Gazebo Number One

[USNative]

I really like the color Eddie, and I could see right away from the way its done that you wanted the outdoorsy rustic style. I think it looks fantastic & once the whole thing is finished I bet it will even look better. :thumbsup:

But like you said, it can always be changed if your not quite happy with it. I think your right in staying with it till you finish more and then see how it looks. Like I said though, I think once the other things are done it will look even better.

The design of the Gazebo alone has so much potential to look great with many color variations. IMO I think a small trim around the all the glass, something in perhaps a dark natural wood, would look really nice on that cupola.

Again, awesome job and I love it ! Keep on pluggin' away on that beautiful project and happy building.

 

[EddieWalker]

I spent a lot of time trying out different ideas on the cupola, but it always seemed to busy to me in my drawings. I tend to get carried away, then scale it back. I'm unsure if I scaled it back too far, or if simple is better? The cupola is a big feature, but just one of many parts, so I'm hesitant to draw any more attention to it until I have the logs stained and all the iron installed.

I really appreciate eveyone's suggestions.
Thank you,
Eddie

 

[nhkabotab7800]

plans to put a light up in the cupola?

Rick

 

[EddieWalker]

Yes. There is going to be two beams in the ceiling. The ceiling fan will hang from the beams, where they cross. My concern and solution is to put an outlet box on top of the beam and use a four prong twist on plug to create a sort of lamp. My problem is in how to change the light bulb when it's up there. I thought about one of those special tools to unscrew light bulbs, but I know they break and don't work real well. This way, I can just take off the entire lamp and replace the bulb. I want the bulb to be in the middle of the glass blocks, so once the beam is in place and the outlet installed, I'll measure the height and build my mount. It seems simple enough in my mind, but that's alway what makes me nervous.

Eddie

 

[Obed]

Wow Eddie! Great Job! I've been pretty busy and haven't followed many TBN threads other than my own the past few months. I saw this thread a couple days ago and have just finished reading it all. The gazebo looks awesome. I love the design of the roof. The brackets and the lone star lamps all seem to go together. The cedar posts are incredible. You have obviously put a lot of time into this project and it shows.

My wife has mentioned our building a gazebo at a certain spot on our property so your thread caught my attention. I'm amazed that you are considering building three gazebos. I would be worn out after building one.

Did you have anybody helping you when you built the rafters? That part looked a little tricky to do single handedly.

Obed

 

[EddieWalker]

I did the rafters on my own. The trick was getting the cupola set at the right height, level and centered. That took a few hours of adjusting, but once it was where it needed to be, the rafters went in pretty easily.

The next gazebo is going to be quit a bit bigger and fancier then this one. I've learned quite a few things on this one that I hadn't considered or realized until I actually did it. When this happens, I adjust and modify my plan for the next one. That will be on my lake, so it's really going to be special!!!

Eddie

 

[nhkabotab7800]

A light will look fantastic reflecting thru the glass blocks...sort of a light house feel...

just a thought but could you make it so the light could be lowered to change blub?

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm not making the progress that I wanted to on this, but I am still at it.

The cupula is up high enough that getting into it would be awkward with the beam installed, so I wanted to have the inside finished off before building the beam.

I used 1/2 inch Hardi backer board for the ceiling and walls of the cupola. It's what's used in showers for tile, and a really great product for wet areas. My concern is that since I did not vent the cupola, that it will trap moisture and create condensation. I'm fine with that, but don't want it to rot in there. I primed the Hardi with exterior Zinsser primer and then two coats of exterior latex paint.

Once the cupola was done, I built the beam. It has two purposes. One is to help hold the walls in. The basic design of a gazebo does this, but adding the beam just makes it stronger. The other purpose is to have a place to mount my ceiling fan and light for the cupola.

I used two 16 ft 2x6's mounted verticaly in one direction, then a single 16 ft 2x6 mounted horizontaly in the other direction. That gives me a solid, continuous board going in both directions!!!! I know it's obvious and simple, but in the planning of this, I had issues figuring this out.

I added metal brackets and put 2x4's in between the 2x6's to make it solid and give me a place to hide my wires.

Figureing out where the center of the one beam was so I could get the other beam centered "AND" squared proved to be a bit challenging. I sometimes do things backwards and create more work for myself. I measured from the cupola instead of from the outside width of the beam at first. That didn't look right, so then I did it from the outside in and got it right. You can see some of my markings in the last picture that show my confusion at figuring it.

Eddie

 

[USNative]

Really looks nice and the Hardi Backer Board and painting to prevent condensation damage up there in that Cupola was good thinking.

Looks like you are getting close to having that Gazebo done. Really Nice!:thumbsup:

 

[EddieWalker]

Nothing new to share except I took a picture of it while walking out to my deer blind this afternoon. I didn't realize that I haven't posted any pics of the whole thing since painting the trim and cuplola.

Eddie