DIY RAILWAY SLEEPER FLOWER BED - How to build a Flower Bed with railway sleepers

This video has us building up 2 flower beds for our house using railways sleepers and pond liners.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:05 - Prep work
0:45 - Start loose fit
1:06 - Ensuring balance
1:48 - Cut some water channels
2:14 - First layer cut and dry fit
2:48 - Fitting it together
4:14 - Staining explanation
4:39 - Fitting the base
5:40 - Add pond lining explanation
6:25 - Outro
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🛍 AFFILIATE LINKS 🛍
Links to the products and materials in this video:
Dewalt mitre saw: geni.us/dewalt-mitre-saw
Dewalt mitre stand: geni.us/dewalt-mitre-saw-stand
Railway sleepers: geni.us/railway-sleepers
Finishing oil: geni.us/flower-bed-oil
These are affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, if you buy through these links, I will see a small % kick back from the supplier, and so using these links helps the channel a little :)
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My name is Tom and I'm a programmer by trade and woodworker by choice. My channel is all about having a go, taking the leap to try something new, and not being afraid to just try something out.
We'll be focusing on indoor and outdoor projects, tutorials, retrospectives / lessons learned videos to reflect on what went right and wrong for each project.
It's easy to watch perfect videos and think that all the fun is out of reach because "I'm not good enough" and I'm here to try and debunk that by showing my mistakes and stumbling my way through projects with the bear minimum polish to make videos somewhat palatable!
The biggest mistake people make is convince themselves to never try!
If you like what I do, and/or like what you see, don't forget to like, comment and subscribe for more content!

[@catherinechilver3196]

Hi we are looking to build something like this. What were your measurements on the bed?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Sure, overall size is 2400x1200 and here’s the cut list, in mm. This list will make one box. 3x 2305 3x 1795 3x 1115 3x 595 3x 515 3x 505 You can get all of these cuts from 9 sleepers with very little waste, so this video in total used 18 sleepers. I ordered 19 sleepers for just in case but didn’t need it, so that’s still hanging around now!

[@catherinechilver3196]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking Thank you so much.

[@sumerajahan4007]

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[@chrismartin5196]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking Good to see you use mm's and not cm's which are not standard. Excellent video.

[@kevmeadows3915]

Loved the video, thanks. I’m a bit of a novice so this will really help. A silly question, there seem to be so many difference types of sleeper, what type did you use, and what size where the sleepers? Thanks again

[@oleboy4332]

Beautiful job. Love the cat too!

[@grahambaker9377]

Nice looking and very robust-good job!

[@matthewcomins4445]

Great advice for our next project.

[@TMO870]

Just used scaffolding boards for an L-shape bed and now I wanna rip it down and use sleepers. This is gorgeous.

[@darr303]

Lovely. Would look brilliant with a floating bench on it

[@emmahendi]

Great video very informative, thats for posting.

[@bombaydan]

Great idea & thanks for sharing

[@shanosantwanos3908]

Great vid..and advice was even better.

[@MMG_MoonManGuitar]

Love this man! 💪🏾

[@miss30427]

Gosh! I'm proud of your work. I dream of placing your flower bed at the corner of my house. I will share this with my friends who are masters at building raised beds in their vegetable garden. Maybe they will take pity on me and help me replicate your excellent project. Thank you for posting this video. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽🏆🏆🏆🏆

[@vanillafox7943]

Love this! Just found your channel and my boyfriend and I are inspired to make this when we get a house of our own.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

It’s easier than it looks, hardest part is dealing with the weight! Good luck on your house hunting journey!

