To get ready for a big home repair job recently, my husband and I were forced to finally confront a cleanup project we’d been avoiding for some time: the neglected side yard. It was a daunting task as we’d been storing all our leftover materials from home improvement projects there. For years.
We’ve needed to do a big cleanup for a while, but it somehow always dropped to the bottom of the to-do list. With a contractor crew scheduled to arrive, and the clock literally ticking, we were forced to deal with it.
We had several stacks of very heavy pavers that had to be moved out of the way. Still not ready to part with any of that material, we temporarily relocated it elsewhere in the yard. The bigger task was figuring out what to do with the wood pile that has been accumulating over the years. We’ve built a lot of small backyard projects, for example:
- Flower boxes
- A decorative horizontal wood fence
- A grapevine trellis
- A horizontal privacy fence
- A corner trellis
Since joining Simpson Strong-Tie in 2013, I’ve learned so much about wood construction connectors and fasteners — and what sets our industry-leading products above the rest. I’m not just a marketing manager, I’m a customer! One of my favorite product lines is Outdoor Accents® decorative hardware. You can spot beautiful black Outdoor Accents products on several of the projects. For example, for the horizontal privacy fence, I used APLH joist hangers and APVL L strap ties installed with the Outdoor Accents structural wood screw and hex-head washer. For the grapevine trellis, I used that same Outdoor Accents screw and washer combo to connect the wood pieces and to install APLH joist hangers. My husband and I also love how easy it is to build with Simpson Strong-Tie fasteners. No predrilling is just the best. On these projects, we used Strong-Drive® SD Connector screws for the corner trellis, SDWS™ Timber screws for the flower boxes and trellis, and Deck-Drive™ DCU Composite screws for the horizontal privacy fence.
With every project, there’s always leftover wood pieces that we’re reluctant to throw away. We’ve diligently stashed it all on the side of the house for those “just in case” moments when a piece of scrap might come in handy for a repair or small project. And every time we actually used something from the pile, it validates our saver mentality.
During this recent cleanup, as we sorted through the pile to decide what to keep and what to toss, I realized we had enough 2x4s to build this log holder. I also had a WBSK kit stored in the garage that I’d been meaning to use, so the timing felt perfect. This would be the ideal project to reuse some of those materials, while also building a new storage unit for the scrap wood we were keeping.
We found pressure-treated 2x4s in our scrap heap that were just the right size. We assembled the frame with RTC2Z Rigid Tie® corner connectors and Strong-Drive® SD Connector screws from the kit. The RTC2Z connectors made it quick and easy to create clean, square corners. We really liked that we could custom-size the wood holder not only to fit our narrow space but also to accommodate some longer pieces of siding.
Once the frame was in place, we added leftover deck boards from the horizontal wood fence and attached them with leftover DCU Composite screws. While it felt a little extravagant to use composite deck boards for a side-yard wood holder, it was a good use of leftover material and this thing is going to last forever.
I’m delighted that we could build this wood holder entirely with wood, connectors and screws we already had on hand. Plus, the opportunity to reduce what we’re storing by the materials we used to build it made it a win-win!
