Ohiojay, The GH is 9x14. The "plans" were cobbled together in my head from input from a bunch of pix of GHs that I've seen AND developed to fit the look of the house. We live on a small lot (50x150) with a 1920's house (orginally a hip roof cottage) that has been slowly upgraded with addition and small deck. Most of which has been kept to the small cottage\house look. (V Rustic wood siding, simple crown molding on the exterior windows, etc) Both my wife and I never even considered an aluminum kit - can't see how it would fit the look of the house. In addition the site was not the best choice possible vis a vis sun exposure, though the only reasonable site to put it at all. We wanted a tall knee wall...actually almost a half wall- both for the look and the reality that a tool shed on its south side reduced the sun below "table level" during the worst of the winter sun angle. We never planned to plant in the ground, but start annuals and hold orchids over the winter on tables and hung from the rafters so the tall half wal fit the bill I'm not about to recommend my approach, ie. wood over aluminum - (pesonally I just don't like the aluminum GH look) Nor do I suggest "making it up as you go without plans". It's just evolved this way. At some point soon, once I make myslef sit down at the computer with the progress photos I've taken, I'll get some out so you can see what we have so far. Last weekend we laid the used brick floor. Now it's time to paint, get the electical details installed, order twin wall and metal trim and close it up. As its going it will take until the first frost to accomlish it. Its a part of a larger "back yard" plan and I have to keep the bigger project moving along as well.

" Be sure to paint it after installation. " And remember you will have to etch the gate to get the paint to stick long term. I would use plain steel, corrosion resistant primer, and two coats of paint then just count on repainting every few years and replacing at some point. The hinges will be the first part to fail since no paint (or galvanize) will stand up to the movement of the hinges on the hinge pins.

Hey just checking back. I didn't have to do anything really time consuming or special on any of the 3 lamps. I took them outside and sprayed on PAM. I then put on gloves to protect my nails and scrubbed the metal with PAM saturated steel wool...used very fine. I next used paper towels to get off the rust and oil residue. I used a spray grease cutter to get off the PAM after that. The finish was so pretty at that point so all I did was put in the milky looking primer...it dries clear and you can then coat it with the SF. I didn't wait at all. It dries very fast. I used a tiny brush like from a kid's watercolor set. The SF dries very fast also. I didn't seal it. You can use as much or as little as you want and feather the edges. Use less and then look at it and see if you want more coverage. The original metal will probably be so pretty that you might not use much so clean 1st. Good Luck. c

Spray paint requires thin coats...better more thin than trying to cover in the first one or two. If you watch auto body sprayers, they will do a stroke evenly in one direction, spraying slightly past the item, stop spraying, then start spraying again for the return stroke before they hit the item and do it again at the far side of the object. This avoids issues of too much paint at the edges. Also, much harder is to keep the spray can evenly distanced from the object as your natural tendency is to spray in an arc which will give more paint in the middle than it will at the edges. If you want a really nice paint job, take it to an auto body shop. Good shops have painters who will do an excellent job for you.