Project #2 : pool patio and table

A parallel project being worked on, at the same time as the barn floor, was the new patio and table. This has been a years-in-the-thinking project. I know about the winds on the mountain (living close by) and nixed every idea my brothers originally had about a table and umbrella. A table, chairs and umbrella would inevitably go flying if we were not there to batten down the hatches. Somewhere along the line, they came up with a hand crafted cement table that would hold the umbrella in place and couldn’t go flying. Now we were talking. The first step in the patio project was building a custom table frame, before the concrete truck came. They crafted the framework in the garage on a moveable structure that would be wheeled to the pool area before the concrete arrived. Had they done this kind of work before? No. But they had smarts and each other to bounce ideas off of. One of them came up with the idea of making the table mirror the shape of the pool. Rounded edges; no sharp corners. Long before they arrived here on the east coast, they ordered the custom steel tubing which would become the legs and the anchor for the umbrella. The day came to move the framework to the steps by the pool - reachable by a cement truck. Nothing broke as they steered it down the hill, across the bridge and down the gristmill stone steps. The real test would be after the cement hardened and then was moved into position, frame and all. But before all that could happen, the patio needed to be built - with fewer pavers than ordered, due to a supplier error. It took almost a week for the pavers to be delivered…can’t get up the road, out for delivery, driver lost…and finally they arrived. Should we go with a basket weave? A boxed basket weave? A herringbone? Decisions, decisions, decisions. After a week of the table curing in place, the day came to carefully wheel the table into place. With some adjustments we finally got it where we wanted it, added the legs, centered the umbrella hole  and began taking apart the frame, piece by piece, wheel by wheel. It worked! We put in the umbrella and new swivel chairs. After cleanup, it was time for a swim and a swivel at the new table. Mission accomplished!

Up next: project # 3, resurfacing the shuffleboard court