New sleeper wall edging

[Jamesw6810]

Hi all,

First post so be gentle

Looking to "edge" off this wall with new sleepers and then the artificial grass above to the edge of the sleeper.

• So, question is, whats the best way to retain the sleepers up against the small wall so they are solid, the higher level steps down to a lower level of "grass" so it needs to be solid for foot traffic.

• The higher level is solid, edged currently with that unsightly brick wall.

• The sleepers will be 100mm deep by 200mm wide, so will be laid thin way up - overlapped and timberlocked together

• There will be 2 sleepers high, 200mm each so 400mm total height, the wall is 300mm so i can dig in..

• I can set them into the ground as its soil/subbase including some damproofing.

• Setting into the ground wise, i was thinking sleeper stakes and pea gravel to help with drainage.

Hows the best way to make sure they dont move away from the wall

Hope that makes sense, thanks in advance

Pic of wall below & a pic of what i want it to look like (well similar anyway)

 

[dannymassive]

Have you thought about battening the wall and using 8x1 to clad it for the same effect, if you're doing this purely for aesthetics. You could then cap the top of the wall with a 5x2 (or bigger depending on what overhang you want) but would save you going to the expense of the 8x4 thick sleepers which won't be doing any retaining as the wall is doing that.

 

[dannymassive]

Here is an example of using the 8x1 and a 5x2 to cap the top.

 

[jj4091]

I had a professional in to do ours & was impressed by the way they did the steps. A concrete base was put down as a foot print with the first row of sleepers fixed to it with concrete screws. Then steps were built with concrete blocks laid on their side behind the first step & the next sleeper was again screwed to the blocks with concrete screws.There was no need to overlap the sleepers doing it this way which made the steps a lot better to climb as they were a good width. I would also suggest that your risers are all the same height, unlike the pic of steps that you posted, as I think different heights would be a trip hazard. This process was continued for each step level & although it was a bit more expensive for materials I am confident that there will never be any future problems with them in my life time

 

[mikeey84]

I'd have the treads of the steps done in slab or brick. Wooden steps, especially flat sleepers without grooves will get very slippery, and you will have to end up adding grippers