Adding Oriental Touches to a Pool's Environment

Doghouse Riley · 30-07-2011, 01:45 PM

This is in two parts as I do "bang on a bit" and there's a lot of photos.

A year after building our pool in 1986 we decided that we wanted our garden to incorporate a few "Japanese influences."

I wanted somewhere to sit where we could get away from the sun, as our garden has no shade being south-facing. So a summerhouse seemed the best idea. But I wanted something that although it might be just that, didn't look like a glorified shed.
So I decided to build something complementary to my koi pool, a tea-house.

Researching in Manchester Central Library, I came across some old books showing Victorian garden architecture which included several photos of Oriental inspired garden buildings. Wealthy Victorians' country houses and gardens often had Japanese influences as they were very popular at the time.

We'd seen this one at Tatton Park Gardens, but I wasn't overly impressed, it looked more like something out of the musical South Pacific.

In the end I formulated my own design, I was restricted by the size of the site, materials available and my capabilities. The overall dimensions are;

Roof 12’ X 12'
Room 9’ X 6’
Veranda 9’ X 3’

The materials were mainly rough-sawn softwood (cheapest way to buy it).
Roofing plywood for the walls and roof.
Hardwood “tiles” over roofing ply for the floor.

"Victorian” skirting boards to clad the base.

The base is constructed of 3” X 2” timber which I treated with Cuprinol.
It sits on bricks on top of paving slabs; there are pieces of butyl pond liner between the wood and the bricks to reduce the possibility of rot. There’s six inches of clearance between the base and the ground to facilitate air circulation. It was a bit “over-engineered” which was fortunate as I’d no idea it would have to support two 300lb plus jukeboxes as well as visitors twenty years later.

The floor is roofing ply. (working late here!)

The frame is again 3” X 2” with 4” X 4” corner posts. I chose the wood myself from the timber yard, to avoid the “banana option.” I planed it down and sanded it with an electric plane and a belt sander, this didn't take that long with these tools.

The side panels are again roofing ply, glued and nailed from the inside. A bit tricky getting these "square" on your own.

The rafters are 2” X 2” connected to the “box frame” that sit on the 3" X 2" purlins in the middle of the structure. The soffits are screwed to their ends but at the corners these turn up and join above the end of the purlins to form the distinctive shape.

The turned-up corners of the soffits weren’t difficult to make, I cut down four 16’ X 8” planks to 16’ X 3” to get a 5" "turn up" at each end, quite easy with a circular saw. From the waste I cut a half-inch rebate to fit the angle between the top of the soffit and the roof.
The configuration of the roof with the turned up corners has the effect that strong winds, instead of possibly lifting the roof up, actually pushes it down...Well that's the theory, as it's a big roof with a large overhang, particularly at the front, but strong winds have never caused any problems.

The roof is made of roofing ply nailed/screwed to the purlins and the soffits.

Doghouse Riley · 30-07-2011, 01:49 PM

The plywood chrysanthemum panels in the front rail, (I sort of copied these from the Victorian photos in the library) I cut out with a jigsaw.
All screwed joints are counter-sunk to a depth of an inch and one and a half inch rounded-end dowl pegs were hammered in after the screws to get the "authentic look." I think it makes all the difference. This photo is recent, so there's twenty-five year's wear and tear showing.

The chrysanthemum detail in the veranda panels is repeated in the support panel below each purlin above, but few people notice. Several more coats of Woodsheen covered a multitude of sins.

The doors are made from ready-planed 2” X 1”

I got the wood yard to saw a shallow cut groove for the windows which are three sheets of opaque white plastic per door, with hardwood strips stuck on giving the effect of nine-panel doors. The two side windows are each one sheet of plastic with more hardwood strips applied the same way.

The ceiling is paneled in with off-cuts of roofing ply, there's five inset spotlights for illumination; the sides of the void below the skylight are paneled. I covered in the skylight later as it got too hot inside during the summer.

