Hi folks,
I’m making a raised bed out of 6×6 lumber. It will be stacked into a long 20′ run on one side and make a couple of turns as well. I’m wondering what the best way is to hold these guys together. My first thought was to drill straight through from the top and pound in a length of rebar to pin them. This thing runs 7 courses high, for a total height of 39″. It’s shaped like a U with the actual planter area being a 2′ wide strip on the inside of the U.
Is there a better way to do this?
Thanks,
Tom
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For almost 40 inches, that is a lot of diry and moisture to hold back. I would be tempted to pour a small embedded footing, say 20 inches below grade and use that to pin your raised bed timbers. In our neck of the woods, anything over 36 inches has to have footings.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
Good point, however, the whole thing won't be filled with dirt. In fact, the actual beds will be about 18-20" deep and 2' wide. Do you think that will cause a problem?
Here's the drawings:
http://eweandme.com/TomD/MeditationPlanter.jpgTom
I guess it would depend on the type of soil and how deep the rebar goes.Regards,
Boris"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
For that, do the cross lapped corners with rebar pins and add midspan crossties occasionally to prevent spread
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Here's two examples.
The 29yo is buried three deep for a footing and has one RR tie pinned to the back of the bottom one you can seeto make an ELL. The wall is tilted back into the bank about 1/2" to 3/4" per tie.
New is under construction (|:>) It may be a little hard to see, but that corner is a "Log Cabin" corner.
Both were drilled and pinned, the 29yo with spikes and the New with #4 rebar. Note how all joints are staggered. be sure and pin both sides of any joints to both upper and lower logs.
The 29yo is in soil contact, and the New is gravel backed.
SamT
Hi Sam,
Thanks for the suggestions and the photos. It's nice to see one of these puppies still standing after almost 30 yrs! I'm putting this structure on top of an existing concrete pad, but I may drill down into the concrete to set a few of the rebars first. There will be thin shims to level it and provide for some drainage as well. Tom
I'm in the process of replacing 10's (60-70) of our beds in our Co-op townhouse complex,and what you just descibed is exactly how I am doing it.
The best way is to stagger all joints AND stagger the rebar lacement as well. I overlap the corners and it resembles finger joints, looks great.
Another option would be to use 10"-12" galvanized spiral nails and follow the same procedures.
These two methods allow you to use shorter lengths of "pins" and less drivng power.
I also line the beds with landscape cloth to allow drainage, and keep some of the direct moisture contact off of the "logs".
I use all volunteer labor and nobody has complained about the effort required, (auger bit-ting, driving, etc.) so....a few every couple of weeks and we don't drive off our labor pool. LOL
The Co-op had some done "professionally" and all they did was stack equal lengths, "assemble" and pinned the corners!. Needless to say they fell apart like Lego stacks, or a deck of cards....
cheers,Phil.
"If 'tis to be,'twil be done by me."
Edited 4/4/2005 12:31 pm ET by Philter