A Garden Pavilion Update

Last week I told you about a garden pavilion I've been working on and off again in my parents yard. I was working on building the railing to begin enclosing the structure for eventual screening. We completed the rails last Wednesday and here's how it looks now.

The railing pattern:

We designed this pattern after a couple images we saw online from various sites. It's construction is pretty easy once you figure out to use a block as a template for the center and build two T's around it. The problem was we didn't figure that one out until the second day! The "T Forms", as we started to call them, are set in between two 2x2's.

From the front of the pavilion:

This is the view from the house. Eventually my parents would like to put some type of path between the back porch and the retreat. They want a path that would allow them to get to the pavilion in the morning without their feet becoming soaked by the morning dew.

From the right side:

This past weekend they added mulch around the muddy construction areas. Plantings will come later but getting something down to prevent erosion and dress up the area was necessary. Mulch does a good job at addressing those concerns. The rail pattern on this side is slightly different than the other sides as the posts are set a little differently. Along the long sides the posts are about 4 feet apart while the short sides are almost 6 feet apart. On the other side of the pavilion-retreat is a circle of stones that I helped them build a couple years ago as a center piece focal point in their backyard.

From the back:

Here it is from the back looking toward the house.

There are still several things that need done but we're at a point where the retreat is very usable and comfortable.

Still to do:

• Build frames for the screens
• Build the door
• Add decorative trim to the sides of the roofline
• Put up screens
• Stain the wood
  

I caught my parents in the retreat on Saturday sipping spiced apple cider and enjoying the nice fall weather.