Over a year ago I took the “Welding for Metal Artists” class at Pima Community College. I suppose I would place it in the “fun” category of life experiences, minus the burns, electric shocks, loud noises, and somewhat spooky machines. And the fact that I was one of 3 women in the class. More women should weld! My goal was to create a series of fence panels for our front yard, an address sign that can light up, and a privacy panel for the side of our house. I easily accomplished all three projects, and that included me leaving 2-3 hours early each session (the class was 5 hours long on Saturdays…who has that kind of attention span on the weekend?!). I totally recommend that you take a welding class – I might even take it again with you!
So, here is the privacy panel/trellis. It’s made of 2″ square steel tubing for the frame and a leftover laser-cut panel from a local metal specialty shop. With me doing the work, the cost came out to something like $30 in materials. Not bad!
The panel has 2′ legs that are each sunk in a bag of concrete, making the total height 6′. It sits outside a living room window where we’re able to look directly into the kitchen of the house next door. Just today I purchased a vine, Clematis drummondii, in hopes that we’ll soon look out this window and see a bit of fancy metal with a huge fluff of flowers and foliage.
I hope to get the fence panels in place next week. Unfortunately it will require more drilling and bolting of metal, which is not on my list of satisfying activities. But the end product will definitely beat the current chain link fence, so I’m holding on to that motivation.
What about you? Privacy issues? If you have solutions for narrow spaces I’d love to hear them.
Very nice panel! I love it.