Corner giving me problems...need ideas

[motdaugrnds]

I'm constructing a raised bed and was putting up the last of the "side" boards. Since I'm not a carpenter, it is quite uneven and crooked; yet it will work for what I want, i.e. root crops.

The problem I need help with is in the corner. It is a treated 2x10x10 board that runs from one 4x4 past another 4x4 to another 4x4 where it meets the other 2x10x10 board.  I already have those 4x4s solid and they already have other 2x10x10 boards attached to them. I can tell the board running parallel to (and just below...for this one to sit on) the one I'm putting up is bowed and that is why it actually fits snugly against the 4x4s at both ends. Seems the 4x4 in the middle is in too far...just a bit but throws the ONE end of the 2x10 off by 2 inches.  So now I have that 2x10x10 cut at the correct length to fit perfectly and it is already nailed to two of the 4x4s it is to connect to. It is the one end of the 2x10 that is about 2" away from that 4x4.  Since this is a corner it is making it more difficult for me.

I have thought of wetting the 2x10 down but it is a bit late for that; and we are not expected to have any rain for quite awhile...just very hot weather. I need to get this 2x10 attached to that last 4x4 while the "new" treated board is as pliable as it is now; yet I do not know how to get it done.

I thought of getting another board (I probably have one lying around somewhere I can cut the right size.) and using that to "pry/push" the 2x10 up close enough to the 4x4 so I can toenail it in.  Not sure I can do this as I've not done such a thing before; but it does seem like it might work...if it doesn't actually break my 2x10.  That would be terrible!

Any ideas as to how to get this last 2x10 connected to that corner 4x4 without breaking it?

[Cabin Fever]

Since the board is only 2" away from the 4x4, I would snug it up to the 4x4 using an 8" C-clamp (or larger) and then screw the board to the 4x4.

[Deleted]

Or flip it over with the bow to the inside

[shellymay]

Me I would use a long enough and a good ratchet strap and place it on the 4x4's (at least around 2 of them) and draw them together and get your two inches back that way! 

[motdaugrnds]

Thanks for the suggestions. I just got back inside from working with it.

I found a hardwood 2x2 and cut it the length needed for a wedge. I then placed one end of this against the 2x10 and the other end at the 4x4 directly across from that corner. Then I started hammering the "wedge" to walk it down the 4x4; and as it walked, push the 2x10 closer to the 4x4 I want to nail that 2x10 to. Well this worked for a bit. Seems the distance I needed to close was more like 3" instead of just 2". I couldn't get the wedge down far enough; so started looking at that 2x10. I found, as I had hammered the wedge down the 4x4, that 2x10 had lowered some. It was only a hair but was now too low to sit on top of the existing 2x10 I was trying to get it on. Soooooooo I got my pry bar and, working from the middle 4x4, walked that 2x10 up high enough so that it slipped onto the top of that other 2x10. When that occurred the end of that 2x10 I was working with got closer to the 4x4. That told me, if I didn't break anything, I could continue walking that "wedge" down and push the 2x10 directly up against the 4x4 I wanted to nail it to.

It worked! The "wedge" (2x2 hardwood) did not break and I was able to get a couple of 16d nails in the 2x10 connecting it nicely in place on top of the other 2x10 and up against that corner 4x4. I decided to leave the "wedge" in place for awhile so as to give the 2x10 time to adjust to the shape it needs to be. Afterwards I'll add a couple more 16d nails toenailed in so as to help keep it from coming loose.

WOW! ! ! Is there nothing I cannot do? ROFL I'm feeling pretty potent right now!

This is the first raised bed I've ever created and all it needs now is the horizontal (sitting places) boards with some bracers under them....along with some more mulch/dirt/phosphorus of course. Then come July I will plant the root crops for an experiment this winter, i.e. seeing how long I can actually leave them in the soil throughout winter months. (I don't have a root cellar so this is what I'm planning in order to preserve the veggies.)

[oxankle]

Next time lay a couple of wet towels on the inside of the bend and give it a day to soak up a bit of water. Keep the towels wet and try to cover most of the length of the curve.

Ooops, I see you had it part-way up before you noticed the problem.  You can still wet the board down and let it relieve the stress on the bend. 

[motdaugrnds]

Thanks oxankle, It actually worked out in a similar manner as you suggested. It started raining. A slow drizzle for several days with sunshine coming out in between. This certainly kept the 2x10 wet enough to loosen some of the stress it was having due to being bent like that; then it dried a bit; then got wet again; then dried a bit. ROFL Seems my Heavenly Father took care of this for me.

Right now I have not been able to get back to it as other things have taken precedence; however, the 2x2 is still nicely wedged and nothing has broken. Hopefully next month I can finish it and get it ready for a July planting.