Brooklyn Queens Land Trust

I'm in the middle of building a 3-section compost bin. To save money, I am using old raw lumber and scraps from various jobs. Some of this wood is not in very good shape but it's sturdy enough.

My main question is this--is there anything wrong with using an outdoor primer and paint on the wood pieces of the bin? The wood is being used as the frame. Most of the walls will be made from chicken wire or hardware cloth. The reason I want to paint is to protect the bin from the elements, termites, and to make it more attractive.

I've seen directions that say to use pressure treated wood and other directions that say don't use pressure or chemically treated wood. What gives there?

3rd: what do you think of having a floor vs. using the ground as the floor?


By Craig

Compost advice

Flooring seems preferable simply because it gives rodents less freedom of entry. In our case, we put the bottom of a wooden flat covered in chicken wire with small openings to discourage hungry critters looking for a smorgasbord dinner. Also, this allows air to freely flow throught the pile, speeding up the process.

compost bins

Craig,

Earth floor or wire covered/slatted floor allows organisims to enter the pile to help decompose from below.

Avoid pressure treated lumber. Yes, untreated lumber will eventually rot, and become part of the soil, too; but the chemicals from treated lumber will leach into the compost, enter the soil, and into plants, and, if you grow veggies/fruits, the arsenic, etc. will enter you.

If you recycle shipping pallets, look carefully at the wood. This is how our long horned Asian beetle invader hitched into NY.

Pat

By pat