Worm Inn Stand

DIY Worm Inn Stand

I’m quite surprised that I wouldn’t have written a post on this topic a lot sooner, but I guess hindsight really is 20/20!

Anyway, as the title implies, I want to talk a bit about Worm Inn stands – basically, letting people know what sorts of options are out there. Many of you will likely remember that my dad and I build a DIY stand last fall. So far it has certainly worked MUCH better than the small, flimsy wooden laundry hamper stands I used originally. As such, I have been sharing the specs with Worm Inn customers so that they can create something similar for themselves.

Let me remind everyone that I am NOT a talented DIY person (my dad is somewhat better, but not by much), so I have little doubt that many of you could improve upon this design by a long shot. But here ya go, for what it’s worth:

The system basically consists of 4 legs and 8 support beams. The upper supports overlap the legs, while the lower supports are actually in between the legs (refer to photos to see what I mean).

Upper supports – (4 x) 21″ length x 3.5″ height x 0.75″ width – the lengths are really the only important consideration. We were just using some scrap wood I had lying around. I would still recommend some sort of flat boards up top though (and overlapping of legs) since it provides you with spots to screw in the hooks.

Legs – (4x) 36″ in length – ‘2×2’s (you’ll notice that the names of boards can be a little misleading – even though it’s called a ‘2×2’ the dimensions are somewhat less than that – again, the 36″ is the important dimension there)

Lower Supports (4x) 18″ length – ‘2×2’s – as mentioned, these sit in between each pair of legs, and help to straighten the structure out a bit.

(4x) Screw hooks – I would get ones that are a little sturdier than the ones we got. I’m not sure how these ones will fare as the weight increases. As you can see in one of the pics, we had to play around with the location of the hooks at little bit in order to be able to get all the loops over them. You MAY even want to decrease the upper and lower dimensions of your stand if you want the Inn to hang a little more.

Now, it probably wouldn’t hurt to discuss some of the other options out there as well. Some may recall that Robyn Crispe (the original creator of the system) tried both a hanging set-up and a laundry hamper stand – with a definite preference for the latter. I agree with this wholeheartedly – not only does hanging make it more difficult to move the Worm Inn around, but unless you use some seriously heavy duty bungee cords (or something comparable) you may also run into issues once the system becomes really heavy.

Hanging Worm Inn

Laundry Hamper Worm Inn Stand

I’m pretty sure that Robyn got her hamper stand from Target, so if you are keen to keep things simple, and go with this approach, I recommend you check them out. As mentioned, the stand I originally tried was a smaller, wooden one (available from Canadian Tire, up here in the ‘Great White North’), and while it worked great initially, as the weight of the system increased it became more and more unstable. I can only imagine what would have happened had I been adding the sorts of quantities of waste I’ve been recently adding to my system!

One other cool stand idea has been suggested by the new owner of the Worm Inn brand, Jerry Gach. He has created a really nifty stand using PVC pipes and special corner pieces. The only downside is that those corner pieces can sometimes be a bit challenging to track down!

Anyway – hopefully, this helps to show some of the possibilities. If anyone has created their own stand and would like to share it with RWC readers, be sure to drop me a line!
8)

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Comments

    • Julie
    • April 13, 2010

    Thanks for putting the specs up for your stand. I was looking at the previous posts to find all the pictures from different angles to try to figure out if we could do something similar for my brand new flowery inn 🙂

    I put the inn on a very temporary support, since I spent a day looking for hamper stands or anything else and couldn’t find any in my immediate area.

    I’m certainly going to look at either making my own, or maybe trying the pvc one, except I’m just wondering at the stability (if we bump into it or knock it, would it fall over easy?) and sturdiness (over time and weight) ?

    I’m looking forward to see if anyone else posts their own setups.

