130 x 220mm European Oak Sleeper, 2.6m

Oak Sleepers, sometimes referred to as railway sleepers, are a popular feature in many traditional and contemporary gardens. They are often used for seating and low-level retainers. While they don’t last forever there have longevity benefits over softwood sleepers. Please note that we do not stock recycled railway sleepers because of environmental considerations they are not really suitable for domestic installations.

Oak sections kept in stock

Approximate sizes for oak kept at our Devon premises:

100mm-200mm oak at 2.4 metres; weight 48kg.

130mm x 220mm oak at 2.6 metres; weight 72kg.

150mm x 250mm oak at 2.6 metres; weight 96kg.

Typical uses for oak sleepers include raised beds, garden steps, retainers, lintels, mantel pieces and bespoke furniture. Our larger oak sleepers are sometimes purchased in preference to ordering green oak cut to size. Sleeper grade oak is cheaper than structural oak because of differences in grading.

Please Note, as a rule we would expect to be able to crane offload, please advise if access might be difficult.

Oak vs. UC4 Softwood

Smaller oak sleepers such as the 100mm-200mm can be cut, by the tradesman, to smaller sizes and still retain greater longevity than softwood sleepers. However, if the project can utilise the full-sized UC4 products then they would be a consideration. The UC4 Incised-sleepers carry a Manufacturers 15 Year Warranty. If there are a lot of cuts involved then you will lose a lot of the benefit of the UC4 timbers, cut sections of softwood must never be in ground contact.

European Oak Sleepers and appearance

Oak sleepers will vary in appearance. Fresher cut stock tends to be a pale green to soft russet tones, but as they start to weather the colours will become more muted. After a season or two they will become a slate grey colour. This is perfectly natural. Occasionally fresh cut oak sleepers may have dark grey or black marks on the exposed face. This is perfectly normal and sometimes occurs when the timber has been in contact with steel from fork-lift “prongs”. Marks can be removed by use of a belt sander or Oxalic Acid.

Because of the high amounts of tannin in oak timber it is recommended that stainless-steel threaded bar and fixings are used. Any other fixings could lead to a materials failure. Old buildings invariably used hand-made oak pegs.

Design considerations for a natural product

A few sleepers will have waney and uneven edges, some may even have bark on them. This is part of their charm and rustic appeal. These “features” are allowed within the product’s grade. However, they will usually have two to three good adjoining faces, but when this is not the case, they can be useful for steps. Over time as the sleepers dry they will start to exhibit end splits and the grain will open up a little.

Fresh cut oak contains a high proportion of water even after cutting. Typically, un-seasoned oak’s volume will be reduced by 7% change in the first year. However, this rustic appearance is considered a feature, not a defect of the product. Because oak leaks water some of the tannin will leach out of the oak sleeper as well. When assessing your design make sure you make allowance for this leaching, it will probably stain gravel, rendered walls, slabs and other light coloured materials such as white gravel.

Alternative sources of oak

Our European oak sleepers are intended primarily for landscaping uses. If you require structural oak or graded oak then we can price this for you, usually sections from France for larger structural projects.

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