New Railroad ties used for structural support.

[bcp]

Longer ties are used under switches, but there are probably thousands of normal ties for each longer one.

Bruce

 

[JasperFrank]

For any sort of resale, putting in RR ties interior, especially structural, would be a deal killer for me.

 

[JethroB]

I’d vote no on the smell alone. My grandfather used creosote posts to shore up a rotten bathroom subfloor years ago. The creosote odor never went away inside that area of the house.

 

[deserteagle71]

Good luck on getting any kind of paint, stain, whatever to stick to a tie soaked in creosote. I've got ties as fence corner posts that must be 50 years old and on a hot day they still ooze.

 

[BlueKnife]

Longer ties are used under switches, but there are probably thousands of normal ties for each longer one.

Bruce

Didn't know that, but that makes sense. I used to sell logs to a sawmill that cut railroad ties. They wanted the logs cut at 9 feet, then the ties would be trimmed to length.

 

[5030]

My only comment is no, especially used and pulled sleepers. I used them for flooring in the wife's horse barn 25 years ago (used sleepers) and they are still just fine (for horses) not humans. Get yourself some .40 retention beams if you must but no ties.

Finally, not knowing where you reside at. If the parcel is in a zoned community, I'd be calling the building inspector to see if a 'barndominium' is even an allowed use. they are here but they must be constructed to BOCA specification. You need to inquire before you get red tagged.

 

[BlueKnife]

Finally, not knowing where you reside at. If the parcel is in a zoned community, I'd be calling the building inspector to see if a 'barndominium' is even an allowed use. they are here but they must be constructed to BOCA specification. You need to inquire before you get red tagged.

I'd be curious how the OP is defining that term. Used to be, when people said "barndominium", they were talking about a post frame/pole building used as a residence. Recently, I've heard the term used to describe larger stick frame buildings, like the OP's, that just don't have a bunch of roof lines.

 

[bcp]

Didn't know that, but that makes sense. I used to sell logs to a sawmill that cut railroad ties. They wanted the logs cut at 9 feet, then the ties would be trimmed to length.

Here is an example switch tie plan from Union Pacific. On this size switch, ties go up to 18 feet long.

https://www.up.com/emp/engineering/mapcontent/standards/track%20standard%20drawings/5015.pdf

Bruce

 

[redman135]

Re creosote, NO. Not for inside use as the fumes would get you. Also the smell is penetrating and gets into EVERYTHING. Also people would smell creosote on your clothes and likely avoid you.
As well ,direct skin contact will burn.
If you change your mind and want apply stain or paint, that will fail as the creosote will stop adhesion.
New timber beams are your best option.

 

[chim]

New Information: Yesterday I helped a friend run a 100A service underground between two poles. One end tied into an existing box, but we added a PVC JB on the other end to connect it to an existing pipe that ran up the pole to a service head.

For mounting our new box we made a flat spot on the pole for a backboard. My bud did the chainsawing, and the smell of creosote was strong. He cut back about an inch or so to remove the round surface for the flat spot. When he raked across the face of the cut to smooth it out, creosote bled out of the cut like it was a new pole. I asked how old it was and he said it was there as long as the building - decades.

I told him he'd better scrub well with soap because he was showering his arms with the creosote-laden cuttings. He was anxious to keep working and didn't scrub till lunch time. It was burning his skin well before lunch but he was on a mission to git 'er done.