The Birth of The Pergola
Mark really never has a day off...I seem to manage to fill them all up with yard work. Well, what else are you supposed to do on your days off in the summer...rest? Besides remember we are on the 10 year plan for the backyard. That was until I realized Emmy and Bryce will graduate next year and Sarah the year after that. So the plan has been double-timed. Poor Mark.
This weekend we were able to pick up our pergola kit from Miller Brothers...remember and Mark got to go to the Amish Auction...I am still kicking myself. Anyway, when he got out of the truck the look on his face said...'I think we have bit off more than we can chew'.
This is where it all began...nice clean patio just waiting to be filled. I am already dreaming of what we are going to do decorating wise. I think next garbage day Ella and I will take a long walk around the neighborhood to see what might be worthy of garbage picking. Don't say GROSS until you try it. You can't imagine what good stuff people get rid of.
We decided that it might be a good idea if we stained the wood before we actually started the construction. Note to self: stain becomes tacky and takes forever to dry on hot humid days. The stain matches the porch and posts on the barn. And I might add that works well with the exposed aggregate patio...HGTV has taught us a few things.
We finally worked out a system...Mark had a wide brushie thing and I had a 2 inch roller. He got the big areas and I got the smaller ones. We pulled out some drop cloths so we didn't stain the driveway. Pretty smart because that stuff drips like crazy.
We ran out of garage room so we had to go to the backyard. Right at the end the sky turned a really pretty color of black and big raindrops starting hitting the driveway. You should have seen us scramble. The garage then was filled not only with tons of stuff but wet stained pergola parts. Oh, that wonderful smell. The next morning the stain was still a little tacky. But what are you to do...go right ahead and start construction...that's what.
Step One:...find drill and start drilling. The four 4X4's needed the 2X6's attached just in a particular way. Everything was marked on the boards and we did have a single sheet of paper front only with instructions. Simple instructions...just like the Amish would do...simple. Short one first and then we ran into a little problem...not enough hands.
Step Two:Call for every available body that has muscle. Mark and I could lift the pergola so far...it was in two pieces, but how do you hold, connect and drill and the same time when someone needs to hold and the other uses the drill? You call for help. Sarah was in bed, Michael was a tad too short Bryce was AWOL(but he finally showed up to do some yard work...check the next blog)..but good old neighbor, Mr. John was in his garage...not doing much waiting to leave for the Reds game, when he was called into action. Thank heavens because he saved us thousands of dollars...in divorce court fees. We both bit our tongues and didn't have a cross word.
She's up! And fits perfectly over the 8X8 brick inlay. And the 4-5 inch pitch on the patio for drainage purposes doesn't really give us any problems. The directions say to start adding the perlins but I thought it might be a better idea to attach the corner braces to keep the thing square. I looked at it like building a quilt. The more exact you are the better the project will turn out especially when you have lots of corners to match. So that is what we did...mark biting his tongue the whole time.
The great thing is that I was able to take a few pictures in between handing wood and screws to the boys...I mean construction crew. It was hard to get a shot of either one of them..too busy to smile and neither wanted their pictures taken. I took this one while they were really busy and not paying any attention to me.
She Done! And what a beauty she is. We love it! Last night we would change places in the yard sitting to look at it from different angels. Now all I have to do it dress her up...flowers, cool things and maybe some lights...candles...nice table and some chairs...who knows. But the search is on because she looks a little like a plain Jane and we can't have that...just won't do.
One last shot...a bird's eye view from our bedroom window taken at 6AM this morning. I realized last night that I didn't have this shot and I needed it before I could blog the saga of the pergola. Look pretty good from up here too doesn't it? So come and visit and we will sit out under the pergola with some sweet tea and chat for awhile.
This weekend we were able to pick up our pergola kit from Miller Brothers...remember and Mark got to go to the Amish Auction...I am still kicking myself. Anyway, when he got out of the truck the look on his face said...'I think we have bit off more than we can chew'.
This is where it all began...nice clean patio just waiting to be filled. I am already dreaming of what we are going to do decorating wise. I think next garbage day Ella and I will take a long walk around the neighborhood to see what might be worthy of garbage picking. Don't say GROSS until you try it. You can't imagine what good stuff people get rid of.
We decided that it might be a good idea if we stained the wood before we actually started the construction. Note to self: stain becomes tacky and takes forever to dry on hot humid days. The stain matches the porch and posts on the barn. And I might add that works well with the exposed aggregate patio...HGTV has taught us a few things.
We finally worked out a system...Mark had a wide brushie thing and I had a 2 inch roller. He got the big areas and I got the smaller ones. We pulled out some drop cloths so we didn't stain the driveway. Pretty smart because that stuff drips like crazy.
We ran out of garage room so we had to go to the backyard. Right at the end the sky turned a really pretty color of black and big raindrops starting hitting the driveway. You should have seen us scramble. The garage then was filled not only with tons of stuff but wet stained pergola parts. Oh, that wonderful smell. The next morning the stain was still a little tacky. But what are you to do...go right ahead and start construction...that's what.
Step One:...find drill and start drilling. The four 4X4's needed the 2X6's attached just in a particular way. Everything was marked on the boards and we did have a single sheet of paper front only with instructions. Simple instructions...just like the Amish would do...simple. Short one first and then we ran into a little problem...not enough hands.
Step Two:Call for every available body that has muscle. Mark and I could lift the pergola so far...it was in two pieces, but how do you hold, connect and drill and the same time when someone needs to hold and the other uses the drill? You call for help. Sarah was in bed, Michael was a tad too short Bryce was AWOL(but he finally showed up to do some yard work...check the next blog)..but good old neighbor, Mr. John was in his garage...not doing much waiting to leave for the Reds game, when he was called into action. Thank heavens because he saved us thousands of dollars...in divorce court fees. We both bit our tongues and didn't have a cross word.
She's up! And fits perfectly over the 8X8 brick inlay. And the 4-5 inch pitch on the patio for drainage purposes doesn't really give us any problems. The directions say to start adding the perlins but I thought it might be a better idea to attach the corner braces to keep the thing square. I looked at it like building a quilt. The more exact you are the better the project will turn out especially when you have lots of corners to match. So that is what we did...mark biting his tongue the whole time.
The great thing is that I was able to take a few pictures in between handing wood and screws to the boys...I mean construction crew. It was hard to get a shot of either one of them..too busy to smile and neither wanted their pictures taken. I took this one while they were really busy and not paying any attention to me.
She Done! And what a beauty she is. We love it! Last night we would change places in the yard sitting to look at it from different angels. Now all I have to do it dress her up...flowers, cool things and maybe some lights...candles...nice table and some chairs...who knows. But the search is on because she looks a little like a plain Jane and we can't have that...just won't do.
One last shot...a bird's eye view from our bedroom window taken at 6AM this morning. I realized last night that I didn't have this shot and I needed it before I could blog the saga of the pergola. Look pretty good from up here too doesn't it? So come and visit and we will sit out under the pergola with some sweet tea and chat for awhile.
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Teresa