Building wood compost bins is a great way to better organize your compost pile and make it look neater. Even though the skills needed to for building wood compost bins is not that advanced, here are three tips to help make your bin last longer.
Treated Wood
While building wood compost bins is usually done with the cheapest materials possible, you may want to think about using treated wood. Treated wood lasts much longer than untreated wood.
Also because you are using it as a compost bin, this wood will be exposed to higher temperatures and a higher moisture level. This is why I think spending a little extra money on untreated wood would be a good investment in this case.
Chickenwire
For those of you who want to save money, there's nothing wrong with using chickenwire in your construction plans. A very simple compost bin would be made out of four wood posts at the corners and stretched chicken wire between them.
One bad thing about chickenwire, is that it tends to rust easily, which is why if you do plan on using it you should either spray it with a rustproofing compound, or buy one that is already pre-treated.
Burying the Base
Rodents and other pests can be a big burden when maintaining a compost pile. On way to get around this is to try and bury the base of your compost bin a couple inches into the ground.
This will help prevent rodents and other animals from trying to dig under the frame to get in to the bin.