November Wedding Garden Arbor #3

I'm actually writing this at the end of January, 2010, but thought I would put this entry where it belongs, in November of 2009...  Sorry folks - have been busy, but will try and catch up a bit.

The Garden Arbor was a success!  You would think something so simple to make would have taken less time, but I barely had it done in time for the wedding.  There was a lot of prep-work (pre-painting things, and even selecting materials and paint that wouldn't look shabby too quickly) but even assembly took some time.

The treated wood that it is made from took a long time to dry - it was still damp-ish to the touch, 2 weeks after buying it.  We finally brought it into the living room to bake in front of a roaring fire as time was getting short.

The only major change to the design was not cutting out side "windows" in the lattice - I couldn't figure out a way to cut the vinyl lattice without it shattering somewhat - actually wasted a sheet attempting to cut good windows with a variety of hand and motorized tools.  After the wedding, I discovered that regular straight tin snips / shears make great cuts in the stuff - who would ha' thunk it.  I think it was the only tool I didn't try beforehand.  Circular Saws threw chunks, Jigsaws melted it rather than cut it, Hacksaws also melted it, Straight-cut router bits either melted it or threw chunks, depending on bit diameter... 

Oh, another change was that the side flower boxes weren't used in the ceremony - built, just not used.  The vine artificial flowers were used as shown and looked great though. 

My ability to cut out wooden hearts was sorely tested - we ended up buying those from a local retail outlet of Craft Warehouse.  The trim colors of Blue and Green for the hearts were a nice find.  The local ACE mixes small sample-size containers to try a color out - and at $4 each there was plenty left over.  I'm very glad I didn't have to buy a quart of each!

Treated and "Marine Grade" wood was used throughout so it should last a good many years!

Congratulations Jeremy and Natalia!

November Wedding Garden Arbor #2

A couple of people emailed me asking what I meant by "lattice" and "flower boxes" so this post is mostly about the rough pic showing most of what I was talking about.  The top will have lattice too, but attempting to draw lattice conforming to a curve in an orthographic projection using MS Paint is beyond me!  Eventually I'll figure out how to do it in SketchUp, but for now, shrug.
In thinking about this design, I think if I had the skills and right tools, I would make the Arbor frame out of powder coated welded steel for durability and to give it a more "airy" feeling & to allow it to survive outdoors longer.  Vinyl instead of wood lattice was selected by the couple for its durability.  But, wood for the frame is warmer to the touch and more relaxed than formal & it will be beautiful.  (Fingers crossed)
Oh, in this Home Depot picture you can see what I was talking about regarding wood patches to tie the top and the sides together.  I'm glad we can do without those!

November Wedding Garden Arbor

Our only local cousins oldest son Jeremy is getting married to Natalia (who is already part of the family) in just less than one month! I asked them what they would like me to make for them as a gift and instead of some piece of indoor furniture, they came up with the idea of a garden arbor - that they will be married under! How fun is that? The only picture for this post is a simple illustration of the basic frame of the arbor / arch. Five feet wide and four feet deep, it will be the perfect size to frame the lovely couple and minister, and a garden bench afterward. The design is Jeremy and Natalia's - I just had to figure out how to fit the bits together.
Details of this Arbor:  The arch joins the uprights smoothly, rather than with overhangs like some.  As they are getting married outdoors, the arbor will disassemble into 3 pieces (top and two sides) for easy transport.  The sides and top will be composed of lattice over the frame shown, with an arch-topped "window" in each side.  The middle rail on each side will support a flowerbox, also decorated with hearts. The lowest side rail is slightly above the "feet" to keep it from ground contact.  The top rails abutt the bottom rails of the arch. 
I was looking at different ways of joining the arch to the sides and have seen a number of relatively simple ways, from overlapping wooden joining plates to metal straps.  My first inclination was to join the pieces in some hidden fashion, both for appearance and to prevent places for the ubiquitous rain and dew to catch and aid in the decay of this structure.  What I came up with is shown.  The rails themselves will be joined by screws from the bottom side of the top side rail into the bottom of the bottom rails of the arch, so no wooden patch plates or Simpson Strong-ties will be needed.  So a nice smooth appearance. 
The fasteners are stainless steel, the lattice is vinyl and the wooden frame is treated cedar 2x2s, painted white.  Exterior construction caulk to keep rain out of places it shouldn't be.  The side flower boxes are cedar. Construction begins this upcoming Saturday.