This shows one of the ways the doors can be opened. The two end doors fold back inwards and the central door is secured with bolts top and bottom so can be opened either way or removed, thus allowing the whole building to be opened up. It's looking very bare inside, I'd not yet put the hardwood tiles down on the veranda or the vinyl on the floor inside. You can see the light shining through the (clear plastic) skylight which I later felted over. The post and panel garden fences had not been erected at that stage, they were an assortment of 3" X 2" posts and rails of reclaimed timber I had.

The acer in front of the steps is now in the front garden. We moved it as it was in the way. We're not afraid of moving stuff around in the garden.

I took out the four top panels and used them on the side rails. I think it looks better with the decoration just at the bottom.

Here you can see the grain in the wood of the roofing ply, over the years the many coats of Dulux Woodsheen which has made it last so long have obliterated it.

I made the rail round the crown with a fretsaw, but over time it rotted away, I didn't replace it until I replaced the roofing felt.

The building I painted with "Dulux Mahogany Woodsheen." This is brilliant stuff (it should be as it's nearly forty quid for 2.5ltrs) as it forms a plasticized film over every surface. I give it another coat every three years. In twenty years, all I’ve had to replace is the “skirts” as they’d started to rot a bit and I replaced the roofing felt with a heavy duty non-tear variety last year.

It has its own separate electrical supply from the garage fuse box, as does my “pond filter room” at one end of the garage and the shed behind it. The whole lot is protected by an “industrial” type RCCB.

Oh by the way, I’ve no “trades.” I was a “grocer”…well.. superstore general manager. But there wasn't much I wouldn’t tackle, I had to when I was younger as like many my age we weren't very well off at the time. I did all my projects on my own as my wife has had MS for over 20 years, but she did make me gallons of tea and enjoys the garden.

The garden has had quite a few changes over the years, the most significant being the addition of a 6’ plus substantial post and panel fence around the whole perimeter, one side of which I erected myself about ten years ago. Those 7' 6" concrete posts are really heavy.

The small Budweiser fridge for which I made a stand on castors so it could be rolled out onto the veranda replaced the fridge/freezer when I bought a second jukebox.

The cupboard on the wall, is one I cut down of the old kitchen units when we has a new kitchen in 2006, the little cut down base unit is from the kitchen before that. The TV is on a swiveling bracket I bought from a charity shop for two quid (they didn't know what it was). I had a hard job finding a bit of black ash contiboard to make the shelf for the Freeview box. The aerial is in the void above the ceiling, there's an access panel in one panel of the skylight void.
You can see the opaque white plastic sheets that form the small windows, the decorative beading is just on the outside.

This is my Rock-Ola neon clock. These were originally in all Rock-Ola jukebox sales and service shops. Now you can only get reproductions, they cost about over $100 to to buy and import from the U.S.A where they are reproduced. Such clocks should be no more than about £40 over here.
This one cost me a tenner, the donor clock was a new one I found on eBay for ten quid, it originally had a ManU face!
I got the artwork for the Rock-Ola logos from a fellow enthusiast in the USA who contributes to the same jukebox message board. When I inquired about them saying I was going to make a clock. He sent them attached to an e-mail within a couple of hours, as he too had made his own clock.

To enjoy our garden in the evening, I fitted a few lights in it. Well... 5 porch lights..two spotlights over the pool, the two lanterns with 12 volt bulbs in them. Small 15watt strip fluorescents above and behind the tea-house doors (it has its own independent lighting and power supply) two 35watt low voltage spots for the waterfall and the pagoda and two sets of fairy lights one set on the pergola, the other round the eaves of the tea-house. As well as two pir security lights. They are controlled by a bank of four switches behind the curtains on the lounge wall next to the french windows, they run off the garage supply via a five core plus earth armoured cable (1 live four common) which runs under the concrete raft on which I built the York stone patio, but they don't get used that often "as the street lights dim when they are all on."

After the azaleas and wisterias have bloomed there's only the roses, lilies and fuchsias to take the "greenness" off the garden.

(after some heavy rain, the acer palmatum got a "haircut" the next day).

These are the dwarf azaleas next to the patio.

Last year, I replaced the roofing felt with the aid of our youngest son. The felt was nearing the end of it's life and had replaced the original felt about fifteen years ago. This time I used a non-tear polymer heavy duty felt (you have to get it from a roofing supplies company as the sheds don't stock it as it's about forty quid a roll). I had no intention of ever having to replace it again.
I had to lower the wisteria round the eaves to get at the old felt.