[@traciebarrass6612]

very smart, i love it

[@capbin146]

Great advice thanks

[@vincenzalaezza3190]

Hi, Thank you for this video. I'm looking at building my own raised garden bed and these were the easiest instructions I found. They were simple to understand and easy to follow. Now, I just have to order the materials and have a go. :) Now all I have to do is believe I can do it :)

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

I believe in you! Go for it! My only tip is to lift with your legs because the sleepers are heavy

[@brianreynolds4627]

Good informative video...might make one myself now...thank you...Brian

[@notnow12345]

It's great you take the time to reply to so many of your subscribers, I'm not fishing for a reply by the way. Love the raised beds, the liner I like, I've a bunch of wood to get rid of as I didn't do this the first time. Love the channel. Great work.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hi Derek 👋 might not be fishing for a reply but you’re getting one! Thanks for the comment, it’s ones like this that make it all worthwhile. We live and learn, and I hope this video helped get you a step closer to having another go :)

[@vivdoolan6846]

Great vid, no waffle just straight into it

[@amateurtorque6709]

Great video. I'm going to use your video to build a wall at the edge of my sloping garden.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

That's great to hear! Let me know how it goes! Thanks for watching/commenting

[@1Morriz]

Great video and project. I'm defo going to try to replicate it. Thank you

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Thanks for the comment! Best of luck, let me know how it goes!

[@danram69]

nice mate

[@billybodgit6281]

Nice to see you've lined it, in my younger days i just used treated wood and filled with soil, lesson learnt when x amount of years later i have abundance of rotten wood, now rebuild and replaced i coat with bitumen and also put a liner on the inside, also use stainless steel screws so hopefully it'll last my life out now.. But i am only 48 so only time will tell 😂

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Stainless steel screws are the only thing on that list that I managed to get right! We all live and learn. Thanks for the comment!

[@theferrymancharon1170]

Lovely vid my friend. Lots of tips for a man about to do this job for his Project Manager (wife) Great work🤘🏻

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

I too was at the behest of my PM to get this done!

[@MattGlynn]

Hi, like most of the comments im going to build similar in my garden. Really great video and well explained. Thank you - really helped me out

[@KhokharRobina]

Hi loved your video where did you buy the pond liner . Need your help please did you make any holes on the pond liner ie for drainage. Thanks

[@liammoore9801]

eventually the soil can push the sleepers out and can bow the wood, build brick retaining walls inside to support the wood and protect the wood from any moisture that can seep through screw holes also sleepers unless pressure treated can rot over time

[@liamodonnell9091]

Hi did you cut some holes in the plastic / pond liner to allow water to escape the plastic 'bag' so to speak?

[@bigdog4054]

Remember....treat any areas that you cut / chisel out to prevent early rot 👍

[@johnwelford1355]

Looks great, I am presuming the notch for the water to escape which I wouldn't have thought of is facing back towards the decking step so you cannot see it?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

It’s facing the fences, so you can’t see the back ones, and the front ones are tucked right into the inside corner of the L shape so can barely see it. In hindsight I might have made more shallower holes but hey ho live and learn

[@johnwelford1355]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking Thank you

[@hagida]

Awesome job, looking to build something similar myself although I'm a bit confused about how the drainage works. Is the idea that excess water would pass through the soil and membrane and out the cuts you made? Thanks

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Correct. Once it comes out the membrane, it’ll drain to the floor, where the slight slope in the patio will guide the water toward the fences, which is where I cut the small channels in the front and back to let the water pass through

[@hagida]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking Okay that makes sense, thanks 👍

[@GaryFarrow]

Great video and really useful for me as just about to build a couple of raised beds. Can I ask which model of saw you were using as that perfect for the job. Many thanks

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hi Gary, thanks for the kind words! It’s the DEWALT DWS780, not quite sure on the exact model number but the important detail for me was the 305mm blade diameter, which just about gets through the sleeper in one pass. A smaller blade and you’d have to make a pass, flip the sleeper over, and try to line up a second pass... bit of a bodge at that point but not the end of the world. Hope that helps

[@GaryFarrow]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking Thats great, thank you very much for the speedy response, really appreciated. Thanks again for the video - all the best !

