Assemble is perhaps a more appropriate term
.
This is (will be) an All Season Gazebo, prepared and supplied as a panelized package by Cedarshed Industries. Had been thinking for some time about a gazebo or some other structure that would potentially increase our outdoors at home time. The All Season model was chosen to hopefully offset the many windy days we get. Not strong winds but enough to limit comfortable outdoor time to some extent. The idea/project was brought to the forefront again during a recent trip in our GMC Motorhome to the Oregon and Washington Coast in search of waterfront camping. There was not much, actually none, to be had. After we got home from that trip I put the ol' fingers to work to research what we might do in our own back yard, which sits on a little 1/4 x 1/2 mile lake shared with the surrounding neighbors.
It turned out that what I was looking for was being built only a few miles from home. After visiting the plant and lucking out on a favorable delivery time there was no turning back.
This is more than a construction project to me. It's going to be a fun and soothing diversion from regular work. Writing about it here, regardless of whether anyone actually reads it, is part of that fun and diversion.
If you have questions about this page or the Gazebo Project please email me.
September 10, 2002
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On Time delivery gets the project off to a good start. |
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Because the Gazebo is more than 100 sq. feet in size a permit is required from the municipality. Took a little over a week but we're finally ready. The Gazebo is going alongside the Snowball bush between house/garage and the lake. I have a grade difference of 21 inches to contend with and while I have a few ideas I have not decided yet how to accommodate the slope. |
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I must commend Cedarshed on the completeness of the package.
I fully expected to get a list of hardware required, I.e. screws and nails.
Instead all nails and screws are provided. Even a Robertson (square) bit for
the electric drill/screwdriver was supplied. I opened pallet no. 1 to try
and get a feel for what's to come. Pallet No. 2 was marked to contain door
and windows leaving the floor and roof for pallet no. 1.
Some mental adjustments had to be made with reference to the instructions supplied and the gazebo kit supplied. The instructions included are for the kit that requires complete assembly instead of the panelized version received. This caused a little confusion when I tried to confirm that no parts were missing before I got started. Once it dawned on me that the headers were already assembled in the finished wall section I started to lay out some of the floor so that I could get a better visualization of how it was all going to go together, in particular to try and formalize a solution re the slope. |
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With shopping list in hand the Motorhome got drafted for Truck Duty. I'm going to use a combination of concrete blocks and deck posts to accommodate the slope. Hopefully the Building Inspector will agree with me. |
| The recap videos are MVP files (sorry) as
that was easiest/quickest scheme to use to test run 'em. |
End of Day One
You should see a video clip here but it may be browser limited. Still searching that out in my spare time. Not a lot of progress that can be seen but I think/hope a lot of headway was made in the planning department. |
To play the video again: Right click on it and select Play. |
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Day Two. Going to be a hot one today, 80+.. |
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To give a little more surface than a 4x4 by itself would provide I used a fabricated 4x4 tee. This also sets the posts back sufficiently to facilitate skirting. |
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Made good progress. Getting hot. Time for a break. |
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Got all the pads in today and closely leveled. Rim joists and long joists are in place. Tomorrow I'll start screwing stuff together. |
| Day Three. Before going into the fun of day three, a short comment re the construction progress and timetable. Timetable, there is none. As mentioned earlier this is a fun project. I make this comment in case someone is visiting that is thinking of a Gazebo and maybe even a Cedarshed one at that. Please don't use my progress, or lack thereof, as an indicator of how long it would take you to build it at your own site, especially if it's a level site. |
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About my site: I have a 22 inch difference between one side and the other. I'm using 16" stepping stones as a base for half the foundation and deck posts with the 4x4 tee for the other half. For blocks under the outside rim I'm removing the grass, down to gravel and backfilling with sand before placing the blocks. As the slope increases and additional blocks are needed I'm using 12" diameter blocks. I'm using exposed aggregate ones so that they would match our sidewalks. |
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On the bottom of the slope I dug down a little deeper. I'm planning to fill the complete hole with cement once everything is levelled. I'll probably wait until walls are up and roof on in case there is some early settling. |
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The center support is also made up of blocks. |
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Ran into a bit of a problem today. After screwing all the
joists etc. as instructed I was left with a 3/8" gap on the last long joist.
