Concrete Potting Bench

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This is a Potting bench I built for my wife (a problem gardener) two years ago. The top is my first attempt at a finished concrete counter top and I’m pleased with the end result. The base is just some D. Fir that I had but it has some interesting joinery to support the weight.
It is mounted against a screen we have at the back of the house mostly to hide garbage cans. The screen is well grounded in cement so it can handle the weight too. 


Here’s a shot taken later showing it in summer.



She loves it and that is of course the definition of success.

Thanks for looking.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

19 Comments

Nicely done. 

Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".

Great addition, and appears to be well built.

Main Street to the Mountains

I would of had carriage bolts all over. You came up with great looking joinery. Nice looking bench 
There are potting benches and then there are .. shipwrights !

Never would have thought “concrete” 

Toxins Out, Nature In - body/mind/spirit

Cool top Paul!

I've been interested in the process for years, though never had a need. Everything I've seen involves addmix to the concrete and lots of vibrator action to eliminate the air pockets.

Did you do anything special? That surface looks glass smooth!


Did you do anything special? That surface looks glass smooth!

Thanks!
The top was actually the bottom when cast and the mold surface was a melamine. I also filleted the corners of the mold to get round corners on the top.
All I did for vibration was to whack the mold with a hammer quite a bit 🤣

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

This is a Potting bench

Does pottzy demand royalties???

If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD

Paul,
That's certainly a nice looking potting bench.  Your first attempt at a concrete counter top looks very successful.  I love the special details on the corners and edges.  I've always wanted to try it, but I'm too much of a weakling and I don't consider the mess of casting-in-place to be an option!
L/W

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

Looks like a good and cozy corner of the garden for your wife to hang out. A pleasure to see that even a utilitarian pieze gets proper joinery and thought through details, lovely

"The good chair is a task one is never completely done with" Hans Wegner

I don’t see this one yet. Don’t know how I missed it. You make the simple elegant.
At least I won’t fall on your wife’s toe with all the strong joinery.  


James McIntyre

What great joinery work on the base and supports.  What product did you use for the black finish?
Thanks Ross, it’s just paint.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.

nice bench paul, i missed this the first time i guess. gotta make a new bench myself this year, termites have loved my current one to death !

working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

Ship I forgot to ask. What holding up the wall that’s holding up the concrete slab? And will it rot and then fall down on your toe?

Is it make of cedar or redwood?

James McIntyre

They are pressure treated 4x4s set in about 18” of concrete so answer:
Not any time soon. 😉😁
Probably hemlock or some lesser wood. They like the porous species for pressure treating.

The stuff I built is D Fir. The posts are PT.

The early bird gets the worm but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.