[@Vintagegamer542]

Hi Tom. I'm gonna attempt to make 2x of these this coming weekend . Could I ask which satin you went for and colour as the missus as fell in love with the colour you used. ??

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hey there Jay, I used this exact stain, 2 tins was enough for 2 layers on each box: www.diy.com/departments/cuprinol-uv-guard-natural-oak-matt-decking-wood-oil-2-5l/127190_BQ.prd If the link doesnt come through, its the Cuprinol UV Guard Natural Oak decking oil in B&Q. I can't exactly vouch for its longterm wood protection (I think paint would do a much better job at that), but it'll do just fine for stopping the sun turning the wood grey!

[@Vintagegamer542]

Tom, thanks so much for all the tips and tricks and the cutting measurements they will make for a much easier process. Definitely earn a sub. Looking forward to seeing a follow up video with both yout planters filled and flowering. 👍

[@georgiabozikis1025]

Thanks for a great video! Silly question, but where does the water escape? I'm looking to make something like this on a concrete floor, but am unsure what to do about drainage... did you poke holes in the pond liner? Or add rocks at the bottom layer before adding soul? Thanks for any advice! 😊

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Yup so you want to poke lots of holes in the bottom of the pond liner for a start. If you're using some sort of membrane then you can leave that as is because it'll let water through on its own. After that though, you'll want to ensure the water has somewhere to go. Of course, the water can't drain through concrete, so will need to run off somewhere. Hopefully your concrete floor runs off in a direction and doesn't just pool the water up. Spray the floor with a hose for a while, find out where the water wants to wander off to, and then cut some hole in the flower bed in that direction.

[@captainted6290]

Would it be possible to use a thinner sleeper or wood (maybe scaffold board) only on the rear side where it meets the fence? Looking for a way for it to protrude less without losing planting space. Thanks - great vid.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

G’day cap’n. You probably could but my worry is that it wouldn’t last as long because there’s less wood for the weather to wear down and thinner boards holding back all the dirty would be dealing with more sideways pressure to push them out. Bear minimum you’d have to fasten them quite securely to the other sleepers! Ultimately I’d say it’s up to you but I don’t think I’d use scaffold boards for this

[@joimes]

Would love to know where you get sleepers from. Timber, in general, is so expensive at the moment and those sleepers would cost me at least 15 quid each from my local DIY.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

I got these from TimBuild.co.uk, and the whole project (19 sleepers for 2 boxes) was around £500 ish, from memory. So what’s that, just over £25 a sleeper? If you can get them for 15 I’d go for it, because that price I paid above was when they were on offer!

[@ChrisJones-yp4xb]

How did you join the layers to each other ?

[@clarebrown7767]

Thanks for this. I’m hoping to build something similar for growing vegetables. A couple things I was wondering though.you say to use paint for better protection but everything I’ve seen recommends not using anything on wood like this for the first year because it is already pressure treated. Also, isn’t oil better than paint? Paint sits on top of wood which is why it flakes revealing unprotected timber, and needs to be reapplied a lot and stripped back periodically. oil soaks into the wood so needs less maintenance. The other thing is, could I use vegetable felt lining instead of pond liner so that I wouldn’t need to add a base? That stuff protects but also allows drainage.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hi Clare. I’m not entirely sure to be honest with you, all I know is that you have to be careful what you put in the wood and how you separate the wood from the dirt because you definitely don’t want the chemicals leaking into your veg! And I think felt will be fine (bearing the above in mind). Hope that helps

[@nickskinner7427]

Please could you give information on the wood treatments you used. I really like the colour and effect you achieved. Thanks

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hey Nick, I used Cuprinol UV guard decking oil in natural oak, which I got from B&Q. It’s a decking stain that I had lying around, figured it good enough for a planter. I can’t vouch for its hardiness (paint is better for long term protection) but it should stop the wood turning grey! I needed 2 small tins to give everything 2 coats, so I guess that means 1 small tin per box.

