Solution to creosote(?) problem on sleepers
 

I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.

Broadback wrote:
I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot
weather they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I
assume is creosote. Any ideas of an economical way of either
stopping this of covering the sleepers? The damned stuff gets
everywhere working or walking by them! I am not concerned
about the EEC directive, just the mess.

It's more likely to be tar, creosote dries out. Try scraping
it off and blinding the residue with sand. You could go over
it with with a blowlamp and scrape even more off, I suppose.

BTW - cross-posting is much nicer than multi-psoting! If someone
will x-psot this reply, it will be helpful, for some reason
I can't!

The message
from Broadback contains these words:

I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.

I had the same experience with some very old ones, which hadn't been
treated for at least 30 years and still bubbled tar on hot days. We cut
ours to size with a chainsaw, and the tar goes right the way through. I
don't think you'll ever get rid of it.

Janet.

Broadback wrote:

I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.

If you don't mind what it looks like diatomeous earth will absorb most
things to render them fairly inert (upto and including nerve agents). Do
not breathe the dust. It is one of the natural Organic(TM) remedies
capable of doing serious damage to your lungs. And effective on slugs
and snails too.

It doesn't do too bad a job with nitroglycerine either. Ask Nobel...

Regards,
Martin Brown

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
Broadback wrote:

I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.

If you don't mind what it looks like diatomeous earth will absorb most
things to render them fairly inert (upto and including nerve agents). Do
not breathe the dust. It is one of the natural Organic(TM) remedies
capable of doing serious damage to your lungs. And effective on slugs
and snails too.

It doesn't do too bad a job with nitroglycerine either. Ask Nobel...
where do you get it from?

pammyT wrote:

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

Broadback wrote:

I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.

If you don't mind what it looks like diatomeous earth will absorb most
things to render them fairly inert (upto and including nerve agents). Do
not breathe the dust. It is one of the natural Organic(TM) remedies
capable of doing serious damage to your lungs. And effective on slugs
and snails too.

It doesn't do too bad a job with nitroglycerine either. Ask Nobel...

where do you get it from?

Garden centres in small amounts or even more expensively from
Organic(TM) dealers or alternatively this lot in Yorkshire appear to
sell it in bulk. They are fossil silica skeletons of former diatoms.

http://www.elementshydroponics.com/item/732

Regards,
Martin Brown

The message
from Broadback contains these words:

I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.

It's pitch, and apart from refrigerating or shading the sleepers, I have
no solution.

Well, I suppose you could cover them with thin exterior ply (or
shuttering, which is fairly cheap.).

You can scatter sand on/at the exuded stuff to stop it sticking to things.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from Chris Bacon contains these words:

BTW - cross-posting is much nicer than multi-psoting! If someone
will x-psot this reply, it will be helpful, for some reason
I can't!

To where? The original post was only 'addressed' here. If it has
appeared in other groups, fine. I don't agree with your judgment that
crossposting is better - much spam and trolling is crossposted, which is
why I kill items which have been crossposted to more than one other
group.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from Martin Brown contains these words:

It doesn't do too bad a job with nitroglycerine either. Ask Nobel...

Is that the same as kieselguhr, then?

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from "pammyT" fenlandfowl @talktalk.net contains these words:

It doesn't do too bad a job with nitroglycerine either. Ask Nobel...

where do you get it from?

What, Nitroglycerine?

Take a pint of glycerine and cool it to 14° C.

Take two gallons of concentrated.....











BOOM!






--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Martin Brown wrote:
pammyT wrote:

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

Broadback wrote:

I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is
creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.


If you don't mind what it looks like diatomeous earth will absorb most
things to render them fairly inert (upto and including nerve agents). Do
not breathe the dust. It is one of the natural Organic(TM) remedies
capable of doing serious damage to your lungs. And effective on slugs
and snails too.

It doesn't do too bad a job with nitroglycerine either. Ask Nobel...


where do you get it from?


Garden centres in small amounts or even more expensively from
Organic(TM) dealers or alternatively this lot in Yorkshire appear to
sell it in bulk. They are fossil silica skeletons of former diatoms.

http://www.elementshydroponics.com/item/732

Regards,
Martin Brown


I think diatomeous earth is similar to Fuller's earth, found in some cat
litters, which may be worth a try to absorb it as it's easy to find and
cheap.

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message from Chris Bacon contains these words:
BTW - cross-posting is much nicer than multi-psoting! If someone
will x-psot this reply, it will be helpful, for some reason
I can't!

To where? The original post was only 'addressed' here.

Oops, sorry, I just happened to notice it in uk.d-i-y. Whether it's
elsewhere I don't know!


If it has
appeared in other groups, fine. I don't agree with your judgment that
crossposting is better

There are various technical reasons why it is better. Also, multi-
posts tend to be answered seperately in each NG, so there's no
cross-over of replies. If someone else in uk.rec.gardening had
the same problem, for instance, and an excellent solution came
up in uk.d-i-y, then the URGler wouldn't know!


much spam and trolling is crossposted, which is
why I kill items which have been crossposted to more than one other
group.

That's true. However, with a more relaxed policy of KFing
items x-psoted to (say) three groups, I don't think you'll
have a problem. I'm actually surprised at how little spam
and trolling is x-postde.

Zax wrote:
I think diatomeous earth is similar to Fuller's earth, found in some cat
litters, which may be worth a try to absorb it as it's easy to find and
cheap.

Most Fullers Earth is used in paper manufacture. I am not aware of
its use in cat litter in the UK.

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from Broadback contains these words:


I have a lot of sleepers forming retaining walls, with this hot weather
they are exuding a thick tar like substance, which I assume is creosote.
Any ideas of an economical way of either stopping this of covering the
sleepers? The damned stuff gets everywhere working or walking by them!
I am not concerned about the EEC directive, just the mess.


It's pitch, and apart from refrigerating or shading the sleepers, I have
no solution.

Well, I suppose you could cover them with thin exterior ply (or
shuttering, which is fairly cheap.).

You can scatter sand on/at the exuded stuff to stop it sticking to things.

Thank you all for your replies. My apologies if I upset anyone by
asking the same question here and on D-I-Y, in my ignorance I thought
that was preferable to cross posting.

Broadback wrote:
Thank you all for your replies. My apologies if I upset anyone by
asking the same question here and on D-I-Y, in my ignorance I thought
that was preferable to cross posting.

You haven't upset *me*, anyway - I just thought I'd mention
that cross-posting is better (for most proper uses) - see
other post in re. J d'A. Good luck with your sleeper-scraping!