Day 6: The Sweet Smell Of Success

Which in our case was the sweet aroma of red cedar….

Before noon today on this, our sixth day of building a 75-foot long pergola the length - and beyond - of our 1970s ranch house, Jon and I slipped the final rafter into place and had the ceremonial hammering in of the final spike.

Which, in our case, rather than a golden railroad spike, was the last galvanized lag bolt….

Although at that point we still had some minor chores to complete - a little sanding of some rough edges, beveling the tops of a few posts and making a new porch railing - the pergola was in essence complete.

And it must have seemed so to Leigh Ann, who came home at noon with four large wisteria plants, each with nearly a dozen waving tendrils anxious to cling to the rough sawn cedar posts as they begin making the climb to the joists atop our pergola. With the last of the power tools safely put away in the garage, we popped the cork on a bottle of champaign, put on our gardening gloves and, as the sun was inching its way toward the Smoky Mountains to the west, planted the wisterias.

And it felt good.

Projects like this are good for our heads and good for our souls. It’s a mental relief to slip away from the office and the computer and the stuff we call 'work' to pick up a hammer and chisel, a tape measure and wrench, a box of screws and a fistful of lag bolts. And this isn't as stressful as cutting precise miter joints on a kitchen cabinet door or hanging sheetrock in a hallway. Its one of those projects where a little gap between two joists is acceptable, where a quarter inch is called close enough, and where the phrase "looks good from the road" brings a smile to your face.

And, at the end of the day, the weekend or the week, you can step back and see your progress and feel like you have really built something. Something that will last, something that you and others will enjoy as you sit in the shade beneath the wisteria blossoms and watch the hummingbirds perform their aerial acrobatics and think about how those Arts & Crafts reformers and their call for The Simple Life had the right idea.

All we had to do was to listen to them - and remember.

Head, Heart and Hand.

Thanks for sticking with us!

- Bruce

Note: To see additional photographs and more detailed instructions, please go to our new Beginner's Guide section under Resources in the Navigation Bar at the top. Since building regulations, requirements and structural issues vary from situation from situation, first consult with government officials and qualified individuals regarding your particular circumstances.

To read the previous columns I wrote each day this past week as we built our pergola, please click on "Archives" below.

Next Time: Does Your House Have Curb Appeal?