By James Powers
Shortly after bringing Babka home, James and his wife decided she deserved a sturdy and handsome dog house to protect her from snow and rain.
Category Archives: Yards & Fences
Weatherproofing my Little Free Library
By Grace Ombry
As a novelist and an avid reader, I was captivated by the Little Free Library® (LFL) movement from the moment I learned about it. In the summer of 2019, we set up one of our own and used WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy extensively to ensure that it would remain sturdy while keeping the elements out and the library books dry. Continue reading
A Pine and Epoxy Fence, Age 20
By Grace Ombry
We bought our home, a 1904 stucco American Foursquare, in November 1997. The following spring we decided to build a pine and epoxy fence in the backyard. White PVC picket fences were all the rage in the late 1990s, and while we liked the clean, bright, classic style of a traditional looking fence and felt that was in keeping with the style of our home, we observed that PVC fences tended to blow over in high winds. Considering Michigan’s frequently rough weather, we knew we wanted something sturdier. Continue reading
Jenessa’s Trellis
By Jenessa Hilger
Over the past few years, I’ve been cultivating an increasingly larger vegetable garden. Last year was my first attempt at growing cucumbers but by mid-summer, they had climbed halfway up the screens on my sun-porch windows. That’s when I decided I needed a trellis. Continue reading
Readers’ Projects, Issue 37
This gorgeous Harley Davidson Sportster 883 was refurbished by Rafa Abella using WEST SYSTEM Epoxy and carbon fiber.
Continue reading
Construction of a Custom Lantern Post
By Donald Stevens
Having thought about constructing a nice custom lantern post for many years, I was inspired when I read an article in Woodenboat Magazine about building hollow spars with “bird’s mouth” joints. Having a pile of red cedar drops from other projects I came up with the design of using two staved sections connected by a turned collar of the same material.
Fence Construction Revisted
My Western Red Cedar & Epoxy Fence
by Brian Knight—GBI Technical Advisor
Above: Brian’s western red cedar and epoxy fence still looks beautiful despite constant exposure to harsh Michigan weather.
Every now and then it is good to look back at an epoxy project to see how it has held up over several years. Above is a photo of the western red cedar fence I built in the summer of 1998 (as it looks today) and below, the fence as it looked during and just after construction five years ago. This fence uses no nails, screws, bolts, etc. to hold it together. Only WEST SYSTEM® Epoxy holds the spindles to the rails and the rails to the posts. Continue reading
Plywood/Epoxy Sump Cover
Above: The plywood/epoxy sump cover, created by Richard Jobe. It will be buried under pea stone but we think it’s pretty nice looking nevertheless.
Richard Jobe was faced with having a sump located in the middle of a prominent landscaped area in front of his Newburgh, Indiana home. His solution was to build a sump cover out of plywood and epoxy. This way it would be light enough for one person to handle, strong enough to hold the weight of half a foot of pea stone, and water-resistant enough to survive being buried under landscaping.
He made the sump cover from one sheet of ¾” plywood, epoxied together and well coated with WEST SYSTEM® 105 Resin®/207 Special Clear Hardener®. The sump will be mostly hidden under the landscaping but readily accessible, when necessary, by raking back the pea stone.
Richard’s front yard sump without its cover.
The plywood/epoxy sump cover nearing completion.
The completed sump cover. It will be under pea gravel and obscured by landscaping.
Epoxy coatings that will be exposed to sunlight need to be protected, as ultraviolet light will degrade epoxy over time. Richard’s plan to rake pea stone over the sump cover is sufficient to shade the epoxy coating from the sun’s UV rays. An alternative would be to paint the epoxied surface or apply a UV-protective varnish over it.