Many shrewd landscapers and private individuals are now using concrete products to give a garden the sort of stability it needs to last indefinitely, keeping its shape and layout constant. That allows them to ring the changes with the variables – the plants that give life, colour and texture – safe in the knowledge that they have a base or framework that makes it a cohesive unit.
Many properties, particularly relatively new ones, suffer from a lack of character. They have an outdoor patch which ticks a box just by being there but has no individuality. Compare them with an old garden and they are rather soulless. The mature yards have a lived-in look that is how nature itself is. To elevate a newish area to those heights of attractiveness takes a bit of doing, but help is at hand in the unlikely shape of railway sleepers. These can give you geometric variations in three dimensions, not just in terms of creating specific horizontal parts, but by building banks and raising beds from which you can have plants trailing and so on. Nature is not flat and neat but relaxed and irregular. That is not to say you can’t create a mosaic out there, with symmetrical units forming whatever overall effect you want. The point is that you can be creative, and with concrete sleepers Brisbane has the ideal tool to make that possible.
In addition to the visual appeal of having different levels, it can make tending beds a more comfortable experience. Gardening doesn’t have to be a backbreaking experience and if you can tend to flowerbeds and weed vegetable patches without bending or getting on your knees, so much the better. A bit of clever design can make it a walk in the park, with everything accomplished with minimal effort.
Durability is important here, and one common question is what is the lifespan of a concrete railway sleeper? If you think about what such things were originally used for, the answer must be an emphatic – if understandably imprecise – a long time. Fifty years is a handy ballpark figure. Rail tracks are built to last, and the sleepers are their foundation, so they have to be tough and dependable.
In the less demanding environment of a garden, the concrete sleepers QLD is benefiting from can be relied on to do their job longer than most elements of the house itself. They will outlast the windows and doors, sit there impassively while you get the roof repaired and then replaced, and they will see many decades of springs, summers, autumns and winters roll past, along with countless changing fashions in garden flowers, shrubs and trees.
Are Concrete Sleepers Cheaper than Wood?
As is so often the case in straightforward comparisons, there is no simple answer. No, concrete sleepers are not cheaper to buy, but they last a lot longer and have many advantages. Concrete doesn’t rot or warp, so it is relatively impervious to the weather. To an extent it can be affected by extremes of temperature and moisture or the lack of it, but not like wood is. Concrete sits there and gets on with the job – and that job is to be non-reactive. It lets you get on with your plans and only requires a little maintenance now and then, mainly as regards cleaning. And that’s just the visible parts. What is down below is just there; you can forget about it.
As for the wildlife, concrete is of little interest to insects and bigger creatures. No woodpecker ever tried to make a hole in this stuff, and termites don’t even bother with it. Good old wood may have that romantic nature-boy image, but it is relatively vulnerable.
Concrete Sleeper Retaining Wall Cost per m2
Any sizeable project of this type comes with a simple question: what is the cost of a concrete sleeper retaining wall? If you use concrete sleepers to build a retaining wall – and it is perfect for this – you’re looking at a ballpark figure in the region of $500–700 per square metre. That’s a one-off cost including excavation, installation and a basic design. You’re not going to get the Taj Mahal for that, but you’re not paying luxury prices either. This is a no-nonsense working wall. It can, though, come in a range of finishes and colours, so you can add individual style and attractiveness to suit the overall look of your garden.
Concrete Sleepers vs Blocks
Blocks can do the job and have their advantages, but concrete sleepers are the giant apes of the garden world. With blocks you’re looking at more like a mainstream building procedure, rather than a hefty anchoring job that gives the area its unflinching infrastructure. Blocks can offer a little more variety as regards finishes and that is fine for certain undemanding projects, but when monumental strength and solidity are the order of the day, the professionals come down on the side of the concrete railway sleeper.
Finding Concrete Sleeper Suppliers
To be more precise, you need to know how to choose the best concrete sleeper suppliers in Australia, and that is always a matter of opinion. But if you are looking for the best, it pays to take the history, track record and reputation of any given company into consideration.
In terms of experience in what is the fairly short history of concrete sleepers, more than 20 years’ worth would seem the right sort of number. And it’s always good to do business with an Australian company if you can, not just through patriotism but because they know the conditions here, plus they don’t have to ship this incredibly heavy material too far, which helps in terms of cost and environmental impact.
There is a company that started in Victoria in the early 2000s as pioneers of concrete sleepers in gardens and has expanded its operation to include a manufacturing plant in Queensland. The company is called Realcrete and its senior figures are dedicated to providing the best service with the best products. They take an interest in new projects and their combined experience and areas of expertise add to the overall customer experience, because most people only install concrete sleepers once, so they need plenty of help and advice to ensure they are getting the best. As for the professionals, the landscape gardeners who come across the need for concrete sleepers quite often, they need to deal with people they can trust, because their reputation is on the line with every project.
Sometimes customers have trouble visualising how their finished project will look, in which case a browse through the Realcrete gallery can be just what is needed. Then it becomes apparent that concrete sleepers are not all about brute strength; these products can be very attractive and serve a variety of purposes including fences and perimeter walls. You will see they have undertaken work in private gardens and public spaces, adapting to the requirements of each customer and producing results that have two things in common: they’re made of concrete, and they are phenomenally strong.
Contact Us for Concrete Sleepers in Brisbane and Concrete Sleepers in QLD
Right here on the contact page you will find telephone numbers for the Victoria and Queensland offices, or you can fill in the online enquiry form and get a callback. Your project is an individual one and a little help is always welcome when you’re embarking on a serious undertaking.
So, if you want to get your project underway immediately or you’re in the planning stages and want to sort out the details before committing yourself, contacting Realcrete is the way to go.
