We Built a Thing

I mentioned back when we had the patio installed that we had "plans" for it. One was the herb garden we built along one end. The other is the real masterpiece--a gazebo! I'll cover our progress over a few posts but, cut to the chase, it's done and we LOVE it. Let me tell you about it.

The purpose of the gazebo was to find a relatively cheap way to create a sort of screened-in porch. Because the back of our house has the slope of a cape cod and no back porch, there really was no realistic way to add on a porch without making major structural changes. We liked the idea of our brick (and now stone) patio but hate how the bugs feast on us all spring and summer (and fall). We liked the metal ones, usually made from aluminum, since they don't need treating the way a wood gazebo does, and opted for one with mosquito net curtains--they're not particularly stylish but they'll hopefully help do the job. 

We were torn on size between 10x10 and 10x12, but when the color we liked only came in 10x10, our decision was made. The purchase: Sojag Messina Sun Shelter in "champagne." The darker brown that seems to come more standard and is featured on the manufacturer's product page was nice, but we thought that the lighter color might keep the inside from heating up--a fear we had with the metal roof. It is probably true, now that it's all installed, that the extra two feet of the 10x12 would have fit just fine and been helpful, but oh well. Soooooo many parts.

And so, the construction began. This time, no professional crew, just two adults and some child labor. It became quickly evident that building the initial square was going to be a problem--holding the parts upright and attaching them and praying they didn't fall over and twist irreparably was...nearly impossible. Thank goodness we had helpers:

Soon, thanks to those helpers and a cordless drill with a hex set, at least the basic frame was upright.

Then the kids were sent off to play while D and I got the roof in place. We really liked the cupola design on this one--it should also make it a little less likely to get picked up by strong winds (but, as I'll discuss later, we're aren't just relying on this design element for that).

That took us until about the end of the day. "Good progress," we thought. Until we realized how many parts the roof panels came in. So many more parts and so many more bolts. But I'll save that for next time.