Three 96-gallon carts trash can enclosure plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw or miter saw
• Miter saw, or circular saw in two passes, for 4×4 posts
• Post-hole digger
• Wheelbarrow and hoe
• Line level
• 4 ft level
• Handsaw
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Call 811 and check the spot

   At least 3 working days before you dig, call 811 (or use call811.com). It's free. They send people to paint or flag buried gas, electric, water and cable lines near where the enclosure posts will go.

   Check your property line on your survey or plot plan, and ask your town about setbacks, easements and whether this needs a permit.

   Pick ground that drains: not a low spot where puddles sit after rain, and not over a septic field.

   STOP. Don't dig until the marks are down. Hitting a gas or power line can kill you and is expensive to repair.

4. 4Mark out a square rectangle

   Hammer a stake at one corner of the post centres. Measure 100 1/2″ along the long side and hammer a second stake. Tie mason's line tight between them, a few inches off the ground.

   For the first square corner, use the 3-4-5 rule: from the first stake, mark 3 ft along the string. Run a tape 4 ft out roughly at 90°. Swing it until the 3 ft mark and the 4 ft point are exactly 5 ft apart. That direction is square: set a stake 41 1/2″ out along it.

   Measure the last corner from the other two (100 1/2″ and 41 1/2″) and set the fourth stake. Run string around all four.

   Measure both diagonals, corner to corner. Nudge the stakes until the two numbers match.

   • Tip For bigger layouts use 6-8-10 instead of 3-4-5: the bigger the triangle, the more exact the corner.
   • Tip Batter boards (two stakes with a crosspiece set 2 ft outside each corner) let you take the strings down to dig and put them back in exactly the same place.

   ✓ Sides are 100 1/2″ and 41 1/2″ and the diagonals match within 1/2″. Spray marking paint along the strings, then pull the stakes you're about to dig around.

5. 5Mark the middle posts

   Along the front and the back strings, mark a post centre every 33 1/2″ from one corner. Drive a stake at each: 8 stakes in all.

   ✓ Every stake is on its string, 33 1/2″ from the next.

6. 6Dig the post holes

   Dig 8 holes 10″ wide and 30″ deep with a post-hole digger (rent a powered auger for this many, or for rocky soil).

   That depth is 24″ for the post plus 6″ of gravel underneath so water drains away from the post end.

   Make the holes slightly wider at the bottom than the top, like a bell. Frost then can't grip the concrete and lift it.

   Pour 6″ of gravel in each hole and tamp it with the end of a 2×4 or the post itself.

   • Tip Your town knows the frost depth: it's how deep footings must go so winter frost can't push them up. Enter it in the options and the holes will be dug deep enough.

   ✓ Every hole is 30″ deep before the gravel and 24″ deep after it.

7. 7Set the posts plumb

   Stand a post in each hole. Run a string between the end posts at the height you want, to line up the ones in between.

   Hold a level against one face of a post until the bubble is centred: that face is plumb. Then check the face around the corner. Both faces must read plumb.

   Brace each post with two 1×4 or 2×4 boards: screw one end to the post and the other to a stake hammered into the ground, one brace on each of two sides at right angles.

   ✓ Every post is plumb on two faces, in line with the string, and the braces hold it there when you let go.

8. 8Mix the concrete

   You'll use 14 bags of 80 lb concrete mix for the 8 post holes. Mix one or two bags at a time in a wheelbarrow: concrete starts to stiffen in about 30–45 minutes (faster on a hot day), so only mix what you can place right away.

   Pour about 2 quarts of clean water into the wheelbarrow first, then empty one bag on top. (Each 80 lb bag needs about 3 quarts in total.)

   Mix with a hoe or square shovel: pull the dry powder from the corners and bottom into the wet middle and chop through it. Keep going until there are no dry pockets.

   Add the last of the water a cup at a time, mixing between each.

   Get the thickness right. It should look and feel like thick oatmeal or stiff peanut butter. A hoe dragged through leaves ridges that stand up, and a handful squeezed in a gloved hand holds its shape. Too dry: it crumbles and won't stick together, so add a little water. Too wet: it flows flat, water pools on top, and the concrete will be weak and crack. Then add some dry mix from a spare bag.

   • Tip More water makes concrete easier to push around and much weaker. Resist the urge.
   • Tip Rinse the wheelbarrow, hoe and shovel before the concrete sets on them. Don't wash concrete into drains or onto the lawn: let leftovers harden in a scrap box and throw them out.
   • Tip Buy one more bag than you need. Running out halfway through a pour is the most common mistake.

   ✓ Even grey colour throughout, no dry powder, no puddles of water on top; a ridge made with the hoe stands up.

   STOP. Wet concrete is caustic and burns skin. Wear waterproof gloves, safety glasses, long sleeves and long pants. Open bags slowly and wear a dust mask: the dust has silica. Rinse any concrete off your skin right away.

