Railway sleeper as window sills?

bozzy18

Hi folks, we are in the process of planning/designing our new kitchen. We are having quartz worktops throughout and the kitchen designer suggested having upstand leading up to window sill and having this in quartz as well. We are not sure. We like the idea of having railway sleepers as sills instead and add a couple of shelves to match. We think this would add some rustic and character to our kitchen! What do you think? Bad idea? Why? The railway sleeper is surprisingly not expensive compared to having quartz window sills – we would ensure its in oak and treated for water proofing.
Would welcome your comments/views – thanks all. :-0
Bozzy

Ebe_Scrooge

Hmmm. If it's a new sleeper, then if you like the look of it, go for it. But you don't want to be using "reclaimed" or "used" sleepers - they'll be thoroughly soaked in oil, diesel fuel and God know what else that has been dripped on them over the years.

EssexExile

What you have to do is hope that the quartz people mis-measure & have to redo some of it, then they offer you free upstands & window sill as compensation. At least that's what happened to us!

Doozergirl

Window cills are only skinny things, usually. The lip rolls over the edge and is bigger than what actually sits in the reveal. A railway sleeper isn't the right sort of size for a cill. You'd lose most of it cutting it out.

DaftyDuck

Also, that much wood will heave and shrink with moisture content changes. Think of the damage to window frame, glass and wall. With rough grained timber of that size, the force could be incredible.

You could do it with thick cuts of oak or possibly beech... if budget allows. I get new "railway sleepers" for £20, but equivalent good cuts of oak would be well over £150! You would need a knowledgeable carpenter too...

PasturesNew

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

...thoroughly soaked in oil, diesel fuel and God know what else that has been dripped on them over the years.

This was my first thought: all the train wee ... and dripping oil.
Years of it, spreading through, soaking in. Year after year; decade after decade. Wee/poo soaked sills in the kitchen.

Not for me....

Apodemus

PasturesNew wrote: »

This was my first thought: all the train wee ... and dripping oil.
Years of it, spreading through, soaking in. Year after year; decade after decade. Wee/poo soaked sills in the kitchen.

Not for me....

I once saw the most beautiful hard-wood dining table made out of sleepers from a South African railway. Still wish I had bought it, anything that had soaked into it only added to its charm!

Gloomendoom

Before we were married, my wife had a coffee table made from reclaimed railway sleepers in her sitting room. It made the whole house reek of creosote.

We still have it... out on the patio where it belongs.

bozzy18

Thanks all. Obviously I would make sure the sleeper is new and treated properly - these are readily available. The carpenter would cut the sleeper to size to fit into the window sill and use brown sealant for the edges (this would allow for expansion etc).

27cool

My wife has some miniature items made from South African railway sleepers. But they are made from a very nice hardwood. Not the rather nasty stuff that British sleepers were made from.
I once had to clean a sleeper to be used in a lighting display showroom. It took me hours with a high pressure jet washer to clean it enough to bring it indoors.

Bradden

Oak sleepers are not seasoned and has already been said will move considerably.