Do-it-yourself gazebos made of metal

Some people like metal arbors, some don’t. Disliked mainly by those who prefer wood. But those who are faced with caring for a tree that is outdoors all year round know how much time, effort and money it takes to maintain its normal appearance. From this point of view, metal is better: carefully processed and painted, it does not rust for years, it does not warp, it does not dry out and does not swell, does not rot, is not affected by fungi and is not covered with mold. The worst thing that can happen to him is that he will rust. But there are proven cures for this “disease”: sandpaper, rust converter and paint. Therefore, metal gazebos are often assembled with their own hands. They are also good because they can withstand significant loads and can be combined with any finishing materials for both walls and roofs.

Types and methods of assembly

In addition to different shapes – rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, round – the metal frame can be installed in two different ways:

1. The vertical pipes of the frame are concreted into the ground. The rest of the structure is then attached to these racks. With this method, the presence of a foundation is not provided. In principle, having made a lower harness at some distance from the ground, you can lay the floor, but most often with this method of manufacturing an iron gazebo, the site is concreted or paving slabs are laid out.
   

2. First, a shallow columnar or strip foundation is made, sometimes a monolithic slab is poured, a platform is laid out with tiles, etc. The frame is constructed separately and fixed after at least the lower trim and racks are ready. If the foundation is columnar or tape, the pipe is placed on it and connected in place: only a crane can lift the finished structure.
   

Which way is better? Depending on which side to look. If from the side of fastening reliability, the first one is better: the racks are immured. Also, this option is more economical: there is no bottom strapping and there are no costs for making the foundation. But such a design, if it is without a floor, is only a summer gazebo. For winter, closed, you need a floor.

A gazebo on the foundation is better from the point of view that it initially assumes the presence of a floor. In addition, the elevation, even if it is small, protects against splashes and dirt from getting inside.

Assembly methods

Traditionally, metal is joined by welding. It’s fast and reliable. But in the case of a country summer gazebo, a collapsible design may be needed. After all, it is very unsafe to leave a large amount of iron for the winter in an unguarded dacha. In the sense that it can easily be stolen. In this case, the modules are welded, which are then bolted together. As a rule, such collapsible metal gazebos are a frame to which an awning is attached, or another similar quickly mounted or dismantled fence and the same light roof.

The frame in collapsible arbors is broken along the edges. If it is quadrangular, four separate circuits are brewed with all the necessary jumpers. There are six of them in hexagons, etc.

What metals are made from

Most often, do-it-yourself metal gazebos are made from a profile pipe: it is easier to work with it. The wall thickness must be at least 2 mm. Thicker is useless: they sell it mainly in kilograms, so with the same outer dimensions with a thicker wall, they are decently more expensive.

If you use round pipes, the wall thickness remains the same. They are more difficult to cook, but if you already have experience, why not: they cost less than profile ones. You can also use a metal corner. But its thickness should be already 2,5-3 mm: less rigidity. Under the skin, such a gazebo will also look good.

How to cook with an inverter welding machine, read here.

The discussion above was about steel. But profile pipes and corners are also made of aluminum. The design will turn out much easier, which in the case of a collapsible gazebo can be very helpful. But such a pipe costs several times more.

Read about how to attach a veranda to the house. 

How to make a gazebo from a profile pipe: step by step instructions with a photo

Before you weld a gazebo, you need to purchase metal. For racks, the profile pipe is suitable for the following sizes:

• 50 * 50 mm, if the roofing material is light – profiled sheet, metal tile, shingles or slate;
• 75*75 mm with slate or tile roofing.

For jumpers take a thinner profile. Maximum 50*50 mm, minimum 20*30 mm. Its dimensions are highly dependent on how large the structure will be. For powerful construction sites they take a larger section, for smaller ones, of course, a smaller one. Here it is worth taking into account the weight of the finishing material with which the frame will be sheathed from the sides (if any).

