In the summer of 2020 a customer called me to come look at their 25 year old decorative arbor. The yard had been professionally landscaped in 1999 and featured a lovely pond, flowerbeds and a stone patio area.  The old decorative arbor was in rough condition and didn’t match the looks of immaculate flower gardens and manicured grass. 

We discussed an option pressure wash the entire structure and paint it, as well as to dig around the posts and reinforce them with concrete. After investigating the posts to find the 2 of the 4 were rotten through and the other 2 were about 50% rotten the customer decided that replacement was in order. 

Two options were considered – build a covered pergola or build a new decorative arbor. In the end my customers decided on a new arbor. To maintain the beauty each piece of cedar was pre-stained with outdoor clear stain after being cut to size and before installation. We decided to beef up the arbor with 6” x 6” square posts instead of the original size 4” x 4” posts. Aside from that change and a slight change to the panel to include a lattice pocket the design was reproduced from the original. 

In addition to building a beautiful new decorative structure I replacing the stone patio replacing the stones back into the same pattern after they had been dismantled to diig new post holes. 

Landscaping activities are very damaging to grass I always take care to prevent damage by placing wood sheet down before the wheelbarrow rolls over, and after the project I always restore the grass with seed, water, and fertilizer so that the new project doesn’t leave behind a mess.