Railroad Tie Terraces

This last fall we were finally ready to build terraces off of the front porch of our house. It was a project we had been planning for years and finally all of the pieces had fallen into place. I had been wanting flower beds to run across the entire length of the house. We accomplished that with this project plus another layer that is just grass. In a later post I will show you the flowers and plants I will be planting to really make the front of our house look put together.

These terraces really made a difference when it came to the look of the front of our house. My husband bought a ton of railroad ties to start our project. Next we rented a mini excavator to get the digging done more efficiently. We also had to enlist some help from our dads! It was several long and hot days of hard work but it was worth it when we got the finished product.

We wrapped the ties around the house into our back yard to level things out back there! First we used the excavator to dig out the area to lay the railroad ties. Next we laid the ties and drilled holes in them for the rebar to keep them from leaning over time. We continued to stagger the rebar as we stacked until we got to the height we wanted. Finally, we backfilled with the excavator and raked to get the dirt even.

Once the ties were in place and reinforced we oiled them with motor oil from several oil changes. This makes them look nice and less dull. What I like most is that we were recycling and not using new materials. Below we have the before and after pictures. Unfortunately the after picture was taken on a not so sunny day but I think you can see the difference this project made to the look of our house.

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I can’t wait for the spring to fill these terraces with flowers, vegetables and plants. What do you think of our new terraces? Have a great week!

-Cristie