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Built a 4x8 raised bed with 2x10s and now I am worried the soil will bow the sides out
I could not decide between 2x10 pine boards or going with 4x4 cedar posts at the corners. I picked the cedar posts and screwed the pine sides to them with 3 inch deck screws, 8 screws per side. Two weeks after filling it with about 30 cubic feet of wet topsoil, I can see the long sides starting to push out in the middle, maybe a quarter inch. Has anyone else had this happen with a 4x8 bed, and did you brace the middle or just let it ride?
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tyler_white421mo ago
30 cubic feet of wet topsoil is no joke, that's over a ton of weight pressing on those boards. A quarter inch in two weeks is a lot though, and it's only gonna get worse every time it rains. Those 3 inch screws are holding the sides to the posts but nothing is stopping the middle of an 8 foot span from bulging. I'd throw a brace across the middle of those long sides right now before it gets away from you. Once that pine bows out it doesn't really spring back, and then your corners start pulling apart.
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