Outdoor kitchen is a hit!!

Here are some pictures of our first Pizza Party with the wood-fired pizza oven. Except for a bit of landscaping and some plantings and 6 back-ordered outdoor light fixtures (that will be here and installed in a couple weeks), we are officially proclaiming the deck project....FINISHED!!!

Mike checks the fire before beginning

The first meal from the new oven - corn on the cob roasted in the husks. Very good.

Then he brought the oven up to temperature for pizza. As you can see, 771.5 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature a pizza cooks in about 2 minutes.

Prep begins for the first pizza. Ashlee was the designated sous chef.

The first pizza. Check out the video below to see it when it emerged.

Our first design flaw. It never occurred to us to have lighting for the kitchen area. Luckily the headlamps that we use for snow shoeing worked just fine.

July 30 - Nearly there!! Finally.

Well, it's been over a month since my last post but I think things are finally nearing completion. The weather didn't cooperate a lot and we were both away for a while in July so things really slowed down. But, we got back and things started moving along again. We have a few small things left to complete - some painting and some light fixtures left to go up. Anyway, here are the latest pictures of the progress.

The bathroom/changing room is ready for business. You can just see the built in bench on the left. There is a line of hooks on the wall above it for folks to hang towels or clothes while they're swimming. Mike found the light fixture at a shop called Atlantic Lighting in Wolfville.

Here's the counter for the outdoor kitchen area. I'll eventually plant some creeping Thyme or shrubs around the edges. The counter top is granite but we left the edges rough. It just seemed to look better outside with that rough look against the bare boards. Of course the ends of the counter and the cedar shingles will all eventually grey naturally and match the counter top.

The cabana finally came together. The interior is white-washed so to allow the natural texture and knots of the wood to show through. We wanted to go for a New England beach sort of feel. The three little pictures on the right are small seascapes I bought in Provincetown earlier this summer. The wall hanging is not very New England or nautical. It's an antique from Thailand that we found it at a little shop in Annapolis Royal and thought it would look perfect there.

This is our outside dining area. The table and benches are all made of Ipe - a Brazilian wood that is resistant to pretty much everything. It's so dense it will actually sink if you throw it in water and it weighs a ton. So far we've had 12 people around it and had lots of room to spare.

Mike's new toy arrived yesterday. This is the finishing touch on the outdoor kitchen area. He really wanted an Italian wood burning pizza oven. There are some sold locally but they're not Italian. So, he found an importer in South Carolina who had lived in Italy for several years and had set up a business importing these things. Mike called and discovered that he offered free shipping to Canada. That was all it took. It arrived yesterday and I assembled the bottom part yesterday afternoon. Then our friend, Tim, dropped by with some donated plants for the yard and he and I were able to manhandle the actual oven into place (all 300 lbs of it). The oven itself is fire brick surrounded by stainless steel. I guess the Italians are really good at building cars and pizza ovens.

I got the planters filled with plants a couple weeks ago and they're starting to take off. I put in some Pony Tail Grass and some Black Potato Vines. The Pony Tail Grass is a tender perennial so I expect I'll be treating it as an annual if we decide to use it again next year. I can't imagine it will survive our winter but we'll see. The shower tiling is finished but it now has to be grouted and then the plumbing hardware installed. We'll probably find some little Cedar or Ipe platform for people to stand on while they rinse off in the shower.

The new pool liner made a huge difference in the look of the pool and the whole deck. When we had the old liner removed we had the entire pool resurfaced. We've also got a new pump last year and a new filter the year before so, although it was installed twenty years ago, it's virtually a brand new pool now.

I have to show off my baby. I had some Canna Lilly bulbs tucked away on a shelf in the barn last year that I'd forgotten about. I thought for sure they wouldn't be viable having been out in the cold. But, as luck would have it, every one of them sprouted and are growing like crazy. I'm looking forward to the bright red blossoms that are only a few weeks away. In the background - behind the hot tub - you can see a veil of green as the grass seed we put down only a couple weeks ago is starting to take off. Friends with plants are dropping by all the time with plant volunteers to help us begin to fill up the huge expanse we have to fill.