9. 9Fill the holes

   Shovel concrete into each hole around the post. Every 6″ or so, poke it hard with a stick or a piece of rebar to work out air pockets.

   Fill to about 1″ above the ground and shape the top into a little mound with a trowel, sloping away from the post so rain runs off.

   Check plumb again on both faces while it's still wet, and adjust the braces if needed.

   ✓ Posts are still plumb and in line after the concrete is in.

10. 10Let the concrete cure

    Concrete hardens by reacting with water, not by drying out, so keep the concrete around the enclosure posts damp for the first 7 days: mist it with a hose morning and evening, or cover it with plastic sheeting held down at the edges.

    Keep it from freezing for the first week. Don't pour when it's below 40°F (5°C) or frost is forecast in the next two days. On hot days, pour in the early morning and shade it.

    You can walk on it or remove braces after 1–2 days. Wait 3 days before putting real weight on it. It reaches full strength in about 4 weeks.

    ✓ The surface is hard and grey-white when dry, with no powder when you rub it.

11. 11Trim the posts level

    The posts went in 3″ long on purpose. Mark one corner post 52″ above the ground. Stretch a mason's line from that mark across each row, level it with a line level, and mark every post where the line crosses.

    Square the marks all round with a speed square and cut each post with a circular saw from two sides, finishing with a handsaw.

    ✓ All post tops are level with each other: a straight board with a level on it reads level from any post to its neighbour.

12. 12Fit the front header

    The front header (B) is a cedar 2×4 on edge across the front faces of the front posts, its top flush with the post tops. It ties the open front together and carries the front of the lids.

    Clamp it in place, check it with a level, and drive two 3″ screws into every post, predrilled.

    ✓ 48 1/2″ of clear height under the header: enough for a 96-gallon wheeled cart to roll in and out.

13. 13Slat the back

    Screw 7 rows of cedar 1×6 slats (C) across the back faces of the back posts, the bottom row 3″ above the ground so it stays out of splash and grass. Leave 3/4″ between rows: air moving through keeps smells down and the wood dry.

    Each slat runs 3/4″ past the end posts on both sides to cover the ends of the side slats. Two 2 1/2″ screws at every post, 3/4″ in from the slat edges; predrill near the ends because cedar splits.

    Use a 3/4″ scrap as a spacer between rows, and check every third row with a level.

    • Tip Look at each slat's end grain: put the side the growth rings curve toward facing out. It cups less that way.

    ✓ The rows are level and the gaps even. The slats are flush with the post tops at the top row or just below.

14. 14Slat the sides

    Slat both ends the same way, 7 rows of 45″ slats (D) on the outside faces of the end posts, at the same heights as the back so the rows meet at the corners.

    Two 2 1/2″ screws at each post.

    ✓ The rows line up around both back corners.

15. 15Fit the cap rail and the lid ledger

    Lay the cap rail (E), a 5/4×6 deck board, flat on top of the back posts, overhanging the back slats by about 1 1/4″ and the ends by 3/4″. Two 3″ screws down into each post. It keeps rain off the end grain of the posts and slats and carries the lid hinges.

    Screw the lid ledger (F), a cedar 2×4 on edge, to the inside faces of the back posts, its top flush with the post tops: two 3″ screws at each post. The back edges of the lids rest on it.

    ✓ The cap rail is flat and level, and its front edge is straight.

16. 16Build the lids

    Each of the 3 lids is 6 deck boards (G, 43 3/4″ long) side by side with 5/16″ gaps, held by two battens (H) across the underside.

    Lay the boards upside down on a flat floor with 5/16″ spacers between them, their ends lined up against a straight board.

    Lay one batten across them with its nearer edge 1 3/4″ in from the back end, and the other with its nearer edge 7 1/2″ in from the front end, both 1/2″ in from each side, so the battens drop between the ledger and the front header when the lid is closed. Drive two 1 5/8″ screws through the batten into each board.

    ✓ Each lid is 34 7/16″ wide, square (diagonals match), and lies flat.

17. 17Hang the lids

    Set each lid in place over its bay, back edge 1/4″ from the cap rail, resting on the ledger at the back and the header at the front, with a 1/4″ gap between neighbouring lids.

    Screw two strap hinges across the joint between the cap rail and each lid, about 4″ in from the lid sides.

    Fit a lid stay inside each bay, following its instructions, so the lid stays open by itself and closes slowly. Screw a pull to the front edge of each lid.

    • Tip A short chain from the cart's own lid to the underside of the enclosure lid opens both at once.

    ✓ Each lid opens past upright without hitting the one beside it, stays open on its own, and closes flat.

    STOP. A lid without a stay can drop on a hand or head. Fit the stays before anyone uses the enclosure.

18. 18Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Outdoors, use an exterior finish: a penetrating deck oil or exterior stain, or primer and exterior paint. Leave cedar bare to weather silver if you like. If it holds soil for food plants, leave the inside unfinished.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.