Sorry to hear about that @KT53. Can I ask what you plan for the rebuild? Are you thinking of adding (if there wasn’t one before) a plastic or geotextile membrane, and/or using pressure treated sleepers this time?
I have oak sleepers that started to rot 4 years after installation — dreading having to rebuild but I think it’s inevitable.
We had railway sleeper retainer walls built in our last garden. Proper ex-railway sleepers and the chappy advised lining the insides with black plastic before back-filling. 20 years later still standing despite very cold, sodden Belgian winters with freezes down to the -20s and enough rain to give Lancashire competition. Still standing now according to our neighbours from there who visited here a couple of weeks ago.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Sorry to hear about that @KT53. Can I ask what you plan for the rebuild? Are you thinking of adding (if there wasn’t one before) a plastic or geotextile membrane, and/or using pressure treated sleepers this time?
I have oak sleepers that started to rot 4 years after installation — dreading having to rebuild but I think it’s inevitable.
Timber, the only realistic choice due to position and shape. The raised beds are parallelograms, with the sides at 45 degrees to the front and back. Yes to both membrane and pressure treated timber. Both companies included it in their quotes.
"Boris Johnson is the prime minister who is leading his troops through the sewer - he's up to his neck in this." I'm glad I wasn't eating anything when I read this quote.😜
Both companies who came to quote to rebuild them said they had not been pressure treated, possibly had treatment applied with a brush!
Some of my pressure treated sleepers completely rotted out within 10 years. I bought them from the sawmill and built the beds myself so I know they were legit. Some of them weren't even covered with soil so they weren't staying wet all the time. I've had treated fenceposts go in similar time as well and they were painted with treatment on top too. I don't know if it's the quality of the treatment chemicals or if the pressure treatment was insufficient but if I'd known they'd go that quickly I'd have built them in something more permanent the first time round.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
My curmudgeon is this government. We are currently being run by the Bullingdon Club. COP 26 should be the turning point in getting our planet back on track to support all the life on it. But what happens? One of the Club is in difficulty, the leader of the Club - and host of the summit no less - leaves this crucial summit on a private jet to dine with another member of the Club in a private men only gentleman's club, to figure out how to save the member in difficulty. That's the priority of the person hosting the world summit. And here are we, worrying about bubble wrap turning into microplastic.
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I have oak sleepers that started to rot 4 years after installation — dreading having to rebuild but I think it’s inevitable.
Timber, the only realistic choice due to position and shape. The raised beds are parallelograms, with the sides at 45 degrees to the front and back. Yes to both membrane and pressure treated timber. Both companies included it in their quotes.
I'm glad I wasn't eating anything when I read this quote.😜
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...