I used a come-a-long to pull it into place, which rearranged the center a
little pulling a couple of joists away from the center block. In retrospect
I probably should have used a different approach. Perhaps I'm just too
fussy.
The short joists fit like a glove, as did everything else sofar, aside from the little 3/8" mismatch mentioned above. The instructions said to pre-drill the toe-nail on the long joists. After a split or two I also predrilled most other places where screws were driven close to the edge. I used a very small drill bit as I thought that would still maintain holding power while making it a little easier to get the screws started. |
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Day
Three Recap Video |
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Day Four. A short one. Got the rest of the posts in
and everything level. Inspection is schedules for tomorrow. Hopefully Day
Five will see us able to proceed. Should go a little faster after the
concrete has hardened at the lower slope end as the rest is truly panelized.
Of course we have to pass inspection first
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I'm planning to pour some concrete into the holes containing the deck posts and 4x4 tees. I dug each hole down to gravel and then filled the bottom with sand to facilitate leveling before plunking the deck post block in. On the inside supports I used only a 4x4 post. The inside holes were a little harder to dig as I did it with joists in place instead of ahead of time. Perhaps not the best planning but hey... if I was too efficient someone way get the notion that I is an expert. |
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Day Five. I added some metal plates and angles to hold the joists and 4x4 posts in place. |
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Passed forms inspection with the only suggestion to add some screws at the bottom of each post to act as anchors as I am planning to cover the complete deck post in concrete. It confirmed that I was on the right track as that's what I had already in mind. Remember, this is amateur construction at its best, or perhaps worst. |
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Ready for the concrete. Going to wait until evening when the
gazebo site is in the shade and temperatures in general will be down a bit.
The objective for day five is to get all the concrete work done. In case you're wondering what the blocks are for in the center and at a couple of corners... weight, simply some weight to make sure all joists are resting on their support. Lawn is taking a beating. Between watering restrictions, hot days and me trampling on it it will probably be some time before it recovers. Oh well... off to Home Depot for concrete. A little after 9PM and today's' objective has been reached after several trips to HD. |
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Day Six. Early AM. A peek at our resident moochers that frequent our lawn and clean up under the bird feeders. The birds are either fussy or messy, or perhaps both but the ducks don't seem to mind. They are also the moving spots on the lawn that you may have noticed on the recap videos from time to time. |
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) The
concrete work may not be as neat or artistic as it could be but hopefully
it'll function as needed, I.e. hold everything in place and up. The posts
used are treated and a vapor barrier will be used between the blocks and rim
joists. |
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) Had to do a little tweaking here and there to make things
fit but nothing serious. Got the deck on loosely, meaning lots of screws to
drive tomorrow. |
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Starting to make it permanent. Of course being the inexperienced chicken that I am I'm pre-drilling the holes that are close to the edge on the deck planking. I'm also countersinking slightly so that the screw heads ends up flush without compressing the wood by forcing a countersink by the screw itself. I'll probably pre-drill the others too but may change my minds after the first few hundred. | |||||||||||
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Day
Six Recap Video |
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) Day
Seven.Today was spent tweaking, lining up and fastening the deck planks with the supplied 3" screws. Had to resort to a little white glue to keep some splintering in check. Not really splintering just a few pieces that would have departed to points unknown. Gluing them before they broke off will keep it looking good. The decking was supplied in 16 pieces. I think I have five or six fastened down so tomorrow will be more of today. |
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Day Eight. Most of the screws are in. Not totally happy with the way the inner decking is lining up. Perhaps too fussy, perhaps tired. Going to leave them for later, perhaps tomorrow. Going to tackle the walls tomorrow as I can fasten the inner decking even after the roof is on. |
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Day Nine. It looked much better after some rest. A few shims here and there to hold the decking into place while pre-drilling and screwing it down. Still have some to do but I decided to get a fresh countersink. By the way, I used a #6 pre-drill/countersink even though the screws used are #8. It made for a better flush finish. Of course not all screw heads are flush, some are a little lower but none higher. The block in the picture was used to keep a glued splinter in place while drying. If you look closely at the core block in the center you'll see that some leveling/sanding is in progress to adjust for either the block not being square or the installer being a little sloppy. Whatever the cause, nothing that a little sanding can't fix. Had to cut the bug screen a little but another layer will fix that too. |
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Final center positioning. Not all fastened down yet but all in place. Still have some leveling to do of the center insert. | |||||||||||
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Pallet #2 unwrapped. Today we add the walls. | |||||||||||
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A last look before the landscape changes. | |||||||||||
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) The
lawn tractor is put into service hauling one section at a time and with my
wife Louise helping it was actually quite easy to put the panels into place.
