It's Gazebo Time, Again!

The summer building season has finally started here on the Witch’s Island. Between the rotten old blackflies and the cold wet spring it’s been tough to find time or incentive to get out to the gazebo. If you remember, last year Hubby stopped construction sometime around November with about 25% of the work still to do. Last week it was dry enough to bring the power tools out of the basement so he started installing the floorboards and the cedar looks just as nice as we were hoping.

Hubby finally dragged his mitre saw out of the basement to start this year’s building season.

The Grackle nest was finally empty and we could get on with building.

The gazebo held up very well through the winter. It didn’t noticeably shift on its footings which is a good thing. The paint looks good, too. The only issue we had was the loss of one shingle during a wind and rain storm in December that bordered on hurricane speeds. It will be difficult to fix but I have faith that it will look as good as new when he is done.

We’re doing everything we can to keep the insects out of our gazebo.

The main purpose of the gazebo is to allow us to sit outside without the insects eating us alive so we’re screening not just the windows but the roof vents and the floor as well. Hubby rolled out the screen across the floor joists and stapled it down just prior to laying out the floor boards.

Here’s another look at the screening for the first segment.

Hubby cut the boards to a rough length at first.

The boards were numbered and angles marked before being removed and trimmed to their final length.

Installing the boards was relatively painless but, like everything with this building, very time consuming. There was one little hiccup. When he put in the first section Hubby was putting screws into every joist he could find and that would have become distracting when seen across the whole floor. Also, he had set the screws way too deep and that looked messy, as well. For the next section he just put in two screws at each end of the boards and that seems to be more than enough to hold them down. It looks a lot neater, too. So, by the time he got the seventh segment installed it was clear that the first one had to go!

The first boards have been installed and screwed down.

My gazebo finally has a floor , sorta!

Meanwhile, I was in charge of the gardens. Everything is looking lush and healthy. That’s not surprising with all the rain we have had but the veggies would like a little sunshine to go with all that moisture. The only things that seem to be struggling are the cucumbers. We are on our fourth planting now, the previous three having been wind-whipped or frost-damaged. Fourth time’s the charm!

While Hubby was sawing wood I was tending my babies.

We’re trying to keep track of which varieties do best this year.

The Bleeding Hearts have been going crazy this year.

A close-up of the Bleeding Hearts.

The wild lupines are in blossom now.

The second section is matched to the first but the ends are left long.

The second section is completed.

That’s starting to look like a floor!

One more segment to go!

Now that he knew what he was doing, Hubby decided that he didn’t like the job he did putting in the first section.

The first segment has been removed. I wonder how that cedar would smell burning in my fire pit.

We found a home for all the plywood scraps that had been underfoot since last summer. One of my co-workers runs a small farm, raising chickens and rabbits. He took all those odd shaped pieces and will turn them into coops and hutches. It’s surprising how much room that freed up in the gazebo.

Big Red took away all the plywood scraps.

We did a pretty good job last year of estimating the amount of wood that we would need for the floor. Do you remember this picture of the pile of boards sitting in the yard? All that remains is 7 of the long one at the top. Pretty good for amateurs, I think!

The stack of cedar boards last year.

The floor is almost complete now. All that remains to be done is to add one more piece to each segment and some kind of decorative detail at the centre. Of course a bit of sanding and some water-proofing will be required, too. It’s getting there!

That’s a mighty fine looking floor!