Heat Pump Fence | Sheila Zeller Interiors

Remember the BBQ pad we (Dad!) put in? You can read about it here and here if you missed those posts.

I hinted then that a surround to hide the heat pump might be a nice finishing touch… and doubly hinted that Dad would maybe do the work? Pretty please

Here’s a run-down of what’s been happening in the last few days!

Gather the materials.

Check.

Paint the wood.

Check.

Call Dad.

Speed Dial!

Dad’s pretty patient when he’s working in my make-shift shop. You should see his!

The heat pump is on a sloped slab, so leveling the surround was a tedious part of this project.

And measuring…

Well, you know the drill.

Measure twice, cut once!

See how sloped the slab is?

It’s like 2″ lower on the left front than the right! And let’s not even talk about the back!

Squaring the frame was definitely left to the pro!

I was the go-for!

And putting this piece of lattice on was ‘f. u. n.’

I got to hold everything while Dad put in the screws. Do you know how slippery pvc is when slipping is not an option?

Matching the lattice on the corners also required patience and persistence!

But ‘we’ managed, and the match turned out well.

Notice, we took the lattice right to the ground? This is to help camouflage the slope, and hide the not-so-pretty slab.

And we left the back side against the house open as you don’t really see it. The frame is solid because we put ‘L’ brackets on this part of the frame.

If the pump ever needs to be accessed, only the screws attaching the house-side of the lattice to the frame, and the bottom of the ‘L’ brackets need to be undone. The rest of the surround stays in tact and can be pulled away from the heat pump as a unit.

Now you can hardly tell the slab is sloped!

And yes, we do swing the BBQ out and away from all this when we’re using it!

Here’s a little look back at the beginning.

We went from this…

To this…

To this!

We thought about going with wooden lattice painted to match the steps or the house, but in the end decided to go with the PVC lattice for ease of cleaning and care, and because we were taking it right to the ground. Our landlord covered the cost for this home improvement, and when you’re a landlord you need to think about the long-term impacts of care and maintenance down the road!

Now… we have to get the step repaired and the porch repainted. With the weather turning itself around, that’s coming soon! That and pots of plants. It’s time for some colour!

How are your home improvements coming along? Got any big projects on the go???

THANKS FOR JOINING ME HERE!