i got Pot ting Bench

haha! you were thinking something else weren't you?  shame on you!

after several weeks of a little weld here, a little weld there, Nacho finished my custom potting bench this past weekend.  unfortunately i don't have any 'before' pics boooo.  but the before was a combination of salvaged pallets sitting on top of salvaged landscape bricks. do you see the theme here?  as proud as i was of my salvaged goodness, i just was not confident in it's abilities to withstand a flood & that is something we have to plan for in anything we do here.  so beholdmy new potting bench!

i've got shelves for storage, a wire rack for hanging, & a wire grate (in the middle) for soil to fall through to a collection bin.  pretty nifty eh?
i still get to shout out some slavaged goodness because the boards that we used for all 3 shelves are leftover pieces of our deck build.  that stuff is pretty heavy on it's own, so this thing is unlikely to go anywhere & has already proven it can withstand a flood or two.  the wire backing is leftover cattle/hog confinement wire from the gabions.  i hate to waste anything.

so props to Nacho for a nice build & to moi for outstanding Management! now i'm free to get my garden on!

Tweet

Finis!

we never thought we'd see this day, but it finally came. THE DECK IS FINISHED....well, techinically speaking.

okay, this is some important part of the process. it has something to do with crimping. i paid so much attention when nacho was explaining it that i got too excited and now can't remember all of it. but it's important i'm sure.

and this is another important thing that i can't explain. but it has something to do with ferrels and turn buckles and bears, oh my!

put them all together and you have this....

and after 3 years of putting them together, you have this....

and that's a little thing we like to call FINISHED! that's right Moser....F I N I S H E D!!!

Tweet

props to Rick

and here's the guy that's making the railing completion possible!

Tweet

end of the tunnel

thanks to Rick, this thing may actually be coming to an end!

Tweet

deck update....seriously!

okay, so it's been SOOO long since i (1) took any pictures of the deck and (2) posted anything about it, that it's probably safe to assume it's done and we've moved on to some other project. WRONG! no sir, nothing ever goes fast around here! it's season three of the Infinity Deck (because it just goes on and on). i don't think i took any pictures of the deck last summer and a lot has happened since then. true to form, i changed my mind about something and we now have a new section added to the deck...cuz ya know, we needed more room. and, of course, i forgot to take a picture of it today before it got dark so the Extension will have to wait until tomorrow. but since i promised Korby i'd post something, here goes.
some of you may remember the time we used interior molding for railing. let's see that was the winter 2007. the year we started all this. the 2nd winter saw string (i'm not kidding) string as the railing. yeah, JT, that really was string. and now, in summer3, we are well on our way to an actual, real life, something close to a dictionary definition, railing! nacho has been working his but off the last 3+ weeks and here's what he has to show for it:

First up: You have to train your top rail!

You can't just set the boards up there for cryin' out loud. so you lay them across the posts (stainless steel works best!) and you let them sit out in the sun so they sag. this creates a "memory". then when you turn them over and they bow up, you attach the support bar to them and it forces the to straighten out. but won't they just sag again? nope! the "memory" and the support bar keep that from happening. fyi, this was an actual conversation. oh, and i want to be sure to mention that nacho drilled out all the holes for the posts without a single mess up! good nachos!

Next Up: this rule does not apply to the stair railing

there was no training going on here. just straight up support bar underneath and attaching them to the posts. all the railings attach to the post by this cool little sleeve (that i also didn't take a picture of). it's a smaller diameter piece of post, with a square peice welded on top. it fits in the post and the railing screws into the square plate. done!

Finally: yes, this is actual stainless cable

but no, it's not permanently in place. not to get ahead of himself, nacho strung a few sections just to see how it would look. and it's going to look awesome. he's encountering some engineering issues though...so Korby & Moser, please call him and make him talk to you about this so we can pick another brain. the simple fix would be to buy the $25.00 turn buckles that already do whatever it is that needs to be done. but we need 50 or so of those and, well, that ain't gonna happen.

there are plenty more pictures. i just have to find them (ahem, take them) and post them. i swear there is an Extension and i will show it considering the pain in the butt it was to add. but it has made for the most awesome hammock hangout. Arnie is planning her deck with a hammock cave too!

and i cannot say enough about how impressive this has all been in that nacho has done so much with the help of friends, but also so much totally on his own. it has really given me a huge appreciation for his patience and persisitence. i would have hired this out a long time ago and probably not gotten something i like as much as i know i'm going to like this!

Tweet

step one

so i MEANT to post this weeks ago, but i meant to do a lot of things that i didn't. but while i went back to the motherland, nacho and co. worked diligently on my "dream door". so we are famous for stuff "washing up on our beach". when we talked about taking out the picture window in our living room and installing a door, i said "if i could have my dream door, i'd like the 4-panel door. but i realize i will have to settle for the 3-panel slider." well, thanks to Lakeside, i didn't have to settle and i didn't have to pay full price. it might as well have washed up on the beach! AND it was installed in record time. so this ongoing deck project can now be accessed directly from the living room. and this past weekend, nacho worked like mad to get the step built for it. for once, a project checked off the list before i even had time to put it on! Thanks babe! and thanks tons Lakeside

Tweet

custom railing

well, it's taken some time, but we finally have the railing up! yeah, right! i guess this will hold us for the winter. at least it will keep Matrix from jumping off - he actually did this past weekend. oh, and yes, this was taken with the camera that was part of the massacre last week. but the lens is a loaner from a friend - thanks Joe!

Tweet

phase 1 complete

kudos to nacho for working so hard this last week to get the decking done. that completes phase 1. now onto phase 2, stairs. and he swears phase 3, railing, will be done before the end of the year. well, i'm living on borrowed time anyway so what's 4-5 more months. good job babe!

Tweet