    • Bentley
    • April 14, 2010

    Hiya Julie – great to see you here.
    Jerry assures me that the PVC stand is quite sturdy. You could always use thicker pipes as well

    • Bryan Grady
    • April 14, 2010

    I built the PVC based stand that you show at the end of your recent post. I used the following dimensions:

    Verticle pieces: 4 ea 36″ lengths Sched 40 PVC
    Horizantal pieces: 8 ea 18″ lengths Sched 40 PVC
    The special 3-way corner pieces can be purchased from Jerry for a fair price. All joints need to be glued. A $8US PVC cutter very easily cuts the pipe. The important info is that the pipe needs to be Schedule 40 for rigidity, don’t use the thin wall pipe. Set up took me maybe 45 minutes start to stop. But, I will probably paint the stand forest green to match the Worm Inn.

    Thanks again for a great website!!

    • John in Huntington Beach
    • April 16, 2010

    Another possible way to add a little more stability might be to take advantage of Sched 40 PVC flexibility and expand the base a little.

    Using Bryan Grady’s dimensions (Thank you, Bryan), one could probably add an inch to the length of the bottom horizontal pieces, inducing a gentle outward curve in the vertical pieces.

    Things tip when the center of gravity exceeds the base. The higher the center of gravity (which will be the case as material in the system grows), the easier it is to tip by means of a bump. A slightly larger base can have a substantial beneficial effect on the system. I think a small increase in the base size will still permit use of the special 3-way corner pieces.

    I am going to do some trial and error work on this and see what happens.

    • Julie
    • April 16, 2010

    Thanks Bentley. You don’t see me much, but I lurk around 🙂

    Thanks for the details and dimensions Bryan. I’ll keep this in mind when I go material shopping. I knew nothing about pvc pipes and “schedules”.

    Another thing I can’t really see in the picture in the post, is how the worm inn hangs from the pvc pipes… are the loops glued inside the corner pieces? or are they hanging from tie-wraps (or whatever the term is) or some other mean?

    It’s cool to hear about it from others, since I’m not really a test it and trial and error person. but I like to see and hear what others experiment with.

    • Bentley
    • April 16, 2010

    Hi Julie,
    All you need to hang the system are heavy duty zip ties (cable ties) – like these:
    [whoops – link didn’t work]
    Just go to the Home Depot site and search for “cable ties”.
    8)

    • Alyssa
    • April 16, 2010

    Bentley,

    Thanks for posting the specs and the idea for the PVC stand. Ever since I saw the movie Blue Vinyl, I’ve had a problem with PVC, so I wanted to offer an option.

    I’ve built racks and trellises with electrical conduit or copper pipe, and I think both may work for a Worm Inn stand. Three-way corner connectors are rare, but you can make due with a “T” connector and a corner connector (or maybe bend the tubing).

    Cheers!
    Alyssa

  1. Hey there bently.Nice setups.Wish i could do that for my isopods
    and my worms[hey i have worms too you know LOL!]The isopods
    are doing great FYI.They haven’t had any babies yet though.The worms
    are doing the best though went from 12 to like 40 in a little over 3
    weeks!I sure am amazed at how fast they grow.How long can you wait before removing the vermicompost?I mean could you do it once every six months?I’m a bit busy with dermesitd beetles,wasps,ants,isopods ATM

  2. Thanks for the stand ideas and details! After looking around for cheap laundry hampers of the required size and not having any luck, I realized that the PVC option was actually super easy. Orchard Supply Hardware sells PVC and connectors, and will even cut the pipe for you, so you just take it all home and stick it together. I actually made the legs a few inches shorter, since the joints add a bit of height. Total height is now 35″, which seems about right to me. Worms get transferred from the old bin tomorrow!

    • Bentley
    • April 22, 2010

    KOOLKID – Sounds like fun. There are no set in stone rules as far as how often you need to remove worm compost goes. Over time the habitat MAY become less and less friendly for the worms, especially if you keep adding food with no new bedding. The quantity of compost will of course continue to increase as well, so you may simply need to clear out the bin at some point just to make room for everybody. 🙂
    ——————————–
    GRAHAM – Thanks for sharing that info!
    8)
    ——————————–

  3. Thanks.I always add in bedding whenever the old stuff is gone or when i feel the need to do so.Usually once every three weeks depends on the food i add.

  4. LOL the next day and i harvested some.I used a sifter and worked wounders for me.

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