Constructing Sleeper Steps for Your Garden

Using timber sleepers to create steps in your garden is a great way to manage transitions from one area to another. Sleeper steps not only look good but can be installed quickly with a minimum of fuss whether you are doing it yourself or employing a landscaper.

For a rustic look, wooden sleepers age well too, and blend effectively with planting, stone or other natural features. At Wade, our sleepers are treated with the eco-friendly Tanalith-E, which means that they are rot-resistant as well as durable.

Available in standard lengths of 2.4m and 1.2m (8’ and 4’) in green or brown stained softwood, they make a superb addition to any garden that might have a slope or change of level.

How to Build Sleeper Steps in Your Garden

Sleepers are tough cookies, and pretty heavy too, so the first thing you are going to need is another pair of hands. It’s the kind of job where many hands make lighter work because sleepers can weigh up to 60kg (9 ½ stone), especially the eight-footers.

Wooden Garden Step Design

The first thing to do is plan the layout of your sleeper features. Are you going for raised beds, or a retaining wall? Where should the steps go?

The sleepers are 100mm x 200mm (or 4” by 8”), which means you have the choice between low steps to give a gradual transition between areas, or a bigger eight-inch rise if you have to deal with a larger difference in level.

If you can set out your garden project with the standard sleeper sizes in mind you should be able to minimise the number of cuts required to assemble your wooden garden steps.

Top Tip:

Bear in mind that they will probably need to be delivered on a larger truck or HGV due to their size and weight. It’s not recommended that you transport sleepers on a domestic roof rack.

 

Running the Numbers: How Many Sleepers Will You Need?

There are several different ways to work out how big your slope is and how many sleepers you will need to build from one level to another. The highest rise you should aim for will be a comfortable 150mm.

Dividing the height of the slope by this number should give you a quick answer to the number of steps required.

So if the height you need is 600mm:

600 / 150 = 4 Steps

The number of sleepers will be determined by the width of the steps and any retaining or framing with posts or stakes that might be required to make the steps structurally sound.

Sometimes, when the level change is not so great a single sleeper step may be all you need to make the transition from one garden area to another. As an example, you could consider that the single simplest option for a step down from a decked area could be just one sleeper.

Using Existing Structures to Set Out

If you have a fence or wall that lines up at roughly 90° across the slope, pop a level on the highest point and mark a line in chalk or pencil, nice and straight, until you get to a point that marks the bottom of the slope.

The measurement from the level line to the ground will be your rise or difference between levels. The distance from start to finish of the horizontal line is what builders call the ‘going’.

For example, if the rise is 1 metre and the going is 1.4m then you will need at least 7 sleepers using a 200mm face for the riser, setting the steps to give a comfortable rise of around 140mm. The going will be 1.4m divided by 7 which is 200mm, so you will need something to infill the steps.

Top Tip:

For external steps, it’s always better to have a lower rise than you would for internal stairs. Two bricks, with mortar joints, come in at almost exactly 150mm (or 6“), which is an ideal rule-of-thumb when either visualising or setting out your steps.

It makes setting out wooden garden steps next to a brick wall a whole lot easier.

Setting Out with Sticks and String

The Romans used this method and just look at the stuff they built. Some of it’s still going strong millennia later. All you need are literally two bits of wood, i.e. some roofing batten, and a ball of string.

Knock one in at the top of the slope, and the other at the bottom, then tie a piece of string between the two. Level it up, and make sure the lower wooden stake is also nice and plumb.

The stick-and-string method is a reliable way of accurately measuring your rise and going at any point along a slope. For longer inclines take the measurements section by section so you don’t ever overreach.

Top Tip:

The UK is famous for its maritime climate, which means that we all see plenty of rain, all year round. To account for this, you should allow a low slope or fall so that water drains off your steps.

Preparing the Ground for Garden Sleepers

Once you have your plan, and you know what to order, you can get to work. As any builder will tell you, preparation is the key to getting any job right. It is especially important in the construction of steps that the foundation for them is spot on.

