Non-perishable plastic wedges sit between the sleeper and the post to pack out the gap, so each course sits level and the wall face finishes flush and straight. Timber packers rot and crush, and...
Read the full buying guideAbout Wedges
Non-perishable plastic wedges sit between the sleeper and the post to pack out the gap, so each course sits level and the wall face finishes flush and straight. Timber packers rot and crush, and when they do the course above settles unevenly. These do not.
What they do on site
A sleeper dropped into a post channel has play in it. The wedge chocks the sleeper forward against the front flange so the face of the wall stays in one plane from the bottom course to the top, and it takes up the tolerance between the post centres and the actual sleeper length. Without them you get a wall that is structurally fine and visibly wavy.
Pack sizes
| Wedge | Packs | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete sleeper wedge | 50, 100 and 300 | Concrete sleepers, 75mm thick |
| Composite sleeper wedge | 25 | Composite sleepers, 60mm thick |
The concrete wedges get cheaper per wedge as the pack gets bigger, so on anything beyond a short wall the 300 pack is the one to take.
How many to order
Work on roughly two wedges per sleeper as a starting point, which is what our wall calculator uses. A 10 metre wall, 1 metre high, in 2380mm sleepers works out at 25 sleepers and therefore about 50 wedges. Tight access, out of square posts or a wall that curves will all push that number up.
Order more than the calculation says. Wedges are the cheapest item on the list, they get dropped, buried and lost in the backfill, and running out halfway along a wall is a genuinely annoying way to lose an afternoon. Leftovers keep indefinitely.
Match the wedge to the sleeper, not to the post. The concrete and composite wedges are sized for different sleeper thicknesses and are not interchangeable. If you are running both materials on one job, order both.