Tamar Carpentry

We all love the idea of growing our own food but have to deal with little furry thieves pinching our hard earned veggies! Two recent jobs of mine will keep those pilfering possums at bay!

In both cases, my customers wanted large (10x4m plus) enclosures with enough headroom to grow fruit trees (up to 2.7m). I used timber sleepers for the in-ground "foundations" to block any tunnellers and cheaper rough-cut treated pine for the framework. Both jobs then had a pause to allow the timber to age and the customer to paint/oil the frame before I came back to install the structural strapping and 25mm galvanised mesh. A couple of custom doors, wide enough to fit a fully laden wheelbarrow, finished each job.

Now its just up to the owners to fill it full of growbays and enjoy many years of theft free home grown veggies and fruit.

I've done lots of Ekodeck and I always recommend it when building a new deck - I've even used it in my own home. So I was excited to hear that Ekodeck was expanding with a new range of wall cladding!

Being zero maintenace and easy to install, its always a great option. But I wasnt sure when I would get the chance to clad a house. My opportunity came when a customer asked if I could use the cladding on a rather unusual project.

My customer loved the cladding - both its colours, its texture, its zero maintenance and how neat the trim looks. He wanted to make a series of storage benches and lockers to cover up the unsightly amenities we have outside - such as a hose and hot water heater - as well as provide some bench seating and storage. I'm always up for a challenge so was happy to design and build him his new cabinets and bench seats.

I treated it like a little house or shed build - using H3 pine to frame out the cabinets and benches and then installing the cladding as if it was on a house. As you can see, there's lots of panels and tricky angles but it was a breeze to get everything looking great.

My customer was so happy with it they asked if I could do a barn door in the same material - no problem! So now they've got the storage space they've always wanted and those ugly fixtures of everyday life are hidden away. :D