Thread: Treated lumber?
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Old April 2, 2007   #10
dice
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
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Why not use broken up concrete? Anytime that
I browse Craig's List, I see it available for free.
One can mortar manageably sized chunks of it
together with type-S mortar ($5 for a good-sized
bag at HD). It requires some exertion and
muscle to hand-mix the mortar in a bucket,
but the wall will not rot, is not toxic (lime,
gypsum, and various kinds of sand and gravel),
and one can make the sides as high as one desires.

One can easily make it higher in successive
years after adding more compost, manure, topsoil
or whatever to a raised bed: simply mortar another
layer of concrete chunks on top of the existing walls.

(People who habitually overbuild will want to
pound 2-3' pieces of rebar into the soil every
4-6' of wall, with 4-6" left sticking up into the
mortar between chunks of concrete in the bottom
layer.)

Wood is light and easy to machine and looks
nice in a yard, but it does rot, especially in
contact with soil. Concrete is heavy and requires
muscle to build with, but it does not need to be
treated with anything to avoid rot. One can
make it a little easier to work with by ignoring
"must take all or nothing" listings and only
selecting chunks that one could easily carry from
the pile of debris to one's vehicle. (Caveat: using
small pieces requires more mortar.)
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