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| An arching garden arbor, covered with roses or other climbing greenery, can create an attractive, enticing entrance or transitional space in your yard, especially when it arches over a gate. |
This arbor from Walpole Woodworkers may have the look of real wood, but it's actually made from cellular PVC, a product called AZEK. Cellular PVC behaves similarly to wood when being cut or drilled, but it has one great advantage over wood: It will never rot. |
If you're replacing an old gate, start by removing the old gate, its posts, and the adjacent fence panel on either side of the gate. |
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| To remove a fence panel, you may need to cut through the post closest to the gate, near the bottom. Once one side is free, pivot the fence panel slightly and you may be able to pull free of the other post. |
Once the fence rails are out, it's time to remove the original gate posts.
This may be done easily using a pickax or maddock. Swing the tip of the pickax into the base of the post, and pry the post out of the ground. |
Next, insert the new posts. Careful layout work before digging post holes is critical for this step. The arbor is a four-sided structure, and each corner post has to be positioned precisely to fit. |
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| Pound stakes into the ground in line with the sides of the arbor, but each stake should go slightly outside of the boundaries of the square, like the ends of the lines of a tic-tac-toe board. Tie strings to the stakes on opposite sides. Where strings cross, you will be digging your post holes. |
A large right triangle will be very helpful in ensuring that your sides are perpendicular. Place a hole template over the four places where the strings cross, and spray paint to mark the place where your holes will go. Remove the stakes and string. |
Use a post spade to cut and remove the turf. Then use a post hole digger to excavate the hole. Fiskars makes a digger with offset handles which allows for deeper digging and eliminates a common problem with traditional diggers: bruised knuckles! |
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| If you're replacing a gate to a pool or some other potentially dangerous area, you may need to put up a temporary enclosure for a few days, while you work. This will keep kids or pets from getting into the area while you work. |
Construction will start with the posts. They have an extruded aluminum core, which is surrounded by the cellular PVC material, called AZEK. |
Start by adding a couple of inches of rock to the bottom of the first hole. This is for drainage, but it also (and more importantly for right now) gives you a moveable base that will allow the post to be steadied with a simple twisting action. |
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Once you have the post at roughly the correct height, fill the hole about one-third full with more rock. |
At this point, the post will support itself. Remove the protective plastic wrap and reach for a post level. This is a great tool, because it's held in place with an elastic band, leaving both hands free. Even better, it shows plumb or vertical in both directions at the same time. |
When you're satisfied that everything is plumb, compact the rock using the blunt end of a six-foot steel pry bar. Then repeat the process with the other front post. |
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