It’s been a month since we moved to the new place and we’ve been pretty busy sprucing up one area of the lot. This was how it looked. Before we moved in, a truckload of gravel was laid on top of the muddy soil to keep things clean. This is the season of rain and we didn’t want to risk getting our stuff dirty.
There was this huge empty space at the side of the house where the sliding doors opened up and I immediately saw in my mind what I wanted to do with it. We asked our trusty and highly skilled handyman, Mang Rene, to come over and survey the area as well as come up with a cost estimate. The sister-in-law’s husband, B, suggested the use of old pallets for the deck and to look for pergola ideas online. Mang Rene saw some sturdy old lumber for sale at a nearby hardware that cost half the price of new hard wood.
I used SketchUp to come up with a drawing of our idea to present to the owners of the house. I could tell they were a little concerned about how it was going to turn out but they warmed up to it eventually when they saw the bit of shade we added to the front of the house (not shown here).
I was so excited! Mang Rene started work as soon as we moved in. He started digging holes for the posts to secure the structure and then the foundation. Here are some photos I took as the project progressed.
Then came the pouring of cement into the holes.
It’s starting to take shape! The roof is built at a very slight angle so any rain water would just roll down the side.
For a more elegant look, he suggested using sheets of bronze-colored polycarbonate instead of the cheap appearance of fiberglass. It looked fabulous once installed as roofing. We used around 6 sheets of 8×4 at Php 1,000 each. He removed the bottom half of the pallets and placed them as is for the deck so there are spaces in between. He used gravel to fill the spaces. This ensures that water from rain immediately seeps through the gaps. The pallets cost Php 450 each and we bought 6 for this run.
My Ava seemed to like it.
Finishing with wood stain is supposed to end the project, but we found ourselves mulling over seating. There are lots of great ideas on Pinterest! I liked this one. We decided to purchase more pieces of pallet wood (Php 350 per bundle of 10 pcs) and Mang Rene fashioned a L-shaped bench flushed to the corner of the deck against the wall, with lots of space underneath for storage. A table was made to complement the benches, as well as another tall work/dining table with a rectangular hole in the middle for a makeshift cooler. Here’s the original link for this awesome idea. To protect the area from rain and for a little privacy as well, we bought some native roll-up blinds from the Whiteplains roadside for about Php 200 each. However, they only went down to 5ft so we had a lot of room where the rain can penetrate the space. We asked Mang Rene to use the leftover polycarb to cover the sides, and the pallet blocks for additional seating as well as fill the space where the blinds end.
For lighting, we bought some capiz lights from Tiendesitas for about Php 650 for a string of ten lights. He treated the wood with anti-termite solution then used wood stain in dark mahogany on the floor and structure. The seats and tables were sanded down til they were crazy smooth then coated with clear polyurethane. It took about three weeks to complete the project considering the rainy days and Mang Rene’s days off. Here is the finished product. He did a fantastic job!
I am looking for small aluminum buckets to fill with plants and hang by the sliding iron grill door – I can’t find these buckets anywhere! The concrete landing by the door also needs to be painted with red rubber paint – that will be done by the husband.
Other than that, we have been entertaining family and friends here for the past two weekends and we love the place! My sister is giving us a hammock to install by the trees at the side (so I know where to find the husband when he disappears). All we need now is an outdoor barbecue grill and it will be a perfect spot to spend time in in the summer.
