Reply #19: OK you didn't ask about this but I'm putting my two cents worth in anyway [View All]

[NJCher]

I'm hoping to use pressure treated 4x4s for the corner posts

Don't use pressure-treated anything. Even though they made "safety" changes, the stuff is still toxic. You don't want this stuff leaching into the soil "on your watch," do you?

Your planter boxes are really raised beds. They are just one foot shy of being a legitimate raised bed. You don't know what's coming down the pike with this lunatic administration in charge and all, and you might need to convert these planter boxes to vegetables. Don't take the chance. Use regular wood and "pressure treat" it yourself. If you want, I have the recipe or you can look it up on the 'Net. There is a way to do it that's is safe.

Finally, when I first moved into my house nine years ago, I built 11 raised beds and I did them all with regular pine. It is only now, into my ninth year, that I am beginning to see signs of deterioration along the long edges of the wood. The deterioration is only along the edge that was on the soil. On the beds where I put furring strips, the beds are as good as new. I just pulled off the furring strip and put a new one on. Furring strips are cheap and are your best buy in a project like this.

It's no big deal to do it without pressure-treated wood and your boxes will have more versatility and last just as long with only a slight inconvenience.




Cher