Looking for outdoor trash bins enclosure tips
I’m going to build an enclosure for our outdoor trash bins. The home is a 2-family (residents: small family + renting couple). Any design/functionality tips?
true
in General Discussion 3 years and 3 months ago
7
Please log in, in order to post replies!
7 replies
cobblehillhome | 3 years and 3 months ago
I would ask yourself what the primary purpose of the bin enclosures is:
Aesthetic reasons/hide the bins — building on out of wood is perfectly fine, but note it will deteriorate over time (I would go the extra mile to make it as sturdy as possible. Had a neighbor build one only for it to fall apart after 9 months of weather and wear/tear)
Keep rats out — go with Metrobin or CityBin (those are the only two brands I’m aware of); expensive, but I haven’t come across cheaper options.
cobblehillhome | 3 years and 3 months ago
I would ask yourself what the primary purpose of the bin enclosures is:
Aesthetic reasons/hide the bins — building on out of wood is perfectly fine, but note it will deteriorate over time (I would go the extra mile to make it as sturdy as possible. Had a neighbor build one only for it to fall apart after 9 months of weather and wear/tear)
Keep rats out — go with Metrobin or CityBin (those are the only two brands I’m aware of); expensive, but I haven’t come across cheaper options.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 3 months ago
and this, i can tell readers how to prepare marine ply to hide the graining in it, that chinatown mentions. it is a sand, prime, sand, paint, sand, paint process but i suspect people on here will lean toward the MDO anyway.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 3 months ago
i have never used MDO (medium density overlay) and often dismiss such new things, described as “engineered”, as something that will not live up to expectations. BUT i just read a little about this product and it sounds like it might be a natural advancement of the plain old marine ply i talk about. worth reading about and considering and chinatownred is correct the price is in line with the marine ply. lowes stocks it.
if using MDO, i would still keep it an inch off the ground because if the polymer used to bind it is not actually impregnated into the fibers of the wood veneers (it looks like sheets of veneer plywood from the edge) i would be worried about microorganisms attacking the individual sheets. fresh water and moisture lying around the borders of our yards, in shaded areas and say under the edges of a wooden trash bin will always face a bigger threat from decay than a boat sitting in salt water.
also this, and i almost forgot. i have written about this on here before. they make little borate pellets. as the borate pellets get wet they release i nto the wood and kill microorganisms that eat the wood. we use it on shaded door ways to stop rot. the pellets are not cheap (for something of this size) but if you could fine away to apply retail borax or boron to the wood, that might be a win and it kills cockroaches which is always a win.
we have all seen how these bins look after a few years and maybe a little preparation can slow the decay?
kassie319 | 3 years and 3 months ago
To add a couple of things to Steve’s post. If you are painting a wood enclosure MDO plywood and mahogany trim are a good option, you don’t get the grain ghosting through on the plywood and I think the mahogany takes the paint better than cedar. prices are comparable to cedar and marine ply. Riverhead delivers to Brooklyn for free, I think they charge for Manhattan.
cate | 3 years and 3 months ago
We did a story on this in case it is helpful: https://www.brownstoner.com/interiors-renovation/outdoor-garbage-bins-brooklyn-urban-gardening-ideas-enclosures-disguise/
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 3 months ago
i would use treated wood for the frame and base. for the outside, if you are going to leave it natural, i would use cedar. if you will be painting it, use marine grade ply which Dykes and Riverhead Building in Mineola stock. Metropolitan also stocks it but only their manhattan location has the varying thicknesses (i know that because they told me they had 1/2″ at Astoria and i drove over there and they did not and that was the last time i went to metropolitan lumber ). marine ply will not delaminate when it gets wet. though i wonder if it can still rot if it sits on concrete or soil (when marine plywood is used in salt water, the salt kills the micororganisms that would otherwise eat the wood) and remains damp. so to be safe, i would make a sill plate underneath this entire structure. so you can build it using say a two by four plate and setting the edge of your plywood to the bottom of that plate, but then attach treated 1×3 or something to the bottom of the unit, lifting it uniformly off the ground all the way around.
the treated wood no longer contains copper chromium arsenate, so that should be ok, but if you want, Riverhead Building and i think HD carry construction grade cedar 2×4’s.
screw it together with deck screws so they will not rust and mark the wood up. no drywall screws or zinc plated screws.
if you leave it natural, finish it with something better than thompsons. Pennefin or something.
make these so tight that rats cannot even get a few teeth into it. if they cannot fit in and they have an opening and smell food, they will chew a hole into it. maybe you can find something to finish it with that the rats hate – like mercury or radium or something. or put something inside it that they hate, like ammonia. i have seen rat holes chewed into these and i think they do it where they can get their snouts in. if you are setting in on soil, find a way to keep the rats out. they will think this is an all night buffet.
there are people on here who have discussed these and bought them, so they know about the features (top opening? front opening? both? ) and there used to be someone on here who was making them.