[dropcap type=”circle” color=”#ffffff” background=”#ef7f2c”]P[/dropcap]roject: Build 4 Raised Cedar Planters
Location: Phinney Ridge
The design for this raised planter project grew out of seeing so many rotting planters around Seattle. The rain weathers even the most well designed exterior structures, and what this one has that many lack is both a 2X6 rain drip edge that is designed to push rain water off of the underlying 4×4 stock, and the thickness of the stock itself. The beds are rated to last 20 – 30 years, and maybe longer with adequate and consistent staining of the top and exterior.
I designed the beds to be parallelograms, instead of rectangles. This gained both more direct sunlight to the root-zone and offered a slightly different take on the more typical rectangular design. I used 65 4x4x8 clear cedar posts – and 12 tight-knot 2x6x10 cedar plates. The cost of this project, using clear cedar at retail cost, would be a deterrent to implementing this design. I was able to find a pallet of green clear posts at a fraction of retail price, thus making it affordable for this project. One could always replicate this design using tight-knot cedar stock.
The lap joint used at each corner offers a stable structure, with each successive layer bolted and nailed to the layer beneath it. 60d nails and 5″ screws were used as fasteners. Stainless screws were used to adhere the top plates.