It took the first couple to kinda feel our way but after that it was clear
sailing. |
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) Clear
sailing until we got to the door that is. Maybe the door panel was built on
a Monday or Friday as that might explain how the door jambs could be left
longer than the uprights.
Nothing tremendously serious, just meant removing the panel for a little tweaking. |
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We removed the door and used a skill saw to trim the bottom of the door jambs so that everything would rest on the floor as intended once reinstalled. We left the door out of the frame and are saving it to install last. Saves us constantly propping it open. | |||||||||||
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Six windows out of the seven are working smooth as silk. Window #7 is a
little rough which appears to be caused by the bow in the header. I'm going
to try and pull the header up using the top one by adding some screws.
Hopefully that'll do it but it's being saved for after the roof is on. Update: It worked. I used six screws from above and it pulled it up sufficiently to make window number seven work just as nice as the rest. Aside from these few QA (Quality Assurance) glitches the Cedarshed kit continues to be the right choice. While this may sound like a commercial for Cedarshed, it's not intended to be. It's simply my personal blabbering about my little summer project and if it helps someone to select a gazebo or to continue building gazebos... great. |
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Day
Nine Recap Video |
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Day
Ten Recap Video |
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Day Eleven. It's fix my screw-up from yesterday day today. I deviated from the instructions slightly after I found that instead of the single center rafter discussed in the instructions the actual design has been changed to two short center rafters. Adding to the slight confusion was a slight mismatch in the angle-cut of the short rafters. |
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When we put the first roof section (rafters) together to get a feel for how things were going to fit we found that the angle on the short rafter was cut slightly wrong. No big deal I thought, I'd just use some longer screws so that I could place the screws where the short rafter would meet the long rafter. I then used the soffit boards to make sure I toe nailed the rafter in the right place on the header. | |||||||||
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I used screws instead of nails to fasten the soffit boards to the header and decided to put then all in now instead of after the roof was on, as was the official procedure. In theory it should not make any difference and it would have worked had it not been for another inaccuracy in the supplied soffit boards. They were too high as is obvious by the pictures but it simply did not register in yours truly's brain until a couple of more roof panels went up. | |||||||||||
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The result of the brain-dead period was that the roof panel did not seat properly due to the soffit board being too high. Had I been more alert or followed the proper sequence for installation the roof panels would have fit and the problem would have been isolated to trimming the soffit boards. | |||||||||||
| I decided to remove all the soffit boards after
it finally sunk in that they were too high. We would finish installing the
roof assemblies and worry about the soffit later. The roof assemblies fit
very well and were easy to install. With my wife's help we simply lifted
them over the fascia board and part way up on the rafters. We then moved the
ladder into place and pushed it up further. To install the roof panels on
the lake side, which was also the side with more distance between terra
firma and roof line, we would lift the panel onto the roof where it was
comfortable to do and them we worked it across/around the roof to the
correct side. The panels were then fastened to the rafters with screws. Not all done yet, but enough in place so that they won't slide/lift off. |
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) All