The adhesive that attached the old felt was a bit of a pain to scrape off, but as it was a warm day, it was quite soft so we managed.

Youngest son was in charge of rolling on the adhesive. I over-engineered the building so it easily took the weight of both of us up there. The cover for the skylight just sits on the top like a box lid. It's very heavy, so doesn't need permanently fixing. I can put a ladder up inside the building and just lift and slide it away a bit if I need to get up there.

It was a bit tricky working on the back of the roof as it is right up against the rear fence and the neighbour behind had a greenhouse "within falling distance."
You can see the old removable skylight/vent which was "hanging" from years of pigeons and other birds "sitting" on it. Once the old felt had been stripped off, it cleaned up a treat.

Still the end result looked OK.
Note the "half-golf balls" on the corner decoration.

The top vent has a dado rail trim. You can just see the removable air vents, made from two halves of a recycled dishwasher cutlery basket and a bit of 2" X 4." It's designed to let hot air out but no animals or birds in. In the winter I take this out and drop the top down to fit squarely around the aperture.

I've recently added two wooden troughs to take six plastic pots for these dahlias to brighten up that end of the garden.

It can get very hot in there as the big roof absorbs a lot of heat, so I also leave the door open on sunny days.
I've a 40watt inspection lamp in the bottom of each jukebox on a timer, I have them on at night for various times depending on the temperature, the low heat stops the oil in the four motors in each from thickening in very cold weather and a box of moisture absorbent crystals in the bottom of each jukebox, stops them getting damp.

This "glorified shed" doesn't look bad in any weather.

But I prefer it when it's like this, every summer for over 20 years.

Rock Ola 443 : Dinah Washington : What a Difference a Day Makes - YouTube

sheryl · 30-07-2011, 06:14 PM

Well done, that looks lovely really set off your garden. Plants also make it really stand out.

freddy · 30-07-2011, 06:17 PM

Hi D/R.

It seems a shame to reply with just two words, but all I can say is...very nice

alanskoi · 30-07-2011, 08:41 PM

looks grate lots of hard work but well worth it

fosters koi · 30-07-2011, 11:48 PM

Hi doghouse riley

,that is a nice build mate, the garden looks fab to.

Great job
best wishes
paul

Doghouse Riley · 01-08-2011, 07:38 PM

Thank you all for your kind words.

bicolormoth · 02-08-2011, 01:46 AM

nice tea-house Doghouse. lovely garden as well. I might have to drag you round to mine to give me some gardening advice. Mine looks like wortorn Beruit at the moment. That's if you can class a moment as the last 2yrs

Russell.

Doghouse Riley · 02-08-2011, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bicolormoth

nice tea-house Doghouse. lovely garden as well. I might have to drag you round to mine to give me some gardening advice. Mine looks like wortorn Beruit at the moment. That's if you can class a moment as the last 2yrs

Russell.

Thanks again Russell, but as for more work, I've no spare time, what with my other hobbies. That's why I've made everything in the garden including the pool as labour saving as possible, no annuals, or hanging baskets.
I'm not a "proper gardener" I consider myself a "garden manager."
I don't do any propogating, I've no interest, all our planting has been bought from nurseries, garden centres, or on-line. If we get fed up with something it gets relegated to a corner or we give it away and replace it with something else. The closest I get to actually "gardening" is occasionally layering azaleas. This one my wife bought I think for 50p from a nurseryman stallholder on Altrincham Market 25 years ago from the "reduced to clear box" as it had a broken stem which she repaired with a "Sellotape bandage."

It's in our small front garden.
I've layered it several times over the years, two layered branches I transferred to the back garden.

The acer tree started off in front of the tea-house, but I moved it to the front garden.

AlanK · 02-08-2011, 05:22 PM

Love the tea house and garden, we don't have your sort of space and 2 dogs make lawns and beds impractical.

I do need to build a dividing wall between the pond and filter bay so I hope you don't mind if I copy your opaque plastic and panel design. It looks great.