[@nickskinner7427]

That’s very good of you to respond so quickly. I laid a new deck and want to treat it before the summer sun starts to lighten the colour.

[@GeorgeAusters]

Lining with plastic is going to trap moisture between it and the wood

[@CiansVids]

Are these after weathering much in the last 2 years?

[@sumby1989]

What's the cost of that in timber nowadays?

[@naturelife8527]

@Touch Wood Any videos on front yard landscaping? such as sleepers retaining wall with artificial grass ? PLEASE

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

None sorry! And there’s nothing in the list on that as my front and back yard are flat and curb side!

[@robtaylor5297]

Great video! How do you connect the layers of the boxes? Is that also by screws? Thanks!

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Great question - I put a small 1x1 inch beam vertically on the inside corners and screwed them into each layer

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

You can see them at 4:40 briefly

[@asifrashid6320]

Hi. Great job. What size sleepers did you use?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Just ordinary 8 foot / 2.4m railway sleepers. I've replied to the pinned comment if you want a cut list !

[@1985CAKEY1985]

Lovely result, great video but how come you put pond liner in the bottom? How does the water escape thorough the channels you cut if it’s all covered in pond liner?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Thanks! I cut a few small holes in the base, and pond liner is what I had in the shed. If I had some, I would have used some of that mesh fabric stuff to allow decent drainage

[@kentishales]

Nice video and some very helpful tips. Which DeWalt saw did you use? We are going to do a similar bed and keen to buy the right saw.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hi there kentishales - I used the DeWalt DWS780 - it's the model that has a 305mm blade, and that's the one thing I would advise to look out for, because the larger blade just about made it through these so a smaller blade definitely wouldn't, making it more awkward to get the cut in 1 pass! This saw is quite steep cost wise so again if you want my advice then anything with a 300mm+ blade should be fine! I hope that helps!

[@sansari4432]

My

[@oliverparker9940]

Do you only need the water channels to prevent the rain filling up your sleepers whilst you're constructed them? I assume once they are lined the water channels aren't required? Great video mate.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

You want drainage by poking holes in the plastic, and that water needs somewhere to go. The preference is to use a membrane that’s suitable for plants but I didn’t have any so made do with pond liner and vigorous stabbing. If you build these on dirt with concrete footings you shouldn’t need those channels

[@andrewhay2000]

I’m not a troll but pond liner is only a good material in a containing structure where the focus is to hold water. Your raised beds need good drainage so if you’re going to use a liner make sure it’s a fabric. Beds look nice though.. good quality sleepers

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate the learning opportunity! I wasn’t sure if fabric or plastic was the right option, and went plastic for no real reason other than “it’ll be more useful in other future projects”, so there we are. I’ve poked a lot of holes in it so hopefully the drainage is adequate!

[@klaeLIFE]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking If you put some fabric weed barrier under the liner it would allow water to drain and keep the soil in. Just make sure when you cut the holes in the plastic you don't burst the fabric too! The plastic may keep the wood stable for longer. Also, if you let the plastic over lap the top you can create a 'lid' around the edges using some decking boards.

[@FrameNature]

Thanks for the video. May i ask why you think you needed to build the base, inside the planter? What would be the harm in having the liner go straight onto the ground?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

One thing I didn’t point out in the video was that I stabbed a load of holes in the liner for drainage. There needs to be a gap underneath the liner to drain into, so that’s one reason. The other is to allow said drainage to flow around freely/easily so the wood won’t rot as quickly Thanks for the comment

[@FrameNature]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking Thank you. I have some spair bricks - i may use them to build a platform.

[@vwlupo52]

Hi, Great video. May i ask where you bought these sleepers from?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Thanks! I got mine from timbuild.co.uk, they’re my local wood merchant. Have a google for local wood merchants and see if there’s anyone nearby. I did get them on offer so 19 sleepers for about £500 down from about 800 from memory

[@amateurtorque6709]

If you live in the north east, I got 15 pressure treated sleepers delivered from BTL Timber for £350.

