Happy Independence Day, Americans! While you were blowing up shit and torturing your neighbors dogs, I was being constructive and trying to make my home peaceful for my pups. We spent the afternoon in the backyard working on a small project to create an arbor to bridge the gap between my privacy fence and my deck.
As we have established at DrunkenCrafting.com, there is an important element to our projects, what we are drinking. Today’s bevvies of choice included two beers from Minnesota breweries. 
The first being Wonderstuff from Bauhaus Brew Labs, which is located in my neighborhood in Northeast Minneapolis. They specialize in very drinkable German-style beers. The second beer of choice was Venture Pils from Bent Paddle Brewery, brewed in my almost hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. Both beers are a lighter style, perfect for hot summery holidays and for outdoor DrunkenCrafting projects!
I have this gap between my privacy fence and my deck, which is a necessary walkway for me to maintain since it’s the only way I can get my lawnmower to the front yard. I have wisteria growing on privacy fence, which does a decent job of proving a natural screen from the perpetual rotating cast of inhabitants next door, but, it’s getting overgrown. An arbor is the perfect solution to lift the wisteria higher to open the walking path AND create a better shield from the prying eyes of whoever is living next door to me this month.
There was a project for a rebar arbor on that inspired me on The Family Handyman. I wanted to make this as inexpensive, and quickly as possible, and this provided a solid foundation for embarking on this project. Since I technically only needed half of an arbor, this was a great jumping off point.
What I used to make the arbor:
- (2) 2×4 cedar boards to anchor the arbor to the deck and fence
- (10) 3/8″ rebar – these come in 10′ lengths which I had to cut down
- (1) roll of 16 gauge galvanized wire
- (8) 2-1/2″ triple coated deck screws for attaching 2×4 to fence & deck
Tools that I used to create this included:
- Drill with 1/2″ drill bit & bit for deck screws
- Hack saw to cut rebar
- Gloves
- Wire cutters
First I drilled hole in the 2×4’s for where I wanted the rebar to be positioned. The way I had to attach them to the deck and fence required me to drill the holes on the short side of the 2×4. I made one mark at the center, a mark at either end that was 6″ in from the edge of the board and then split the difference for the next two. I drilled about a 1/3 of the depth of the board. After drilling the holes, I made sure that the rebar would snuggle into the drilled holes and, if necessary, I drilled them out a bit more.
After drilling out the rebar holes, I attached the 2×4’s to the deck and fence. I measured up on the deck to get an approximate height and using a level, I attached the 2×4 with 2-1/2″ deck screws. I then made sure I was at the same height on the fence side and repeated the process. Again, if you more methodical than me, you might drill pilot holes, but I kinda just like to get shit done. This was probably the most technical part of the entire project.
Then, I needed to cut the rebar for the arches. The space between by deck and fence is just short of five feet, so I cut the rebar to arc over it at 8′ lengths. Cutting rebar is fairly easy. I did it with a hacksaw and cut into about 1/3 of the way through the metal. Then, holding the “short end of the rebar, I then turned it over and stepped over the area where I cut and it easily breaks in place. It’s really that simple.
I then bent the rebar by standing on end, holding the other end in my hand and stepping on the rebar to bend it. I did not use a scientific method at all. There are rebar benders, but, I didn’t feel that I needed that much precision. I just bent the rebar so that when it was in its final “U” shape, it was about as wide as my gap between the fence & the deck. I’m sure there is a more methodical way of doing it, I just didn’t care if it was 100% perfect. After all, it will eventually be covered with wisteria!
When the five arches were cut, I set them into place by pushing them into the drilled holes in the 2×4’s. If the holes didn’t seem big enough, I gave them another drilling out. Then, I needed to cut the straight pieces of rebar for the supports. Remember, I started the holes on the 2×4’s six inches from either end, so I needed these to be slightly smaller. Since I wanted them to overlap a little, I ended up cutting the five pieces of rebar for these at 7-1/2′. Then, I started by attaching these supports to arches. I measured one foot up from the deck/fence and used `6 gauge galvanized wire to lash them, starting at the center arch. I would have preferred a softer, more bendable wire, but, this it the best they had at my local hardware store. The next support, I measured at two feet from the deck/fence and then, eyeballed the approximate center for the final center support.
Here is the final photo of what this arch looks like completed. I anticipate as summer goes on that the wisteria will continue to grow over the arch – sometimes you have to train it to know which way to go. . I am also going to add some plug in lights to this to make this archway have a magical appearance. I will post more photos when I actually get that portion done.
This project took me about 5-1/2 hours in total, including the time I spent at the hardware store picking up everthing. It was a fun and fast project that will provide ambience, shade and much needed walkspace in my yard. I hope you enjoyed this project!
Cheers!
Dawn Marie
*Music heard in this video includes songs from : I, Us & We
The rebar arbor – a year later. The wisteria loves it and the net lights make for a magical passageway.