Corten (or Cor-ten) steel planters

[Adsibob]

My builder is building some parapet walls which will house some flower beds. This is to be erected on a sloped driveway, but the wall will be flat at the top, so the walls will be taller at the bottom of the slope and shorter at the top. We are then going to wrap a sheet of corten steel around this and somehow fix it to the walls, I guess just with steel bolts.

 Has anybody done any DIY projects with corten steel sheeting? Is it easy to work with, and what thickness sheeting did you use?

[Onoff]

Each to their own.

 

It will likely rust of its own accord for the next 5 years then stabilise. In that time you can get runs that stain window frames, patio slabs etc. Eventually it stops.

 

Do not under any circumstances paint Corten steel. Depriving it of exposure to air will accelerate it's rusting under the pain and it won't stop.

 

I posted this a while back. Done by a chap in NZ I know well from when I was working with them/out there for a bit. I'll ask him what screws he used.

 

 

 

[Adsibob]

Yes, conscious it will rust, but that's the beauty of it. The only thing it might stain is the cobblestones on which it will be erected. Do you think those could be cleaned though?

Other alternative is to buy it already rusted, but I expect that is much more expensive.

[joe90]

3 hours ago, Onoff said:

Do not under any circumstances paint Corten steel.

That’s interesting, my 20’ container is made from Corten steel and is painted ?‍♂️ (and not rusty!)

[Onoff]

4 hours ago, joe90 said:

That’s interesting, my 20’ container is made from Corten steel and is painted ?‍♂️ (and not rusty!)

 

They are indeed but the surface needs special cleaning and prepping.