the roof panels are in place. Soffit boards will be trimmed to fit. Instead
of just cutting them smaller I'm cutting them at the angle of the roofline
for a better looking fit (in my opinion). As I'm fussing I'm occasionally
reminded that it's only a gazebo... but it's my gazebo. Well, perhaps not
really just mine, but I'm the one building it
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Day
Eleven Recap Video |
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Day Twelve. Tidying up and more roofing. Talk about a fish out of water... I'm 'way out on this one, but learning as I go. Am developing a new admiration for the folks that work with cedar shakes. |
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After a false start I think I'm getting the hang of it. What do I know about applying shingles... absolutely nothing. I tried following directions exactly with reference as to where to put the nails but it didn't seem right. The ridge cap shingles are supplied in a set and stapled to make a peak. On my first try I squished the ridge too much and the nails ended up where there was not much support during nailing. They sure split easily. | |||||||||||
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I started from scratch and nailed a little
higher on each shingle where it met the shingle below it rather than where
there was air. I sure hope I got it right. Guess I'll find out during the
first strong wind. I also maintained the angle/peak of the ridge cap as delivered or at least much closer to it than my first try. |
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| Day Thirteen. Day off today. No constructing, just some reflecting. Where did I goof the worst or what would I do differently if I were to do it again. In retrospect I should've paid more attention when the long rafters were assembled to assure that they were straight. While driving the screws home I allowed some twist to occur. Not a lot, but some. Not serious, just a mental note for gazebo #2. (Just kidding :-). Probably a day or two and I'll have to make a decision re oil or stain or whether to leave it natural. I'll probably apply some kind of protection, just not sure what yet. Guess I'll see what the folks at Home Depot have to offer when the time comes. If anyone has any suggestions or experiences... please speak up and email me. |
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| The finishing up. Luck? Good design? Good construction? I don't care what it was but the inside of the gazebo stayed bone-dry even though I goofed off yesterday instead of finishing the ridge caps. We had one heck of a downpour this morning. It was reasonably short it was a pretty good test, for this area anyways. Soffit boards boards are all back up. Used screws instead of nails. Seemed much easier. Got some more of the ridge cap on tonight. Soaked the skinny end of the shingles to minimize some splitting. Seems to work. Going to be short a few ridge shingle sets though... about 100 supplied and seems approx. 96 needed. Had a few bad ones and broke a few so I'll probably have to get some extra ones next week and suggest that they may consider to be a little more generous in the supply. Getting close. Rats....
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Finished the floor today, screwing it down that is. Still have some cleanup to do where the machinery left it's mark. Hopefully it'll sand out sufficiently to blend in a little better. |
) It's
looking pretty darn good even if I do say so myself. Been pondering re the
painting and electrical.
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Grandkids were over today. Had our first lunch
in the gazebo amongst the tools, screws and nails. Hopefully many more to
come, minus the tools, screws and nails. Good use was made of the pieces
that were used as packing on the pallets. Grandkids used it to build
playhouses. |
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) Everybody is a critic. |
) Some of the folks with front row seats to the gazebo project. |
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| August 5th, BC Day today so there was
time to do some cleanup around the yard as well as getting the GMC ready for
a camp-out at the Abbotsford Air Show this weekend.
