Building Forms with Clamps and Cross-Ties

Your local concrete equipment retailer can supply you with special equipment for building your own concrete forms: specially designed clamps, which you rent, and cross-ties, which you buy because they remain in the concrete after it sets. Used with plywood and 2x4 whalers, clamps and cross-ties make strong, but easily made, forms. As a further advantage, the ends of the cross-ties snap off once the form is dismantled, and the conical holes left behind can be plugged.

The forms shown in 1. Assemble the forms are for a wall up to 4 feet high. Cross-ties are available for 8-, 10-, and 12-inch-thick walls. Follow the manufacturer's spacing requirements for the cross-ties, clamps, and whalers.