Not sure if the Holly bushes will ever forgive me but we had to give them quite a hair cut to make room for the patio stones. We made a small patio just on the other side of the hot tub to avoid grass clippings being strewn all over the hot tub area. The black iron fence in the background has a gate that leads to the back lawn and the old horse paddocks that we now mow and treat as lawn as well. Bill, the previous owner, told us about the battle he'd had with a particularly resilient Wisteria that he'd dug out of the ground three times before he'd finally managed to destroy it. This is our second summer here and guess who's back. I'm thrilled. You can see some Wisteria leaves in the upper left of this photo. I'm hoping to be able to train the vines to come over and drape around the hot tub gazebo. It will be pretty spectacular to have Wisteria blossoms hanging around the perimeter of the gazebo.

Thanks to the miracle of iPhone technology, here's a panoramic picture of the deck taken from the cabana. The shape of the pool is a little off but you get the idea.

And this one was taken from under the hot tub gazebo.

June 20 - Almost at the End of Week 10 - Getting Close!

Although there is still lots that looks unfinished, we can see the end from here. All of the construction is done. The low voltage lighting just needs a bit more wiring and the fixtures installed and that will be done. The bathroom and shower just need a bit more plumbing and the fixtures installed and they'll be done. The old pool liner was removed today and some small repairs were done. Hopefully the new liner will go in tomorrow. The counter frame is built and just needs the granite that will sit on top of it. However, we're still waiting for the sink so the stone mason can cut the hole in the granite. Understandably, they want the sink so they can measure it themselves before they cut a hole in the granite. After that it's just some painting and then the long task of landscaping but that will likely be something that we do over time.

Interior of bathroom. Still waiting for the fixtures

The new door (that Jonathan built) will be stained with an opaque white stain (the same as the inside of the cabana) and will give some symmetry to the structure with the white subway tiled shower on the other side.

The structural work is finished on the gazebo. The lattice trim was the final touch. Everything (except the cedar shingles) will be stained with the same opaque white stain.

The guys from Holland Home Leisure arrived today and removed the old liner and did the repairs to the pool. I wasn't home when they pumped out all the green water but Jonathan (background) said it smelled like rotten fish at low tide. That's pretty bad.

Repairs all done. Just waiting for the concrete patches to dry.

It won't stop raining

After a fantastic Apple Blossom Weekend, the weather took a turn for the wet and cold. The guys were able to get the fence post holes dug and the main fence posts inserted into concrete before the rain started this week. Then the rain came. In one of the pictures below you can see the fence posts in the background as well as the tent the guys had to set up to protect the power tools from the rain. They were restricted to working in areas that were undercover so they installed most of the pine, tongue and grove wall covering.

The tongue and grove wall covering looks great and offers a cottage-like feel to the enclosure. I think the plan is to paint it with a white-wash once it's all up.

Jonathan attaches more pine and manages to stay out of the rain.

I think Dorian is under the tent chopping more pine panels. In the background - behind the Cedar - you can see one of the fence posts. Once the privacy fencing is all up it's really going to change the look of the back yard.

June 7 - the hot tub arrived

The driver found us but didn't think he could get the truck through the pillars but Matt was able to back his truck up to the back of this one and we just slid the hot tub from the larger truck to the smaller one. Okay - it wasn't quite that simple but that's basically how it happened.

Matt was able to easily drive into the back yard and back his truck pretty close to where the tub needed to go.

At about 650 lbs there was no way we could handle it so we used the excavator and lashed some straps around the tub and lifted it up. Then Dorian simply drove the truck out from under the tub. Matt gently set the tub on the ground until we devised the next step of the plan (which, yes, we were making up as we went along).

Once we got it on the ground, we removed the straps (which also were wrapped around the palette that the tub was shipped on. We got the straps just around the tub, lifted it with the excavator again and slid the palette out of the way.

With some guidance from Dorian and Trevor (the electrician) on the left and Johnathan (on the right) Matt (driving the excavator) was able to set the hot tub exactly where he needed it to go. I have a video of that feat but I'm having trouble uploading it. I'll keep trying.

The tub is in place and Matt takes the excavator out of the gazebo.

Then we discover the flaw in my deck design. We had ordered the hot tub to come with a Sirius Satellite Radio and it did. I had assumed the radio controls would be on the top of the tub (with all the other controls). I was wrong. The controls are on the side. Matt is opening the cover to the control panel in this picture. The issue is that the tub is sunken into the deck which is being built around it. If we continue with the original design, we'd never be able to access the control panel for the radio.

Matt stands next to the tub contemplating how to redesign the deck to accommodate the newly discovered radio.

We put the cover on the tub and called it a day. Our timing was perfect. Twelve hours later the remnants of tropical storm Andrea hit (and is "hitting" as I type this). We're getting drenched.

