My outdoor project can now begin. Obviously what I need more than anything is yet another project, and, sure, this one has basically also been hanging around since I moved into this house six years ago. None of that changes the fact that this is now real.
The reason that this long-delayed, often derailed project can happen at all is that On Wednesday the patio cover was installed. Among other things, that means that I can now see the space I have to work with, both on the patio and in the backyard more generally. I needed to see the site (and sight-lines) in order to be able to visualise what I want it to look like. There’s still quite a lot to do before I make that vision, let alone make it happen.
I did my first real inspection of the outdoor stuff yesterday, and a lot of what had been my outdoor furniture will need to be replaced after several years exposed to all the weather in all the seasons (and also the high UV of the sun). At this point, though, it’s still about cleaning everything up, including the patio itself and the area around it.
I picked what looked to be the dirtiest plastic chair and did a fairly light scrub. I think I can get the chair (and it’s three siblings) to a “yeah, it’s okay, I guess” stage, but at that point I’ll probably give them away. Those four are white ones that could be used at a table, but I don’t think I’d ever need them, even if they were pristine. Nigel and I bought them for our Civil Union (what we called our wedding) on January 24, 2009—seventeen years ago this coming Saturday, to the very day. I’m fine with letting them go, not the least because in the unlikely event I ever need more seating, I still have two long foldable benches we also bought for the Civil Union, and they’ve always been kept inside and are in pristine condition.
I also have three Adirondack-style plastic chairs I bought for us at our last house (there were four: I broke one when I was moving to Hamilton). Those will be fine for just sitting outside until I work out what I want out there and how I want to use the space.
Which brings me to the table and chairs. Two houses ago, they were always undercover, but were exposed to the sun and elements for nearly three years at the last house, and probably about as long here until I finally realised I needed to put a cover over the set. The frame for the table is aluminium and in excellent condition. The removable top, however, appears to be somewhat cupped or warped at an edge (it was hard to tell from my quick look at the top when it wasn’t on the table). When I have space on the patio to work, I’ll take a better look and decide from there. I think the top is MDF and painted with exterior grade paint, and it certainly wouldn’t be hard to just make a new top for it if necessary.
The six chairs are faded and dirty, but they appear otherwise sound—for now? The whole set is probably as much as 18 years old, so I may replace all that, too. Over the past the past couple days, I’ve been thinking that maybe I should replace the seating for six with something smaller, maybe seating for four expandable to six. That’s mainly because a smaller table would give me more space under the new roof. I’ll first arrange the space with what I have, and then work out what changes to make.
Finally, I found out the handle of the hose reel has rusted-out and it broke off, five years after I bought it. That hose, which is even older, has always expelled hose fittings (even Nigel failed to keep it attached!), and both the connector to the outdoor tap and the one for the hand trigger thingee are shot. They’re all probably destined for the rubbish.
Amid all that deterioration and mayhem is a bit of creation: I now need to finally create the new parking spot for the Vegepod, which is currently on the lawn-end of the patio (so it doesn’t sink into the ground). Although unpleasant, this work will be slightly easier because of all the rain: In summer, the heat and lack of rain normally makes the heavy clay soil turn nearly solid, like concrete. On the other hand, it’s extremely heavy when it’s wet, though at least I can dig it out.
When that’s done, I can move the Vegepod from the patio to its new home. Then, it’ll be about clearing out the weeds at edges at the other end of the patio. That, too, will be getting gravel to keep the weeds down. I also still need to remove all the other weeds in the area.
However, I’ll only work on removing the weeds on days when it’s not raining, and on rainy days I’ll work on the things under the roof, including figuring out how I want to arrange the patio area. There’s plenty to keep me going.
I’ll be talking about all these things as I work on them, along with photos. This may be “another project on the list,” but it’s now real. And, actually, it’s pretty exciting, too.
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