Trough making

[Maggi Young]

If you cannot find Jan's  XPS sort then try to get the most  densely textured polystyrene you can find. The closer the packing of the particles the stronger the material. This is why  the denser types of boxes, fit for food use, are better than the looser compacted  types of some polystyrene packing boxes that may be found  for making  troughs using the  carve, texture and paint method.
Either type of box can be used for  covering with cement for that method - but Jan's big troughs need the  hardest wearing , more dense type available.

[Neil]

The best place to find extruded polystyrene sheets is from a builders merchant, Travis Perkins, Jewson etc

[FiestaRed]

The best place to find extruded polystyrene sheets is from a builders merchant, Travis Perkins, Jewson etc

Thanks Neil, I'll get Google on to it.

[FiestaRed]

The best place to find extruded polystyrene sheets is from a builders merchant, Travis Perkins, Jewson etc

Thanks again Neil, I phoned both the Travis Perkins and Jewson branches in my area (Derbyshire) and although XPS Polystyrene is shown on their websites neither stock it or even had much of a clue what it was. I'll keep on searching, there must be some somewhere.

[Neil]

They probably know it as insulation sheeting

[FiestaRed]

Thanks for all the help, I've finally managed to locate stocks of the XPS Polystyrene where I can buy in single sheets and any amount upwards.

[FiestaRed]

A bit more help if anyone can, myself and Jan have been having a conversation and it is becoming somewhat lost in the translation. I've been asking Jan what type of adhesive he uses when he bonds the sides and bottom of the XPS polystyrene he uses for his troughs.

During the translation, the adhesive becomes a "fixing kit". Can anyone help with the type of glue needed to join the XPS together? I know some adhesives will simply melt the XPS.

[Lampwick]

Here is a link you may find useful.
http://portraitsofalpineplants.com/Troughs%20and%20Sinks.htm#bt4
Once open, click on the three following links:
Covering a glazed sink.
Covering a polystyrene box.
Making troughs in a mould.

Regarding fish boxes?
Earlier in this post mention is made of joining polystyrene sheets.
But why not just buy the ready made fish boxes?
From here:- https://www.jbpackaging.co.uk/polystyrene-boxes/25kg-standard-brx.html
For about £7.80 each they can be delivered. 4 of 5 of these maybe slightly more costly than the polystyrene sheets but it certainly saves a lot of time for those who don’t want to bother bonding the polystyrene sheets together. . . . Its just a thought!

Three photos of my daughters (Gail) recently made (April I think) covered fish boxes.
And two views of a trough (about 23 years old) made from the plywood mould,
which was recently refurbished by my daughter and planted up at the same time as the fish boxes mentioned above.

[Lampwick]

Continued.......

Second photo of trough made from plywood box mould.

[FiestaRed]

Thanks for the post John, some great information.

As has been mentioned before, the fish box idea is probably the easiest. The main reason I was asking about bonding polystyrene panels is that I'd like to make troughs of a given size, to fit a certain area of my garden and cutting and bonding the polystyrene sheet seems to be the only way I can do this.

[Maggi Young]

Waterproof PVA Glue  can be used on the polystyrene.

[Lampwick]

PVA can be added to a cement mortar mix to give the mix a) slightly better waterproofing qualities and b) advanced adhesion to the surface it is applied to. Painting a coat of PVA on the surface before the cement mortar is applied can even further increase this adhesion.

To use in sand and cement, a mixture of 2 parts PVA to 1 part water is general. Tip the PVA in the water and mix as normal. PVA dries to a colourless finish and will not react with any other surface preparation or finish.

[FiestaRed]

Maggi, John, thanks for the help. Really appreciated.

[FiestaRed]

I'd just to add a big thank you to all who helped with my many questions about the foam troughs.

I'm now at what Jan calls the second stage in that I have added the cloths soaked in the cement mix and now waiting for them to harden off. When they're dry, I'll then add the final coat of the cement, sand and moss peat mix. The extruded foam I bought by the sheet from a local Insulation Supplier, the glue for the foam was waterproof PVA but I mistakenly bought a large five litre bottle and so far, having glued up two 60 x 40cm troughs have used only the smallest fraction of the bottle.

Although the fish box method is a brilliant idea, buying the foam by the sheet has allowed me to make the troughs to the exact size I wanted to fit a certain area of my garden.

[brianw]

Another use for fish boxes ;-)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/cold-weather-cat-shelters-1.4862499