Would This Be OK?

[John]

I have been asked by my children's school to make a frame to contain soil/compost type material for planting bulbs in. It is quite a large triangular area and I was thinking of making it from decking planking etc. The total height will be "3 bricks" i.e. approx 9 inches. I will stake it every so often for strength but my main concern is will it last. I don't think the school want a hundred years out of it but would like it to last a while. Is the decking planking treated to withstand this or will I need to do something else to it, I don't really want to start lining it with any thing as I am providing all the materials and labour for free so the cheaper and quicker the better as far as I am concerned. Also if anybody in the Leeds/Wakefield area has any decking planks left over from a project, would you consider donating them to a good cause?

Cheers

John

[meow2222]

Untreated softwood with a coat of engine oil/paraffin preservative lasted very well in this job, so with a coat of that it should last a very long time. Without, I dont know.

[TMC]

I dressed the tops and outer faces with a disc sander to remove the possibility of splinters These have lasted for several years without any sign of deterioration

I guess 9 x 2 wouldn't be that costly but 7 inch of compost is more than enough for most bulbs

Tony

[Pete C]

Hi,

Some decking used to be CCA treated (google for it), so I'd be wary of using left overs.

I'd treat cut ends with 'Cuprinol Green', NOT engine oil or anything like that.

cheers, Pete.

[Andy Champ]

Green isn't too pretty. I'd suggest using the clear. I know where's there a fence I used that on >20 years ago and it's still standing.

Andy

[Pete C]

Well it appears Cuprinol have changed the formula in both clear *and* green to something inferior.

So I'd look for something containing copper napthenate (for green) or zinc acypetacs (for clear)

The green does fade away on bare wood IME.

Some light reading:

cheers, Pete.

[The Medway Handyman]

Any pressure treated timber ('tanalised') will do, but make sure you treat the end grain.

[Martin Bonner]

Cuprinol Green is for treating fences - not wood permanently in contact with damp soil. For that you need something seriously poisonous to fungi - which means something seriously poisonous to humans. Given that the OP referred to "school", not "nursery", they aren't going to be chewing it, so CCA or creosote sounds just the ticket.

[Pete C]

Cuprinol Green is, (or was!), for timber in ground contact.

Maybe you're thinking of their shed and fence treatment that's available in green among other shades.

Copper Napthanate is the former but not the latter.

I'm not so sure, you should see the sticky resin from the knots on my CCA treated decking. Creosote also pongs for ages especially when the sun hit is. If they were just the ticket they'd still be allowed for the OPs application.

Also the OP's flower box may end up being used in a different way at some point.

cheers, Pete.