Simple question about putting together a raised sleeper veg patch

[danlightbulb]

Hi,

I have some 2.4m long sleepers (new) to make a raised bed with. It will have one long edge, and two short edges. Back is against a concrete gravel board so no need for a sleeper there.

Im just wondering whether to just butt join the ends, or whether to cut a notch in the ends so they slot together?

Either way will be screwed as well. On that, I can't pilot hole that sort of depth (>100mm) so how do I screw in what will be very long & thick screws without the wood splitting?

 

[Firegod]

Either way will be screwed as well. On that, I can't pilot hole that sort of depth (>100mm) so how do I screw in what will be very long screws without the wood splitting?

When we were doing our fencing on top of 3 sleepers, we joined the sleepers together with some hex head sleeper screws. Made an initial pilot hole, then countersunk the top (for the hex head to go into). We screwed the first two sleepers together, then layed the third sleeper on top, and screwed it down on the middle one. They just blasted in with an impact driver. No splitting. Just drove straight in. Pretty neat little things.

Suregreen | Timber Railway Sleeper Screws | Hex Head | Timco

High-quality screws that have been specifically designed and made for timber to timber applications such as joining railway sleepers together to build raised beds, garden borders and retaining walls.

www.sure-green.com

Watch the little video there as they demonstrate it.

 

[danlightbulb]

What length screws do you think for going through 100mm thick sleeper and sufficiently into the end of the other one?

 

[Firegod]

What length screws do you think for going through 100mm thick sleeper and sufficiently into the end of the other one?

Probably 150mm. Especially if you counter sink the top for the head to sit in flush. That should in theory mean all the way through the first, and half way into the second sleeper. A few of those should hold it nicely. Looking at that Timco one, just as an example, looks like next size up is 200mm so you might risk popping out if the sleepers are 200mm.

Example: https://www.orbitalfasteners.co.uk/...0inh?queryID=f946ec16e14c935dd1c44a95e87df9ba

Hope that helps.

 

[danlightbulb]

@Firegod thanks.