Argh, Lumber, Tools. Argh, Build.
Last week I built a covered sandbox. Here in Florida you need some shade or your goose
is cooked. I was going to put a shade canopy on it and you can find those plans on my website.
Simply easy diy dot com. However, Ive always wanted to build a pergola, or is it a shade
arbor? I didn't know so I consulted professor google and apparently the difference has to
do with the' thing.aaaa, you know I still have no idea. Ahh, I'm just kiddin. A pergola
is usually attached to another structure on one side where as an arbor is usually constructed
over a walkway and generally you don't sit under them. Well this is sort of a cross between
the two so yeah I still don't know. A quick trim on the miter saw will give me
the lengths I need and those lengths can be found at simply easy diy dot com. This is
going to require a lot of glue so Ill just make sure to top off my glue bottle before
I begin. Ive gotta work fast because I'm sandwiching all the posts together into one glue up so
Ill be racing the open time on my glue. Because I didn't want treated lumber and that is all
I could find locally by way of 4x4s I decided to make my own. Instead of using two 2x4s
for each post I'm using one 2x4 and one 1x4. The 1x4 is a different length from the 2x4.
You'll see why later. Just a fair warning I'm taking liberties all over the place with this project.
With those in the clamps time to work on the cross beams. These are 2x6s that Ill trim to size.
Then measure a mark here, Connect the
and measure a mark there.
Connect the two dots.
And its off with the jigsaw. Simple really.
Clean that up a little bit.
The rafters are just 2x4s. They just get a simple 45 degree angle cut in both ends and
the miter saw takes care of that job no problem.
The diagonal cross pieces. 2x6s. Ill shape these a bit differently and to do that Ill
need to break out a highly calibrated, piece of equipment. Don't feel bad if you don't
have one as top shelf as mine. I'm all about class here at simply easy diy.
That trash can had this funny lip on it which I don't want my final profile to be like that.
So precision is the name of the game now. .
Hands like a surgeon
Jigsaw, take it away.
After that I need some angles cut in those
ends and Ill just lay these out so I can mark a rough line just to help me keep my cuts
headed in the right direction. Miter saw gives me what I need here.
And that'll work just fine.
By this time my posts are dry and out of the clamps. Ill just clean these up by running
them through my table saw so I can take off that mess.
But, now I have these sharp corners which I do not want. A round over bit in my trim
router makes short work of those. If you don't have a router or a round over bit, not to
worry. A sander with some 80 grit sandpaper will take care of ya. Or you could just deal
with the sharp corners. Its your boat. Float it like you want.
Time to put some stuff together. Liberties warning! The size of my arbor slash
pergola affords me to be able to lay out the cross beam and set the posts across it like
so. Ill just make sure the two pieces meet at the end of my taper.
A large drywall square will be my lovely assistant today to square of the posts to the cross
beam. If you don't have one of these no problem. A regular framing square will do just fine
or you could use the 3, 4, 5 method. Whatever works for you.
Screws instead of bolts. Use bolts if you want. Don't judge me YouTube.
Cats all she wants is food.
Flip the whole thing over and attach the diagonal braces.
See told you all she wanted was food. Now some of you may have a question about
now and if you ask that question in the comments I'm just going to say Website. Ill discuss
it over there. Installation time. Our arbor is going over
the kids sandbox. So Ill just slide one side up to where I want it and start digging some
holes. Now I can not possibly go over every possible
situation or outcome one may encounter while building a project like this. It cant be done.
You're just going to have to know a little about where you live, your ground characteristics,
building codes, things like that and go from there. I will show you what I did and if that
helps, great. 18 inches is what I'm going for.
This is a liquid rubberized material that is often used on roofs. There are several
types of material you can use for an application like this but it needs to stay pliable so
that it will expand and contract with the post. If it doesn't, you're going to have
problems. Some gravel at the bottom of the hole is going
to help with drainage. A lack drainage is a big reason why posts fail prematurely.
Alright here we go. I do not use concrete to set posts anymore. A hurricane or two will
break you of that habit pretty quick. Also concrete holds moisture next to the post causing
premature rot. I might talk a little more about that over on the blog post. Check the
description. Ill have the links in there. Now as long as I dont compact the dirt around
the post just yet I can still adjust it this way or that so I can make everything plumb
and level. Same thing for the front side.
The difference here is I wanna make sure the two sides are level with each other. So Ill
lay out one of the rafters across them and check a level.
I'll do that for both sides.
I also want to make sure the posts on both sides are the same distance from each other,
and adjust as needed.
Now I'll lay my rafters in place.
and set the front overhang.
Then I'll mark those lines.
Take the rafters back to my shop and use that line as a guide to drill some pocket holes.
Lay them back in place, line up the marks
to the beam and do the thing.
For the side trellises I'm just using a basic
vertical slat design. Ive seen some pretty cool setups on these things so it all depends
on how intricate you would like to be. But that my friends I will leave to you. As
for me I will throw some stain on here, lay some shade cloth over the top and my job is
done. Simply easy diy dot com for a cut list and materials. Until then.