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We decided to trim the patio pond with wood.
Now typically, in an outdoor environment, I'm gonna choose red wood.
Come to find out my client doesn't like red wood, he wanted a light color.
So we chose pine.
It's easier to come by.
It's affordable.
The trick is, it's sensitive to elements.
It doesn't want water on it.
So, of course, we're gonna have to put some sealant on here.
But it got me thinking of a cool element that we could do is we could make it to where
when you come around the corner, this patio pond's gonna look elevated.
I wanna elevate this off the ground, say an inch and a half to two inches.
I don't wanna see the legs that are touching the floor, so
it's gonna look like the whole thing is floating.
I got a couple more cuts to make.
And then we're gonna start screwing it all together, and we'll show you how to do it.
[NOISE]
I wanna give you a quick explanation about
how the frame is gonna wrap around the patio pond.
There's a couple different ways you can do it.
[NOISE] There's a log cabin approach where these two pieces come like that.
You can see how I'm joining these together here?
And then the next one would come inside.
So you would see a joint here, and not see a joint here.
And then the same thing would happen across the back.
Well, since that side of the feature is going to be covered with plants, and
this side is going to be covered with plants,
I want the whole face of the feature not to have any seams.
So I've taken the time to measure all the way across.
And this is gonna be one continuous piece,
and the seams are gonna come from behind this section.
So that's what I've done when I cut all the pieces around there.
Now, I explained I don't want to see any hardware when you walk around the corner and
see this feature.
All the hardware is gonna be done from behind.
So I made these cleats.
And these cleats are what we're gonna use.
I'm gonna screw through the back of this wood.
So when we stain it, you're not even gonna see how the thing was put together.
I got a couple more cleats to make.
I do wanna show you, since I'm dealing with a little bit more
sensitive wood, I have a little pilot [NOISE] hole.
[NOISE] We'll drill a little pilot hole like so.
And then I have my little impact gun here.
[NOISE] So by doing the, the pilot hole first.
[NOISE] It's gonna make for [NOISE] a really clean connection.
And it'll, it won't make this crack as easily.
So if you're using a treated wood, a lot of times if it's kiln dried,
you go to put it together like that, it'll crack.
But if you put a pilot hole in there first, [NOISE] it'll come together nice and
clean like that.
So now, all the cleats are put together.
We can start putting together the big frame.
[NOISE] So I'm gonna flush these ends up.
Now, the Laguna pre-fabricated ponds that I've chose that are exactly 18 inches.
So we used one by 10s, it gives us two 9.5-inch pieces or so, gives us 18.5.
So I have about a half-inch play.
So I have this thing lined up nice and even.
Now, it's time for me to drop this cleat on here, and then I can draw all this together.
Now I'm gonna pilot this.
[NOISE] This is the back of the, of the feature [NOISE], the inside.
[NOISE] I just barely wanna pilot that.
[NOISE] I don't wanna go too far in.
[NOISE] Because I don't wanna see the screws protruding through.
[NOISE] So I just barely [NOISE] get a pilot going.
And I don't want to bury these too deep either cuz I don't want the [NOISE],
I don't want them to pop through the other side.
[NOISE]
Okay, so this pice is complete.
[NOISE] And as I turn it around [NOISE], you'll notice we
won't see any of the hardware [NOISE] sticking through.
[NOISE] Nice and clean.
[NOISE] So now, it's time to extend that long boards and
[NOISE] connect them all together.
[NOISE] We have most of the frame put together by now.
But we're gonna work on the face of the whole feature at this point.
So I've taken the liberty to pick out the most interesting pieces of wood with
unique knots in them.
[NOISE] Because the varnish is gonna be clear.
It's gonna be a medium to light stain, so you're gonna see right through this.
And I figured we'd pick up the interesting stuff so when you come around,
it will give it some character.
So this is where we're gonna put this one together right now.
[NOISE]
All right, I'm just about to have this wrapped up.
I do have a couple more boards to put on.
And then before we put the, the tubs in here and
insert it into place, we're gonna stain this.
And we're gonna seal it, and protect it from the elements.
I'm Eric Triplett, The Pond Digger.
Thanks for watching.
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