Watch a video of the hot tub being set in place.

June 1 - End of Week 7

Progress has seemed sluggish lately but that is mostly due to the process of shingling the cabana and the planters and part of the gazebo.  Cedar shakes look nice but putting them on is a time consuming project. But, as you can see from the images below, we're almost there. Sunrise Spas in Ontario called on Thursday to tell us that the hot tub was shipped and would be arriving at our place Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. As soon as that's in place then the rest of the deck can be built around it. The pool liner will still be another couple of weeks before it's here but there is still plenty to keep everyone busy so it's not really holding us up. Matt and the gang haven't even started the fence yet so that will be another couple weeks of work at the least. We also just heard back from the Briar Patch Nursery and our trees should be arriving mid week (about the same time as the hot tub). It seems things move slowly and then suddenly they really take off for a few days. Interesting times.

The back of the cabana with the new transom windows installed. This is the side that faces the front lawn/street.

The gazebo is getting closer to completion. Right now it's really just waiting for the hot tub. Since the hot tub is sunken into the deck, it can't be completed without the tub in place. Cedar shakes go on the pillars to finish them. In the foreground is the cupola that Matt created for the roof. It has a copper roof itself with plexiglass panes (to avoid showers of glass coming down on the hot tub bathers if a bird should decide to fly through). The cupola is actually a miniature version of the one that will eventually sit on top of the barn.

The cabana is also nearing completion. The washroom (on the right) is partially plumbed in - just waiting for fixtures - and the shower (on the left) is also plumbed in and just waiting for fixtures and the white subway tile for the shower wall. We're going to put a white door on the bathroom to mirror the white subway tiles of the shower and give the structure some symmetry. The pool still looks pretty dingy. The boards around it have all been trimmed and are smooth and look great but all the sawdust from the trimming is now floating in the pool. We're getting new water when they replace the liner so even though it looks awful now, I'm not too concerned. As soon as the cedar shakes on the cabana are done then the inside will be finished with tongue in grove pine that we'll probably whitewash.

End of Week Five

At the end of week 5 things are really starting to shape up. Today Mike and I went out and bought the subway tile and the shower head that will make up the outdoor shower. We're still waiting, patiently, for the arrival of the hot tub.

The decking is all down. The jagged edges still protrude along the edge of the pool. They'll be cut back and then the new liner will be installed.

Clean pool water will be a huge improvement.

Standing next to where the shower is going to be and looking back toward the house gives an idea of the distance.

The seating next to the hot tub area is framed out. The boxes at the bottom of the gazebo pillars will be covered with cedar shakes to tie it in with the rest of the house.

Week Five

Day 1 - Today we have a few more guys working (five at one point I think) so things are really starting to take shape now. We even got some of the decking down. Here are some of the pics I took. I'm off to a conference in Halifax tomorrow and won't be back until Friday so I'll be excited to see how much the project progresses between now and then.

There are two planters - one no each side of the deck. There is a bench attached to the front of one planter (I'm sitting on it to take this picture).

This is the first box built around the base of one of the pillars that hold up the gazebo above the hot tub. This box will eventually be covered with cedar shingles to match the house.

The planter and cabana.

Week four

We're at the halfway point of week 4. The changes are taking a bit longer to materialize now-a-days but once they do, they're pretty noticeable.

The first planter is built. Below this (on the ground) will be the counter with the sink and prep area for the wood-fired pizza oven. The outdoor shower will be on the wall directly ahead. You can see some of the water lines that will be used to provide water to the sink and the shower.

Brian is sitting on top of the gazebo which is suddenly looking pretty huge.

Here a view from the back lawn which will be inclosed in the new back yard. Clearly we're going to have to do some landscaping when this is all done.

Matt arriving with the Fiberon decking - almost 10,000 lbs of it.

Looking up from the hot tub this is what you'll see. The copula that is sort of the crown of the gazebo is going to have glass sides and a copper roof. It will be a smaller version of the copula that will eventually be on top of the barn.

End of Week Three

Here are a few more pics showing what has been accomplished in three weeks. As much as the back yard has changed in the past three weeks, I believe the privacy fence is really going to make a huge difference as well.

The outside walls are in and the transom windows have been cut out.

The gazebo over the hot tub starts to take shape.

This is sitting in the cabana and looking to the left toward the washroom wall.

This is sitting in the cabana and looking out toward the hot tub.

And this is in the cabana looking to the right, toward the storage area. You can see the frame of the door that will lead into the storage area.