Cedar Lake Chalet - Chapter 2: The Redwood Gazebo

Our very first project began outside where we resurrected a collapsed Gazebo frame that was left behind in the backyard, into a beautiful redwood-lined structure.

The finished gazebo in full winter glory.

Now the original Gazebo had presumably collapsed under the weight of heavy snow. The entire frame was made of thick gauge, powered coated aluminum that hadn't bent. After inspecting it, we carefully lifted it up and formed it back into its original shape.

So far so good. The structure was solid and was now just in need of a solid base and killer top. An exciting prospect, as we knew we could get pretty creative with it.

The first thing we did was build a platform out of treated 2X6's for the base and 2X8's for the floor. Within a day, we had a new dance floor in the yard. Perfect.

Once we had the base complete, we skipped pouring any footings and instead relied on cement blocks we had on hand. It was a gazebo after all and we were looking to keep things easy.

After that was completed, we took a break as the summer heat was pushing 100 degrees with high humidity. One thing I forgot to mention is the backyard is 4 flights of stairs, up a steep hill. That meant it required around 20 trips to carry the wet (and heavy) lumber to the back.

This was just a tiny taste of the grueling hell these stairs put me through over the years. Needless to say, it's put us both in pretty good shape. Score!

Once we realized the heat wasn't going to pass quickly, we said eff it and went back to work. The next step was to attach the frame to the base.

The frame received a bit of tightening and was then bolted to the platform. From there we began to frame up the bottom portion of the roof. The tricky thing we had to deal with was allowing ourselves enough room at the top of the posts to zip the mosquito nets in and out. That's right. The Gazebo had six, full intact screens with zippers that zipped directly into the large posts.

With the frame in place, we raised the roof. Literally.

With the framing of the roof complete, we entered a territory of creative fun.

You see, the backyard had a large, 6' fence that was made out of clear redwood. Unfortunately, it was old, falling down, slimy and left for dead. But with the magic of a new planer, we brought these babies back to life.

In our next chapter, we'll dive into the joys of working with redwood and the creation of a cedar shaked and redwood inlined, gazebo top.

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About Cedar Lake Chalet - Tucked far back in a tree-lined hill near Cedar Lake in Minneapolis, lies a modern, tree house style home that basks in the glory of its 1991 redesign. Our task at hand? Take it out of 1991. This blog has been setup to take you through the home, step by step, as we begin to renovate and bring it up to speed.