careful installation when coming in contact with the ground especially when being used in wet or damp areas.
For further guidance on sleeper installation please visit: Oak and Softwood sleepers - a guide for professional on our tech guides section. or click the link below:
We have branches across the South Coast of England, including Poole in Dorset, Winchester, Tadley, Romsey and Portsmouth in Hampshire. Internal showrooms are available to view in Poole and Portsmouth and external displays are available at Portsmouth, Poole, Winchester and Tadley.
Please visit our contact page for further information on the following link: /our-depots
Yes all timber used for landscaping projects will rot eventually, best practice should be followed to ensure longevity of your sleeper installation. Please follow link below for some detailed guidance on sleeper installations:
Not all railway sleepers are treated, most reclaimed sleepers at some point in their lives have been treated and sometimes not with very pleasant products. Softwood sleepers are generally pressure treated to improve their life span, and some cheaper softwood sleepers are dipped in preservative, but this is not such a successful method. Oak sleepers are generally not treated but we would recommend some level of treatment for any sleepers even oak that are going to come in contact with the ground
Each type of sleeper will have a slightly different life span due to different preservative treatment and different wood types. A big factor in the life span of railway sleepers is the ground conditions of the installation site and the quality of the installation. Please read our guide on installing railway sleepers on the link below:
Outdoor Oak and softwood sleepers
Below is some general guidance on life span of different sleeper types:
Softwood treated sleepers (Tanalised not dipped) 8 to 10 years
New Oak sleepers 10 to 20 years
Reclaimed sleepers (hardwood) 15 to 25 years
This life spans are greatly affected by the quality of the timber used and the ground conditions so please take care to select the best sleepers which are quite often not the cheapest.
Only new oak and treated softwood sleepers are recommended for vegetable gardens, but reclaimed sleepers have been used for decades. You would need to be sure there is no Creasote, oil or tar present in the sleepers, so it best to avoid reclaimed sleepers for this application.
You can paint Railway sleepers, but you must use an exterior wood paint or preserver that has been formulated to do this job specifically. The problem with painting sleeper is that you will have to continuously re-paint them to keep them looking good. We would recommend only doing this if essential, it is best to just let them age gracefully.
On the other hand if you are thinking of using additional wood preservative prior to installation to increase protection, this is a different matter and we would fully recommend that everyone does this if time permits, especially taking care to cover all cut ends with the preservative. This will greatly increase the life expectance of the sleeper installation and will result in a far better job.
The best way to join railway sleepers is to use a sleeper screw normally at least 50mm long than the timber you are screwing through. If you are stacking sleepers on top of each other, always use a brick bond with the corners having a overlapped joint, these sleepers will then need to be screwed to the row below and to each other using the same sleeper screws.
Railway sleepers can be laid directly onto the soil, but in most cases, it is advisable to give them some additional treatment to prevent rot, especially in damp or wet conditions. Full installation guide on installing railway sleepers is below:
Yes. Our opening hours and address are found on the Contact Us page. We have fork-lift trucks for loading onto suitable vehicles at all sites, and staff are always available to help with loading of smaller items. We highly recommend that you call your local branch, before visiting, to confirm the items you wish to collect are available.
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