No one wants a wobble on the stairs, so start by putting in a firm foundation. You don’t need to use concrete, you can compact rubble, which is probably better for drainage.

Landscapers like to use the one-third in two-thirds out rule when setting the first sleeper so that it has good contact with the ground and is unlikely to tip.

For a longer run of steps, the bottom of the flight usually takes the most pressure. To make sure it has a solid footing consider setting a steel reinforcing bar into a concrete footing, then boring holes and installing the first sleeper over the top.

Top Tip:

A 2.4m sleeper, when cut into three equal pieces will give you three steps that are approximately 800mm wide, which is bigger than the standard UK indoor staircase. As an alternative, for larger gardens, the 1.2m standard size will give enough room for two people to pass each other comfortably.

Sleeper Steps: Slabs or Infill?

If you are creating a set of garden steps with a low rise, then the 200mm face will probably be adequate for use as the top of the step. Turned the other way, so that the 200mm face is used as the riser will mean that the step will probably require some sort of infill.

For broad steps, you could choose paving slabs set on mortar or concrete, or cut and fit scaffold boards. You can double up your sleepers, but you must make sure that they align perfectly with each other, so they don’t serve up a trip hazard.

The space behind the sleepers can be filled with rubble and topped out with fine gravel, or pebbles for a natural look that would also be excellent for drainage.

Top Tip:

When using gravel, pebbles, wood chippings, or other drainable infill fit a weed-suppressing fabric mesh product to allow water to drain away but prevent invasive plants. Grasses and other plants will still try and self-seed but will be less successful with a barrier installed.

Framing and Retaining: When Do You Need Additional Sleepers?

If your steps are deep and the rise shallow it can often be a good idea to frame out your sleeper steps by fixing two shorter lengths at each end of the front sleeper step, that will finish below the front of the next step.

It is a good way to make sure a longer staircase is secure over a distance, to have steps resting on each other, fixed together with long landscaping screws or bolts. It prevents any unwanted movement or slippage, which is especially important if the level change is significant.

In the case of a change of level that has meant the removal and infill of a slope, a retaining wall at the height of the new levels will be required (as well as more complex landscaping and groundwork).

For steps that are 1.2m, allow 600mm for framing at each end. They may need to be trimmed to allow for the correct rise.

Top Tip:

When cutting sleepers make sure they are on a firm footing, and that they cannot move. A Sliding chop saw gives the best control and square cut, but plan to only cut 55mm deep on one side, then turn the sleeper over and cut the other side. Sleepers are too thick to make a single cut safe, easy or accurate with an electric saw.

Design Ideas for Garden Sleeper Steps

Whoever said your steps needed to be boxy and square because sleepers are chunky rectangles of timber? Part of the pleasure of using them is their versatility. Sleepers are ideal for forming curves around trees, and setting out turns down slopes.

The organic nature of timber lends itself to the natural world, and as it is a renewable resource it makes it a great sustainable choice that won’t impact nature, or the wildlife with which you share your outdoor space.

Instead of steps, you could use sleepers to edge an accessible ramp from one garden level to another. Bolt sleepers across the ramp to help stabilise the surface and create an attractive series of sectional infills.

Top Tip:

Prevent the sleepers from becoming slippery when wet by stapling chicken wire over the leading edges. Another solution you can use is to cut grooves in the top edge of the sleepers with a saw to provide grip or attach a proprietary non-slip paint or gravel strip.

Using Timber Sleepers in Garden Design

Timber sleepers from reclamation yards are often steeped in hydrocarbons, tars and oils from old-fashioned preservatives and decades of diesel engines discharging effluent onto the rails. They are less and less available these days, but the idea of large timbers as a garden feature lives on, and newer, more eco-friendly sleepers are available from Wade.

Timber is a completely natural material, with twists, splits, knots and all manner of natural variations that can imbue your garden design with a rustic, natural look. At Wade, all the sleepers sent for dispatch to customers are checked before they go on the lorry to make sure they match our quality conditions.

Get in touch with our team today and get your sleepers delivered direct to your doorstep.