Ashton Soete

I realized I posted in the wrong section! These are just regular lumber, not timber. Any way to move the thread? Thanks for the link!

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for a little inspiration to build some projects. I have recently come into a nearly unlimited supply of 2x8s. Some 4ft, some 5ft, most 8ft, and some 14ft. I have over 100 boards already and need some ideas of what to do with it. So I ask, what would YOU do with it?

Already on my agenda;

- Finish the floor in my shed. One half is still bare dirt, previous owner finished the other half.
- mason bee boxes
- Picnic table
- Garden shed
- Might build a base/frame for a greenhouse. I initially wanted to build the entire greenhouse with this lumber, but someone brought to my attention the shadows would be huge. So I might build a base that’s around 4ft high, with a hoop top out of steel hoops.

And with the 4ft boards I’ll likely build some garden boxes/beds.
I may also trade some for other building materials, or sell them.

Any great ideas out there?

Very nice!! In the town I used to live, there is a very large blueberry farm that did the hugel method. We’re talking many rows at least 100ft long. It’s in Port Orchard, Wa , I wish I could remember the name but I’ll try to find it it’s a Upick farm and they had very healthy plants

William Bronson wrote:A 2x8 will cast a not insignificant amount of shadow.
That would be my hesitation to building a  greenhouse with it.
With an unlimited supply, trading or selling would be a great way to go.
I'm a pretty aggressive lumber scavenger, but I would still pay out of pocket for long peices of 2x8.

If you are handy, selling completed items or site built structures could get you even more.
Price your materials as if they were new, and your labor as you're fit, and you will come out well ahead.

In particular you could offer to build and fill raised beds.
Painting the insides of the beds with a masonry waterproof sealer has been reported to have great results.
All of this could pay for whatever kind of greenhouse materials you want,but it presumes you have time and willingness to spare.

What would you like to build with?

I didn’t even think about that. The shadows would be huge, I think I’ll ditch the greenhouse idea. I could probably use some of it for framing the lower section but I’ll stick with pipe for the top.
However, you did give me a great idea. I was planning on building myself a few planters, but perhaps I could sell some as well. Not to mention the trade value these have, maybe I could trade for some greenhouse supplies or at least sell my way to having enough. I counted up my boards today and have over 100. Some 5’, most 8’, and some 14’. I figure I have around $1000 in lumber, and I told the guy I’ll come back with an empty trailer to fill up. The last few loads I only take about 30-40 boards because I also get a straw bale that takes up most of space. I haven’t taken many but there are a lot of 4’ boards that would make great 4x4 beds.

Also, I’m in a very dry area. We average I think 18” of rain each year, all of it being in the fall/winter. So hopefully I could make it last.

Thanks all for the replies...

I might add that the greenhouse I’m trying to build, is fairly large. I’m aiming for at least 15x25, we will see how big I end up settling on.
Ripping the 2x8s wouldn’t be a bad idea, as long as I could borrow the neighbors shop as I don’t have a table saw unfortunately. I’ve also thought about offering them up for trade, see if anyone in the community has some more favorable building materials.

I initially planned on using these for different projects, but I really don’t have many projects. I’m going to build a cold storage but have plenty for that. Only thing I really need built is a garden shed but I feel like the 2x8s would take up a lot more of the floor space than I’d like as the garden shed doesn’t need to be very big. Regardless, I could probably have enough for all the projects. I have a pretty much unlimited supply of this lumber. It’s lightly used I just have to tap some nails out. It’s used once as part of a brace to ship things from California to WA. Brace is taken apart once it gets here and the lumber is free for the taking. I won’t divulge any further info as I’d hate to lose my gold mine 😹

Hey everyone!

I’m looking for ideas and inspiration to build a wood framed greenhouse. I’ve been planning to build a metal framed one, but recently came into just about as many free 2x8s as I want, many of them 8 feet long. I know 2x8s are a bit over kill but since they are free, I might as well use them. Plus there can be quite a bit of snow out here so maybe the extra strength will be a good thing. I already have a pile of at least 40 boards and today going to go load up the trailer again. Hoping this will save me money overall, I’ll still have to buy treated lumber for foundation but shouldn’t need much other material for the frame.
Any idea how long this might last? The lumber will be covered by the plastic, could I expect at least 5 years?

I definitely don’t plan on getting into major earthworks without some “expert” consultation. I’d rather make sure my investment goes as far as it can. It will be many years in the making.

I made some progress today! Using a bunch of rounds I told a neighbor I’d take. They are 5+ years old and rotten, most already water logged. I took Eliots advice and decided to go bigger. I realized I have quite a bit more material, and onto around 60 feet of the bed to extend. So I started making it a little wider and taller. The extension is about the same height as the previous work, but I haven’t added the additional layers yet. I have a busy month so I doubt I’ll make much progress in the next few weeks. The snow should be moving in too, might not see a clear day to work for a couple months!

I initially thought it would be acidic too, given all the pine needle mulch and pine trees etc.... only thing that leads me to believe it’s alkaline is a coworker who lives about an hour away in similar (though a bit more wet) area has alkaline soil. I think my best bet would be to just get a soil test... I think they have a place in the city I work so I’ll add that to my list of projects!

Eliot Mason wrote:Thanks for sharing more of your plans - its great to know that you are thinking about this in ways that should lead to success!

Dirt ... yeah.  Whatever happened to "dirt cheap?"  In my instance digging ponds is going to be a major source of dirt and soil - and if the friendly neighborhood excavator can at least break up the soil and make piles for you then you'll be way ahead of banging away with a shovel.  I'm past the age and energy where I could consider loading a wheel barrow and moving it - but you'll be in great shape and have tremendous pride.  I find that even my small loader quickly runs out of room to drive around on top of the hugel, so I may be looking at some barrow work myself in the future.

I think there's probably a post to be had on the best barrow design for this task...

Shoot, I hope some day I have a big enough mound to push a wheelbarrow around on top. That would be incredible!! Someday perhaps. I’m currently eyeing a cart style wheelbarrow, like the Gorilla brand with a dump feature. Would be so nice to have four inflated wheels, I could really get some stuff moved around.

I guess I didn’t think about the digging of the pond creating dirt as well, that’s a great idea and will certainly help. The ducks really need a pond so that will be high on the list in the spring.

I do have a ton of dirt on the back of my property. I believe the dirt is from when a pond nearby was dug, way before the lots were subdivided. When the area was cattle land. I thought about using this dirt for the mounds but I’m a little reluctant- it’s been so long, upwards of 30-40 years, these piles of dirt are part of the landscape and “natural” at this point so I don’t know if I want to cause that much disturbance digging it all up.
On the other hand, I’ve been studying the water harvesting book and would like to someday explore implementing swales or just basic rock dams, and to do that properly I’d have to rearrange the landscape / dirt piles. If I can work out some bartering maybe the earth works won’t be as far into the future as I think. If I do make it happen, there’s got to be 30+ yards of dirt on the back of the property and that would really help bury this long mound!


What’s everyone think about ash? I’ve never done a soil test, I can only assume my soil is fairly alkaline due to the very heavy clay content. So I don’t really want to make it more alkaline. However I have about a yard of ash that I need to do something with. I’m moving my fire pit and before I can do that, I need to a
shovel out all the ash. think i should sprinkle it on the mound?