I am constructing compost and larger bins and need a sheet material, or planks even. What readily available sheet material is cheapest per square metre? Needs to be fairly rot-proof and would be nice if it didn't look to tatty. thanks Davy
What is cheapest outdoor sheet material?
Sep 17, 2006
10 Replies
I don't know what it's called, but the builders rebuilding the garden wall have used some sort of plastic sheet to line the vertical walls of the hole in the ground prior to pouring the concrete in.
Owain
Find a source of pallets, dismantle the slats and soak them in preservative / stain (comes in tasteful browns and greens) These are usually free to collect when the odd slat is broken.
AWEM
A plastic loft water storage tank.
Why bother to dismantle? a 3-sided box 2 pallets x 2 pallets is an ideal large compost bin. Better still, 3 of them (ie 14 pallets) and turn the material from one to the next: it'll be ready to return to the land in 6 months. That's what we do on our allotments, anyway.
Douglas de Lacey
With suitable holes in the bottom otherwise the compost will turn anerobic. B-)
Pallets is a good one without dismantling, not sure I'd bother treating 'em if you have a free source they'll still last a year or three just replace and add the old one(s) to the compost...
If pallets are too large you can get tannalised rough sawn timber from builders merchants in decent lenghts (3m) and widths 150mm+. As well as
50mm sq for corner pieces.
Should that be 10 pallets for a 3 box system ? Or do you put a pallet on the ground for the compost to go onto which would make it 13 ? When you say a 3 sided box, is the front left open ?
Rob
Chicken wire.
What we've done is this:
=== === === === === === | | | | | | | |
where === and | are a single pallet, seen from above. Yes the boxes are open fronted, and I did say "2 pallets x 2 pallets". (I can only get a total of 10 if you have closed boxes 1x1?) We have added a couple of stays at strategic points but in fact the structure is pretty stable as it stands.
Douglas de Lacey
or groundcover fabric or strong windbreak netting or a combination.
May not be as permanent as solid materials, but quick and easy to erect and repair with little constraint on size and shape. Robert
In message , Davy writes
How about some off-cut insulated steel roofing sheet? When I eventually get the roof fitted on my barn I will have a pile of left overs, sizes yet to be determined. Tasteful shade of slate blue with white backing.
80mm foam insulation for a warmer compost heap. Also ideal for re-roofing the dog kennel:-)Unlikely to be welcomed by the scrappies and trade waste to the tip man so free to caring home.
regards
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