Also found some time to work on the gazebo. |
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Figured it was time to tackle the door. Fit well it didn't at first try. Started to move the door jambs around but I just couldn't get it right overall. In the process of trying to square the door jamb I had to remove one jamb completely as it seemed too long. It was a little tricky to remove jamb by itself as it was assembled with staples and a nail gun I would guess, but I managed. As I was not getting to where I wanted to go I decided to start from scratch. Checked the doorway for level and found it off a bit. Corrected that with a shim and then started all over again to square the door jamb. |
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Some of the shingles I had left over from when
we built the garage made for good wedging material. There was lots of
wedging material included as packing on the gazebo pallets but the shingles
worked better due to the longer taper and since I had them, that's what I
used. Turned out that the jamb I had removed was still a touch too long. I had already cut this jamb once when the door wall was installed but now it turns out I didn't cut it enough. It was a little easier to get a nice square cut this time as it was totally removed and I was able to clamp a guide to the jamb for the skill saw to follow. It turned out well in a relatively short time. |
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) Spacer assures a better fit all around. |
Have decided to use BEHR DECKplus, Natural Clear, when the time comes for staining. I'm still planning to leave the window frames without stain so that they will age/darken naturally and develop into a natural frame. Hoping to get the roof finished tomorrow. |
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Roof all done. Got a late start as I had to wait for the roof to dry up after a little downpour last night and hence a late finish.
First look in daylight.... Still lots left to do but looking better all the time. On a gazebo construction break until next week while we take in the Abbotsford International Airshow. |
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| Tuesday, August 13th, 2002 Excellent weekend at the Airshow. On return Monday I did the ol' Home Depot run to pick up paint, or rather stain, and prepped the outside walls and floor. We stained the outside this evening after it started to cool down a bit. We used a clear protecting stain. Hope to do the floor tomorrow. |
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August 22, 2002: Gazebo construction
continues... After some time off I'm back at it. Still have some staining to do but decided to start on the furnishings, the first being a wood burning fireplace. Did a bunch of shopping today and got the hole cut for the chimney installation. Chimney base is not fastened yet. Figured it'd be best to get a fresh start in AM as some accurate metal cutting will be required to assure a properly lined up base. It would've been a little easier to install the chimney during initial assembly of the Gazebo but I didn't know just where/how it would fit in the scheme of things with reference to interior layout. The fireplace base will be a 4'x5' sheet of 24gauge metal on the floor covered with slate tiles. The fireplace metal base will sit on the slate and will be filled with sand. The wall behind the fireplace will receive a sheet metal treatment as well. Originally I had hoped to find a free-standing Acorn type fireplace, but no luck I did find a garden fireplace that uses a stovepipe chimney, which I'm extending into a proper chimney system. After the fireplace is in, more staining. Have
also decided to expand on the outside, as in landscaping. My original
thought was to just use lattice on the grade side but have now decided to do
a 24" garden wall with Allan Blocks which will extend our garden area as
well as providing some flower bed space. Ahhh, those little projects...
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Finished mounting the Chimney Box. Put everything leading up to the box together loosely to see how it would fit. Stovepipe too long and slate too wobbly. Time for some rethink. | |||||||||||
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When I looked at the slate tiles at Home Depot the bottoms were all smooth. Not so for most in the boxes so I decided to build a sandbox. Used some 3/4 x 3/4 trim material as a border and a layer of play sand to give the slate better support. Only got a few done before it got too dark. Seems to work. I can now step on the tiles and no tipping. Not that they'll be walked on much anyways but much better now. Back to considering the slightly over 2 bucks per sq foot a good deal. | |||||||||||
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A few folks enjoying a superb summer evening in the air. | |||||||||||
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Saturday, August 24, 2002. Had high hopes for gazebo progress today but a screen door repair in the real house took priority. Still managed to get slate base finished and stovepipe fitted. Added a new Black & Decker tool to the arsenal, an electric saw they call Navigator. Made cutting the hole in the roof reasonable as well as making it easy to cut the stovepipe to desired length by changing to a hacksaw blade. |
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Sunday update: Gazebo got its chimney today. Not the prettiest results on the flashing but as it's only visible by the folks that happen by in a balloon I concentrated on keeping the rain out. Would have been a lot easier/nicer to put the flashing on before the ridge cap shingles, but that's the way it goes. First rain will tell if I did right. Rain collar I was sold turned out too small so it'll be another trip to the store before the chimney is really finished. |
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) Finally
solved the table dilemma. Had been pondering a teak table of some sort but
they were all too big and what if/when it wasn't needed/wanted? The solution
was some laminated pine shelving made into a fold-down set of table tops to
give about 22 inch x 12 feet of space. Once again I confirmed that I was no carpenter
though. While it all fit perfectly when installed in the up position,
dropping the leafs down was another matter as the geometrics changed in the
corners. A few cuts later made it an acceptable fit though. They are going to get a clear coat of Varathane and should/will fit right in. |
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| Labor Day Weekend... the final push,
hopefully . Been adding some touches here and there during the week in preparation of the first fire in the fireplace before the long weekend is over. |
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) Got
a good start on the wall after roughing in for electrical and the high tech
side of things such as the wiring to enable the gazebo to connect to the Internet.
