Daniel Gubba

Birdtable Refurb - Part 2. At this stage much of the main structure was finished, it was just a case of doing a few fiddly but important details to finish everything off. The side archways needed cladding and crossbeams attaching, like a lot of the rebuild I made these chunkier as the last set had been one of the first things to breakdown (I think mainly from wood pigeons trying to perch on them). I Also took the stand apart as, although it was in pretty good condition, it had become loose and a few sections needed replacing. I also remade and slightly tweaked the inner arch sections which I had held onto when I took the original birdtable apart. I added a bit of surface detail to these this time around but didn’t stain the wood as I’m hoping (like last time) they will age and build up a weathered patina naturally again, they look a bit pink at the mo… One of the most crucial elements in finishing off the roof was the top cladding as this would keep the whole roof section safe from water and minimise any internal water build up. For this I used old copper pipe that was sawed lengthways and beaten into sheets. I quite like the rustic finish of beaten metal but what I didn’t realise was how well it would catch the light, this might fade as the surface starts to oxidise but for now it looks great. Next I added a trim around the base, I kept this fairly flush with the base as last time I had given it a decent lip, but it tended to fill with dirt and water so in the interest of longevity I thought it better to keep the base fairly level, the less tight corners the better. Finally it was just a case of securing the scaffolding pole to the ground. I used broken bits of brick to hold it in place within the hole I dug whilst I tried to get the pole level, then filled it with cement. I painted the pole a sagey, washed-out blue to compliment the planting around the base of the pole and not stand out too much but blend into the surrounding foliage. The cornus around the base will loose all its foliage in winter and the exposed stems will turn bright red for winter interest, so it’ll be fun to see how it works against the birdtable above. (Continues in comments)