Today I spent most of the afternoon working on my raised bed planter. The original cedar boards had decomposed and were very much like cardboard.
So I went to the local home improvement store and bought some boards to supplement what I had on hand.
I was able to reuse the stainless steel bolts and nuts, which was nice. 32 bolts. I did have to replace the washers, which were not stainless.
Measured at least twice and cut once. I only had to fuss with one piece, a support on the underside. I assumed it was a 2x4 and was happy to have found a cedar 2x4 to replace the regular pine one.
Made all the cuts, it had slots to lock into the steel frame. Didn't fit. The original board was 2x.3.5 mine was 2x3.75, Got out the plane and shaved off some thickness. Haven't done that for a while, almost fun.
After I got all the sides and bottom cut I was ready to drill holes and begin bolting. The washer and nu had countersinking in the original, so I did that. I had to hand adjust 32 bolt holes to fit the washer in the countersink hole. Got really good at it the last 16.
All I need to do now is staple some heavy landscaping cloth on the inside and fill it with my compost/composted manure/ top soil mix.
Then I can plant. I'm off to a bit of a late start because I have to pace myself, and there were several rainy cold weekends in the last month.
Hopefully this lasts another 12 years.
#Gardening #Projects