Still have to dig a ditch to run all the wiring to the garage. |
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We have lights. Ran 2 conduits to the GMC House (garage). One for power and the other for hi-tech cabling with room for additional should it be needed in future. Sometimes it really is advantageous to just go with the flow as far as planning goes. My initial thought was to simply plug the gazebo in to an outside outlet. Turned out not too bad to dig the trench and run the wiring right to the panel in the garage. A much better setup than the original plan. |
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| September 6th, 2002 Well here are, it's Friday again. Real close to a complete finish even with some roofing redo. Pulled two of the leaking ridge caps today and used some 2x2 flashing material to cover the roof joint before replacing the ridge cap. I have one more to replace based on the last rain but as it's the one on the lake side and therefore miserable to get to via the ladder(s) I have readily available I may wait until another rain to confirm it's still leaking as I did some sealing near the top that may have affected/fixed it. One can hope. |
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The Last Stick, or rather the last piece of
trim went on today (Saturday, Sep 7, 2002). The last piece of trim went on today and I'm calling the project complete even though there may be some staining to do yet. I'm still undecided on whether to stain the inside or whether to leave it to age naturally. Tomorrow we finally get to test the fireplace. |
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| Tomorrow came... | Fireplace test was a bust. Turned the Gazebo
into a smokehouse. Made some modifications and it got better, but still not
good enough. Back to the drawing board. |
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| September 9th, 2002 - 6PM Spent the day fussing with the fireplace. I'm cautiously optimistic that I have it remanufactured to suit. Topped the day off with some picture taking.
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September 10, 2002 - Project complete! The project was brought to completion with a professional photo shoot session. Cedarshed liked the project sufficiently to perhaps use it in some future marketing efforts. It was fun to watch the Professionals at work. We did our best to keep out of the way while watching. |
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| The Professionals at Work |
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| Epilog | Even though the project has ended there is more coming as I start to use the Gazebo. Come back and check once in a while. | |||||||||||
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The Gazebo gets company. An 8 x 3
Yard Saver, also from
Cedarshed.
Assembly was a piece of cake. Even easier than IKEA furniture. It was supplied on a small pallet, knocked down but walls, roof etc. all came pre-assembled and just required putting in place and screwing together. We used the same clear deck stain as on the Gazebo. The pallet was disassembled and the 1x4 cedar boards where used as back supports for hooks, etc. inside the Yard Saver. |
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First use... Tea-Time with Grandma. | |||||||||||
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Fireplace Update I did a bunch of struggling to modify the Outdoor Fireplace to a Gazebo Fireplace but at the end I gave up and bought a small freestanding fireplace. In retrospect, that's what I should've done in the first place but who said schooling is cheap. Someday I may still get my big ol' freestanding Acorn type fireplace but this one will do nicely in the meantime. It actually add to the comfort level a little as the fire is totally contained when the glass door is latched. It does exactly as I had hoped... allowing extended usage of the Gazebo.
Year 'round camping
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Definitely a project, but a fun one.
Comments, suggestions? Email me.
Page was last updated on October 28, 2002 01:27 PM