Let's Grill

The weather forced us inside to finish the construction of the pergola over the grill surround on the Crooked Lake job. Ryan was able to complete all the building and adhesion of the block before the snow struck. Moving indoors to cut, sand and stain the cedar was always my plan and actually we were right on schedule.








We started in the shop after going to the job site with a couple of mock up boards to get accurate feel for the length and style of the pergola. I had Gary and Ryan make lots of different templates for the design on the end of the boards but we ended up using the clean, classical standard seen in the photo's. The stain color is called Chestnut and is semi-transparent which allows the natural beauty of the cedar grain to show through.








With precision teamwork the 2 x 10" and 2 x 12" cedar began to take shape Ryan using a jigsaw cutting each board and Gary sanding them, rounding the edges and working them smooth. We moved the operation down to the garage for the staining process since it is more economical to heat and we needed to keep the temperatures even for effective drying.

I had not intended to fit the grill into the surround until spring but our clients wanted to use it over winter so we put gas to it and have it temporarily mounted in the surround as we were unable to install the counter top. Looking at the grill surround from the patio doors you would see that it is perfectly symmetrical, well balanced as well as beautiful and functional.

This was Ryan's first really big project he handled from start to finish (except tear out) and he did a stellar job. Ryan just completed paver school were he passed with flying colors. During the construction of this patio, fire pit and grill surround he demonstrated excellent planning, decent speed and stellar construction techniques, good job Ryan. He and Gary worked swell together, Gary handled the mechanical and electrical and was on site from beginning to end.

This landscape renovation is prime example of a wonderful transformation that took a worn out cracked concrete patio and transformed it into a work of art that blends perfectly in its environment. Springtime planting a couple of seating walls will bring it to life.