Flyfisher
Member
- Messages
- 10,168
- Location
- Norfolk, UK
Be careful about railway sleepers. I once visited a garden that had made extensive use of used sleepers and it all looked superficially very nice. But it was a hot day and closer inspection revealed lots of oozing tar and other nasties.
About five years ago I built some decking for the front of a garden shed. The ground had a significant slope and I couldn't be bothered to level it out, so I cast four concrete pillars and mounted the shed on top of them. It worked perfectly well, apart from the rather higher than anticipated step up into the shed. So I built a decking walkway for access, using 4x2 pressure treated timber.
This worked very well, except that it did get a bit slippery in the wet winter months (facing north probably didn't help). So I built a canopy over it, which kept it mostly dry except in very windy rain and it is still in more or less pristine condition after five years.
Of course, the real moral of this story is that if I had bothered to level the ground before erecting the shed then I wouldn't have had to cast the four supporting concrete pillars or build a frame to support the shed or build the decking for easy access or build the canopy to protect the decking from the weather . . . . but where's the fun in doing something properly the first time? :wink:
But I digresss. In answer to your basic question, if the decking is protected from the worst of the weather then I'd expect it to last quite a long time - especially if it is built from decent grade timber.
About five years ago I built some decking for the front of a garden shed. The ground had a significant slope and I couldn't be bothered to level it out, so I cast four concrete pillars and mounted the shed on top of them. It worked perfectly well, apart from the rather higher than anticipated step up into the shed. So I built a decking walkway for access, using 4x2 pressure treated timber.
This worked very well, except that it did get a bit slippery in the wet winter months (facing north probably didn't help). So I built a canopy over it, which kept it mostly dry except in very windy rain and it is still in more or less pristine condition after five years.
Of course, the real moral of this story is that if I had bothered to level the ground before erecting the shed then I wouldn't have had to cast the four supporting concrete pillars or build a frame to support the shed or build the decking for easy access or build the canopy to protect the decking from the weather . . . . but where's the fun in doing something properly the first time? :wink:
But I digresss. In answer to your basic question, if the decking is protected from the worst of the weather then I'd expect it to last quite a long time - especially if it is built from decent grade timber.