[@whatever12341]

Hi I am planning on doing something simillar in our backyard but I have never worked with wood. What kind of lumber did you use for this project? I might have missed it in the video, but I am seeing so many options to buy and I am not sure which one would be the best. Thank you in advance!

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hi Daniel, I'll see if I can help you out. Wood shopping is a bit intimidating because there's so many different types, so I'll give you the highlights on what's important to look for. The exact wood I bought was from TimBuild, link here: geni.us/railway-sleepers which semi-regularly goes on sale for 30+% off, so I imagine if you call them or ask customer service, they'll give you a hefty discount, especially if you're buying 10+ sleepers. Dimensions of each piece of timer are: 2400x195x95 The stuff I linked is: 1) Treated. You'll want the wood to be treated so it fairs better in the elements, no matter where you buy it from. 2) Softwood. Softwood doesn't fair so well outdoors, but it is cheaper. If you can afford it, go for a hardwood (oak seems to be common for railways sleepers, so could start there). 3) Specifically do not get old, recycled railway sleepers. These may have come from actual railway use and could have had very naughty chemicals used on them (bichemin, for a start) so as a simple rule of thumb I'd say steer clear of recycled railway sleepers. I bought 19 of them in total - 9 for each box and 1 spare just in case I messed something up. As it happens, I didn't need the extra one so if you're the careful type, you can get away with 18 as any minor mistakes (i.e off by a few mm's) are hardly noticeable. The wood will turn grey/silver if left in the elements without a stain. I used this stuff (geni.us/flower-bed-oil) to get the UV protection and nice stain colour. and one final thing to note is that the sleepers are very heavy (hardwood variants will be heavier still), so bring a friend to help shift them around :) Good luck on your project! Take your time and enjoy the process, swearing n all

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Noticed they've added options for green or brown railways sleepers. I think this refers to the age of the wood (green being freshly cut, brown being dried for a while). I'd spring for the brown because it's cheaper and has had a chance to "settle down". Green wood tends to warp/bend/twist as it dries out and doesn't have all the old forces it had against it as a standing tree

[@whatever12341]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking Wow, I literally could not have asked for a better and more informative answer. Really appreciate the effort you put in the video and the answer. I will look further into it now that I have this information and contact some lumber shops. Thank you and hope you are safe and well! Greetings from Greece.

[@splitpotrose]

Hi, what is the maximum size timber that your Dewalt mitre saw can cut? It seemed to make easy work of those sleepers.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hey Robbie. The 30cm version which I used in the video was maxed out with those sleepers. If I had the smaller saw, I would have had to make either 2 cuts or 1 cut and hand saw the rest of the way through! So I’d say about 4-5 inches is the max cut depth it can manage

[@anjinius8107]

What dewalt saw is that please sir?

[@geraldbennett7035]

doesnt the liner prevent excess water from draining out? I actually used sleepers you shown but no liner. I put inexpensive plastic square pots that almost reach the top of the wood. You cannot tell they are in there. Just see the plants.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

You can stab a few holes in the bottom and the water will drain out just fine. We were thinking about going the route of using plastic boxes on the inside but decided against it for the size of the beds and I already had the plastic sheets on hand. As others have said, I should probably have used a mesh fabric of some sort instead so this project is far from perfect!

[@ceschias3733]

One ?, Do you need the bottom to somehow breath though the floor so aeration help your plants?

[@klaeLIFE]

I would have thought you would puncture a couple of holes in the plastic and maybe put a weed barrier under the plastic to stop the soil falling out.

