Saturday, May 8, 2010

Phil Builds: a fence and gate

This is a very special episode of Phil Builds wherein an entire fence is constructed, painted and be-gated...and I did absolutely 100% nothing helpful. The mullet house did originally come with a picket fence, as you can see here:But it was covered in jasmine (or something like it). Very pretty for about 2 weeks in April when it bursts into bloom with tiny yellow flowers...but kinda creepy for the rest of the year. We pulled it off, but the fence underneath didn't look much better yet.That crooked gate made Phil insane with the OCD. I pointed out that it did what it was supposed to do pretty well, namely keep dogs in.But that's not enough for our hero. He decided the fence was inadequate and needed massive repairs. First step: borrow a cool power tool from Rick and shape a whole lot of pointy pickets on the front porch.Next he built a new gate for the front...Meanwhile we were looking like this:But not for long. Behold!And it did the job! It kept dogs in!But that's also not enough for Phil. We had a painting party with our fabulous neighbors and got the whole thing looking clean and tidy (note Amy's patented "one hand on beer, one hand on brush" painting technique).And you'd think he would stop there. But no! He wanted to build MORE fence! MORE! Madman!This is being constructed as sort of a double swinging gate for the left-hand side of the porch which would otherwise be open and represent a potential dog escape route. It looks great. "We" haven't gotten around to painting it yet but I'm quite sure it's on his agenda.And anyway, you know what? It keeps dogs in really well.