Why You Don’t Need a Railway Sleeper Kit

Railway sleepers are one of the most fashionable building materials right now, both in the garden and for the home. As with any trend, there are plenty of businesses looking to capitalise on it, including those creating railway sleeper kits to help you build planters or raised beds and even paths. However, it’s extremely likely that you don’t need a kit to build anything out of railway sleepers – they are extremely easy to use and very versatile, which is why they’re so popular.

Sleepers are already very easy to build with

A lot of people describe using sleepers as giant, wooden Lego. They’re all roughly the same size, the same shape, and you can easily stack and secure them to build whatever you want. The only benefit that a kit can provide is avoiding the need to cut sleepers if you need some of them to be shorter, but this is a very limited benefit given that you can buy different sleeper lengths.

Kits are more expensive than just buying sleepers

Most kits are more expensive than their individual parts, but they are packaged nicely and give you a particular item to make which can occasionally justify the cost. There are plans for building practically any railway sleeper project online, so many of the benefits of sleepers do not justify how much you need to pay for a kit.

You can create bespoke designs yourself

The great thing about DIY is that it gives you total control – you can design a bench, path, or planter that fits your space exactly the way you want, rather than creating a one-size-fits-all version that may not be quite right for you. As long as you’re careful about lifting railway sleepers, secure them properly, and make sure that you seal any cut edges, you really can’t go wrong!