Improving My Backyard Platform
About 8 years ago I build a nice platform in my garden made from scaffolding planks. It worked well but wasn't forever since I didn't painted it nor did I took any other measures to preserve it,apart from replacing two planks after a few years. So, combined with wet Dutch summers it rotted.
This summer It was time to replace it. No more dangerous planks with rotting holes or refugee place for snails that ate my plants.
My dad had some old oak flooring behind his house that he gave to me, and with some hardwood logs that I had lying around and some old hardwood door-posts from a dump it would be a nice summer holiday project that shouldn't consume much time....boy was I wrong!
First I had to get rid of the old platform, which was one, but than, where do I stow some 5 m long planks in a small garden where the new planks had to be worked on? Luckily my neighbor didn't had any problems with me putting the wood in his garden,since the good man was on vacation.
Than I had to figure out how to put the small oak parts together to use it in the most economic way. I even had to glue some parts together to get pieces that where long enough. the old screws had to be removed first also. But it came out quite nice,as I may say so myself, since it forced me to design the platform with a big wavelike curve, which really fits well it the rest of the curvy lines in my garden.
Than I had to cut off the sides and tops of the planks, saw it in the right form, sanding it (22 planks!), routed the sides and oiled the bottoms (thank god, my wive could help me with that).
Than I had to lay out the frame but because I used all different pieces of scrap wood and even had to saw the door-posts in the right wideness, being hard wood, that took me some time. Than I painted the frame, because I wanted to be sure it can stand some time.
than the old concrete stones below the old platform had to be putted aside so I could level the ground so I could pile the stones later to rise the platform frame. But not before I placed some anti-root plastic sheet on the ground.
Well, after laying down the frame I could place the planks, drilling the holes for stainless steel screws (off course I had to short, so had to buy new ones), than I put two layers of oil on the top, made a concrete planter box with mosaic of old Mexican tiles from my kitchen and now I only have to lay down some pavement in the front of it.
This one is still in development but I thought it might be a nice Instructable for the fix and improve contest. (Besides a dozen others of my projects for which I, regrettably don't have the time to make it in an Instructable now)
This summer It was time to replace it. No more dangerous planks with rotting holes or refugee place for snails that ate my plants.
My dad had some old oak flooring behind his house that he gave to me, and with some hardwood logs that I had lying around and some old hardwood door-posts from a dump it would be a nice summer holiday project that shouldn't consume much time....boy was I wrong!
First I had to get rid of the old platform, which was one, but than, where do I stow some 5 m long planks in a small garden where the new planks had to be worked on? Luckily my neighbor didn't had any problems with me putting the wood in his garden,since the good man was on vacation.
Than I had to figure out how to put the small oak parts together to use it in the most economic way. I even had to glue some parts together to get pieces that where long enough. the old screws had to be removed first also. But it came out quite nice,as I may say so myself, since it forced me to design the platform with a big wavelike curve, which really fits well it the rest of the curvy lines in my garden.
Than I had to cut off the sides and tops of the planks, saw it in the right form, sanding it (22 planks!), routed the sides and oiled the bottoms (thank god, my wive could help me with that).
Than I had to lay out the frame but because I used all different pieces of scrap wood and even had to saw the door-posts in the right wideness, being hard wood, that took me some time. Than I painted the frame, because I wanted to be sure it can stand some time.
than the old concrete stones below the old platform had to be putted aside so I could level the ground so I could pile the stones later to rise the platform frame. But not before I placed some anti-root plastic sheet on the ground.
Well, after laying down the frame I could place the planks, drilling the holes for stainless steel screws (off course I had to short, so had to buy new ones), than I put two layers of oil on the top, made a concrete planter box with mosaic of old Mexican tiles from my kitchen and now I only have to lay down some pavement in the front of it.
This one is still in development but I thought it might be a nice Instructable for the fix and improve contest. (Besides a dozen others of my projects for which I, regrettably don't have the time to make it in an Instructable now)