Can sleepers be used as decking boards?

Question

Hi there,

We have a small cabin in the high country and the previous owners made a temp platform to agin access to the house (only 500mm from the ground) using old 50mm Sleepers.

I was looking at replacing it doing a proper more stable decking, stumps, bearers, joists etc.

Stumps will be 1500mm centre to centre, Bearers 90x45 DBL and Joists 140x45 as these can span 1900. Doing joists at 400mm centres and using 200x50 @2.4 and 3.0 treated pine.

Question. Sleepers good for Decking boards? as I aiming to keep that rough look to match the cabin and not spending a truck load on either Merbau or Composite.

Thanks for any feedback..good or bad.

Vader71 · Answer

Thanks Jacob. The Micro sleepers is what where looking at. Thanks for your feedback.

JacobZ · Answer

Hi @Vader71,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

While it is not the standard use for timber sleepers, there isn't a structural reason you couldn't use them. The two main things to consider though is that you couldn't really walk around barefoot on your deck without the risk of splinters and standard H4 sleepers are CCA treated, which isn't recommended in situations where you are making regular contact.

Being 50mm thick, they would be a lot more solid than decking boards and with your deck frame being so robust, you wouldn't have any issues whatsoever from a structural standpoint.

The one thing I would suggest is that you use Micropro Sleepers as opposed to standard CCA sleepers as they use a less harmful chemical.

As long as you are aware of these things, then structurally, sleepers will be fine.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob