Railroad ties

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cellistry Portland, OR Jul 23, 2008

Does anyone know or have experience obtaining used or low-grade railroad ties? I'd like to terrace my large sloped backyard to make it more useful and navigable. Where/How do I get them? I did a little research, and what I found is some distributors, but they truck a whole semi load (over 200 ties) per order. Thanks for any replies!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jul 23, 2008

I'd probably look into landscape timbers instead--they have a similar shape but haven't been treated with the same sort of nasty chemicals that RR ties have been treated with. Out here they have landscape timbers at places like Home Depot and Lowes, and any landscape supply company should have them too and would probably deliver.

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amisheliot Lima, OH Aug 10, 2008

I have used RR Ties and not had any problems. They have been sitting around for so many years any way that most of the chemicals are gone. However, if you want to terrace, I would rec. Treated lumber. It is all uniform, thus making it much easier to work with.

Below is the finished pic (goan try. Never done this.) of my steps onto my brand new deck that I built in the spring of 07. I built a frame, filled it with stone, and put paver's in the center, and then built another smaller frame on top for my steps so that I have the RR Tie frame w/ paver's in the center for my steps. It looks great, I get compliments on it all the time for its uniqueness, but it was hard to do since they weren't uniform.

Also, the brand new treated lumber will last a lot longer before decaying.

I got my RR Ties at the local Menard's. Don't know if you have them out there. You also might ask a local garden center if they can suggest a place to buy them since they use them on occasion.

Thumbnail by amisheliot
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