[@kirstiek6036]

How do you fix the layers together when you start stacking them? :)

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

I didn’t cover it in the video. I attached batons along the inside corners and screwed those into every layer. You can see it on the outskirts of the video when i start talking about putting the base in

[@dayanarose6426]

We are planning to do something like this. Is it possible to grow roses in this?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hey Dayana - we're growing roses, among other things, in ours at the moment and they seem to be doing ok! Whether someone with greener fingers than me will agree is another thing

[@HsingSun]

Corner metal bracket is not cheap.

[@keithburnett6169]

Great but , wouldn’t it be better to line it with Ground control matting as Pond liner won’t let the soil drain?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Yeah probably! This was one of my first videos and I just winged the project. I used what I had on hand and that happened to be a sheet of plastic.

[@keithburnett6169]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking thanks for sharing 👍

[@comptonsong1]

Good video. Only complaint is 'lumber' over 'timber' as you sound Welsh maybe and not American?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Yup, Welsh. I’ve learned a lot off KZbin which seems to be dominated with American English. I keep mixing it up all the time!

[@gordonnodrogthomson]

Pond lining? Can the water escape?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Yeah just stab a few holes in the bottom to let the water out. Not sure what the best material to use is but I had pond liner lying around so I used that!

[@thomaswright2614]

What size of screws did you use!? I couldn't catch your accent?

[@alexsheader3542]

Don’t you put drain holes in the pond liner?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Yes, just forgot to put it in the video. A handful of small cuts (I just stabbed my Stanley blade in there a few times per foot) should suffice for drainage

[@ian88763]

Does the pilot hole need to be as deep as the screw? Your drill bit looks a lot smaller than the screw.

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

No, I only used it to get me the correct angle. Ideally, I'd want it to get as far as the second piece of wood, but that's not really needed if you hold them together tight enough

[@truth3358]

What size are they

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

2400x1200mm square. The rest of the measurements are in the pinned comment

[@spambunny123]

Where does it drain to?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hi Hanz - if you poke some holes in the bottom, itll drain out there. My patio is slightly sloped, so the water will drain toward the fences and finally into the ground as I have a 6 inch border around the patio with chippings. If your garden/patio is flat then, like a lot of comments have mentioned, you’ll want to remove the slabs underneath and let the water drain direct to dirt. Hope that helps

[@spambunny123]

@@TouchWoodWoodworking drain filthy water with the potential to stain your lovely Indian sandstone slabs? not ideal...removing slabs is probably the best solution thanks for the reply

[@savann.sun1980]

You making a flower bed or a house?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

😂 I’d love to have a go at making a wooden house

[@Mike_5]

Wondered why my train was delayed the other day ...

[@matty99]

Dirt, don’t you mean soil??

[@blueskies666]

That’s what you call soil if you garden 😂😂

[@babakvelamkon]

Ok. Sorry but now how the excess rain water would escape?! The box is now sealed with plastic pond which holds the water!

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Cut some holes in the bottom of the plastic, and then let the water drain out through the channels cut into the sides like the video mentions. This was one of my earlier videos so I missed a fair bit in the explanation!

[@gtchickadee1]

What’s the total cost of this planter? The lumber you used must be expensive as hell right now, no?

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Hey Elitsa, the whole project came to about £500, so £250 per box back in summer 2020. The prices seem to be the same on the site I bought them from (timbuild.co.uk)

[@rudransh1069]

Guys this is not as simple it’s shown, you really need to make them strong and it’s a quite laborious and tactful.

[@Tomcom666]

You didnt record whole progress lol

[@TouchWoodWoodworking]

Nope! I’m still getting used to this KZbin thing and this was one of my earliest videos!

[@theangrygamer895]

Thats alot of money spent for some flower beds.

[@Lionsraws66]

Dont do it this way! The Drainage won't work and will get blocked. You need to reseal the cuts other wise it will increase the rate of rot. The fixings should be set from the outside where they dont come in contact with wet the soil. The paving should be removed to provide good aeration and drainage. Any planting will suffer as a consequence. Looks nice but will last 5 minutes.