Hide Those Ugly Garbage Cans With a DIY Privacy Screen

Often our homes look better because of what we can't see rather than what we can. In other words, your best bet is to hide that stuff behind a privacy screen that complements your home's architecture.

We built ours for special projects editor Joe Bargmann to hide a pair of 30-gallon garbage cans at the end of his driveway. "We wanted to keep the trash away from the house without upsetting the neighbors," Joe says. We used off-the-shelf supplies from our local home-improvement center and put it together in an afternoon.

When designing your screen, don't forget that whatever you're hiding needs to be accessible. You're not building a closet. We built an L-shaped screen and attached it to an existing fence to create a three-sided structure. With one side open away from the street, Joe can easily fill the cans and the city can remove them unhindered on trash day. No fiddly door here. We also didn't add a roof, which would have made it impossible to flip the lids off the cans without pulling them out first. We left 6 inches of clearance around the cans so they slide in and out easily. Keep in mind that if you build a screen around a generator, make sure you can still access its controls and maintenance points?and don't block the exhaust vent.

To make the side panels, we started with 8 x 4?foot sheets of cedar lattice. Most home centers and lumberyards also stock lattices made of pressure-treated wood or vinyl, which is available in a variety of colors. Cut these to size with a circular saw (watch out for nails and staples) and then sandwich them between a frame made of 1x stock. Don't forget to use fasteners rated for outdoor projects, such as stainless-steel screws or hot-dipped galvanized nails. Attach these panels to pressure-treated 4 x 4 corner posts set in the ground or in precast concrete deck blocks, which is what we used. Another solution is to fasten the panels to 36-inch-long 2 x 2 stakes driven 12 inches into the ground. You could build a portable screen that isn't secured to anything, but don't expect it to survive a gust of wind. Cap the panels and posts with a rail.

Joe stained his screen gray to match the color of his house, though he also considered letting it weather gradually in order to blend in with its rustic surroundings.

Finally, before installing a structure that significantly changes the way your home looks, check for any local ordinances or neighborhood covenants that may limit what you can build. Plus, it's always common courtesy to let your neighbors know what you're doing?though chances are they'll appreciate the upgrade. "Every one of our neighbors has stopped by to thank us for putting our screen up," Joe says. "They couldn't be happier."

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/improvement/outdoor-projects/hide-those-ugly-garbage-cans-with-a-diy-privacy-screen-15710370?src=rss

epidemiology total eclipse of the heart jionni lavalle earthquake san francisco donald payne elizabeth berkley lenny dykstra