The perils of commercial kits

[Vir Campestris]

So /she/ decides she wants an arbour in the garden. Somewhere to sit and watch the sunset, but the neighbours can't see.

Find one, buy it, put it together. Mostly - then stop as I realise the back panels are made of ply, and haven't been painted on the edges - which might be a problem since the bottom edges sit in a cross member that has a 1/4 inch wide groove in it, and will doubtless hold water.

Then realise the inside of the groove hasn't been painted either.

Ever try painting inside a 1/4 inch wide groove, deeper than it is wide, without getting paint on the edges? I ended up using a model makers paint brush :(

Andy

[ss]

i wouldnt worry by next year she probably wont use it anyway, or decide it is the wrong shape / location or some other issue.

When I had a property abroad the large roof terrace with fantastic sea views was brilliant except it ws too warm to sit in the sun, so decided to roof it (Pagoda) took us over a year to get it at the right price, got it built and was never used as we always sat on the ground floor under a roofed area. Still it did help to sell the villa a few years later.

[alan_m]

Wouldn't the solution have been to fill the groove with a sealer/caulk and then insert the ply?

[Brian Gaff]

Seems to me that its not been built to last in any case. I've seen plastic ones that do last, wooden cheap ones seem to be made to rot in five years. Brian

[Chris Green]

Is that *really* going to help preserve it? Looking at similar painted and unpainted lumps of wood in our garden over the years the unpainted ones often seem to last longer. I guess it may well be beause the unpainted ones dry out more thouroughly after getting wet.

What are you 'painting' with?

[John Rumm]

Perhaps some clear spirit based cuprinol might have been a better answer

- just pour/spray it in!

[The Natural Philosopher]

Or just use masking tape and a spray can

[Rob Morley]

And follow it up with a coat or two of clear varnish.

[Vir Campestris]

External grade primer undercoat, which seems to be OK from when I've used it before - except this time I'm not going to overcoat it, and it'll be in the shade.

Andy