Placing Box on Cement

Teresa 4/8/2010, 6:26 pm

I'm new to SFG and I really appreciate all the information shared by you who are more experienced. I have a couple of questions for you:

1. I have to place my box on cement. Do I really need to attach the plywood to the frame, or could I just place the plywood on the cement with the frame placed on top of that?

2. Is drainage hampered when the box is on cement? I wonder if the weight of the soil against the plywood and cement allows enough space for drainage.

Thanks so much for your help.

Teresa in CA

boffer 4/8/2010, 6:36 pm

Hi and Welcome $glad you\'re here$

You're not the first to put your box on concrete; plywood is not necessary. For piece of mind, you could put shims (a pebble, or whatever) under the corners of the box to insure adequate drainage. Generally though, concrete is rough enough that it won't seal with the box bottom.

Teresa 4/8/2010, 6:41 pm

I have the plywood and assume it will be easier to clean up should I ever decide to move the box. Still no problem just placing on the cement with the box on top?
Any cons to not attaching the plywood, or is that only necessary when doing a raised box?

Thank you.

boffer 4/8/2010, 7:07 pm

If it were me, I would use the plywood and put the box on wheels. If you decide to use plywood, put a 1/4 inch drain hole in each square, and one near each corner for good measure.

Teresa 4/8/2010, 7:09 pm

Wheels--good idea! Thanks for the quick responses.

martha 4/8/2010, 7:13 pm

and I agree with Boffer about the plywood - well, of course, if you are going to put wheels on it, then you are already convinced, silly me, but also, as you said, in the event you need to move it.

chocolatepop 4/8/2010, 7:22 pm

Yup. solid bottom, screwed on and heavy duty castors! That is what I did!

Momma Pajama 4/8/2010, 7:30 pm

Sounds great! I have been thinking of making a 3 x 3' box like that to teach with (I am a preschool teacher). I thought I could just pull it down the hall with a rope! Maybe I can paint on the outside of the box, "Veggies to Go!"

Teresa 4/8/2010, 7:37 pm

I did not build the box myself but a friend gave it to me; she had one too many. It's new and has the weed barrier fabric attached. The plywood she gave me is only 1/4" thick. Should I get rid of the weed barrier, or will it matter? Do I need to get 3/4" plywood if I'm going to attach plywood to the bottom, or will the 1/4 do?

I don't know much about working with wood. I assume I will screw the plywood on. Can you tell me what size screws and how far apart I should place them?

Is it difficult to attach casters?

**mckr3441** 4/8/2010, 7:37 pm

Building it

Placing Box on Cement The_bo11

Filling it

Placing Box on Cement Img_1612

Planting it

Placing Box on Cement Img_1613

Watching it grow

Placing Box on Cement Img_1710

And grow

And BLOOM

CONCLUSION: Yep! It works! SOLD

boffer 4/8/2010, 7:38 pm

Momma Pajama wrote:I thought I could just pull it down the hall with a rope! Maybe I can paint on the outside of the box, "Veggies to Go!"

That works! Since "Meals on Wheels" is taken!

boffer 4/8/2010, 7:41 pm

Practically everything in my shop is on wheels. I have dozens of casters saved 'just in case'.

But it was Claire who gave me the idea last year about mobile SFGS okay

Teresa 4/8/2010, 7:42 pm

It is so helpful to see the photos, Claire. Beautiful! Thank you.

Question: since the box was on casters, why did you set it on top of
some planks? Aesthetics?

boffer 4/8/2010, 7:48 pm

I wouldn't use less than 3/4 inch ply. Since you have a piece of 1/4, you could buy 1/2 to save money, and use both to get 3/4. #8 screws, 1 1/2 inches long, every 6-8 inches.

Momma Pajama 4/9/2010, 12:36 am

[quote="mckr3441"]Building it

I LOVE it! Gotta do it!

Prestermatt 4/9/2010, 10:47 am

I've been thinking about putting wheels on the boxes I'm building for my patio. How heavy duty do the casters need to be to support a 4x4x6" box?

boffer 4/9/2010, 10:56 am

Hi,

Recently, in another thread, we figured out a 4x4 box with saturated soil was in the 3-400 pound range. A common rating for a smaller caster is 75LB, so four of them.

Practically speaking, it depends what you'll mainly be rolling on. The rougher the surface, the bigger the diameter you would want to use, for ease of rolling.

**mckr3441** 4/9/2010, 11:01 am

Prestermatt wrote:How heavy duty do the casters need to be to support a 4x4x6" box?

I'd say the bigger the better and I wonder if you would need a swivel in the center???. I put two regular wheels and two swivel ones on mine. Next time I'll use all four swivel. Bigger wheels make anything easier to move. Also, I like the wheels to show. It brings more attention. However...

Teresa wrote:Question: since the box was on casters, why did you set it on top of
some planks? Aesthetics?

...my DH wanted to "hide" the wheels so he laid a couple of old 2x4s along the sides. Boo Hiss.

Thanks everyone for the compliments. Placing Box on Cement Icon_biggrin

**sanderson** 1/29/2023, 2:59 am

This is an old thread from the Forum's first year. If any of you have set a bed on a concrete slab, an asphalt driveway, or a flat roof, could you share your photos? I know of three SFG gardeners who have done this but I failed to save their photos.

Thank you, Sanderson

OhioGardener 1/29/2023, 2:57 pm

I don't have any sitting on concrete, but the 2'x6' one I have in the greenhouse is sitting on 8" of crushed limestone which packs down almost like cement, but it does drain well.

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