For the manufacture of a square gazebo 3-3 meters (photo above), racks 2,2 m high, the following materials were used:

• pipe for strapping 50 * 50 * 2 mm – 12 meters;
• for lintels profile pipe:
  • 40*40*2 mm – 14 meters;
  • 20*20*2 mm – 6 meters;
  • 40*20*2 – 30 meters;
• metal strip 20 * 4 mm, 2 m long.

Pole marking and installation

If the site was planted, grass grows on it, the fertile layer must be removed. Otherwise, plant residues under the floor will rot. During construction, this was not done, and the smells for two summers in a row were, to put it mildly, “not very good”.

The resulting pit, if you have good water leaving the site, is covered with sand or “native” soil, but without a vegetative layer and infertile. If the soil is clayey, be sure to fill it with the same clay.

If you are going to immediately install pipes into the ground, carefully prime them. Then drill holes, about 70-90 cm deep. The diameter depends on the drill that you have. A pipe is inserted into the finished pit, covered with a large fraction of crushed stone or construction waste, set exactly vertically, the crushed stone is rammed. The exposed rack is poured with concrete mortar. If Portland cement M 400 is used, 3-4 parts of sand can be taken, the concrete must be liquid so that it spills well into the depths.

The second option is someone holding the bar straight, or you have found a way to fix it. Then it is required to fill the pit with concrete with an aggregate of crushed stone of the middle fraction. The proportions can be as follows: for 1 part of cement, 2 parts of sand, 1,5 – crushed stone. Read more about concrete grades here.

Another point: the verticality of the installation of racks is checked not by a building level, but by a plumb line. The level has too much error. And she practically does not know how to plumb. Magnetic plumb bob is very convenient for working with metal: they have a magnet in their case. Just put the case in the right place, and the plumb bob keeps itself.

If you prefer to raise the gazebo, you can put it, for example, on foundation blocks. Since a whole block for a gazebo is a luxury, blocks of 200 * 200 * 400 mm can be cut in half (grinder with a diamond blade). The resulting cubes are arranged according to the area: one in the corners, four more between them, and 4 more pieces in the middle in a checkerboard pattern. The scheme is as shown in the picture below. The blocks in the middle are needed so that the pipe does not bend: three meters with a rib of 50 mm sag without support.

To prevent the concrete from pulling moisture, it was coated on all sides with bituminous mastic, which is why they are black in the photo. You can tar someone who has resin, or put roofing material on top in two layers. But the roofing material will crumble in a couple of years, its quality today is nowhere worse.

All blocks are placed on the same level. To make it easier to set the corners, they drive in pegs, pull the thread, checking the diagonals, and set blocks according to a given pattern. All their tops should be in the same plane. You can do this in several ways:

• pull the laces, check and set them, and already level the blocks along them;
• use a long, even rail (board), on which to put the building level (tested and with a small error), and so set all the blocks;
• use a laser level, but in sunny weather you won’t be able to work with it – it’s almost invisible (or you need a special one with such a function).

As you understand, the hassle of placing blocks can be avoided if the pipes are fixed to the ground. True, the strapping belt will also need to be done exactly.

Bottom harness and racks

After the blocks are set, pieces of square pipes are laid on them. In the manufacture of the lower trim of the metal gazebo, a profile pipe 50 * 50 mm was used. If you wish, you can take a more powerful one, but the gazebo has been standing for 5 years, although more than 10 people have not yet gathered.

The pipes are laid, horizontalness is again checked with a level. They cook in the corners. Then two jumpers are made from a pipe of a smaller section – 40 * 20 mm, on which the floor boards (or plywood, if you want to use it) will rest.

All pipes are painted twice with a primer, special attention was paid to the places of welding. Racks are made 220 cm high: so that the roof is not supported by the head. The racks turned out to be heavy (50 * 50 * 2 mm), and in order to secure them more reliably, mounting braces were welded from a metal strip of 20 * 4 mm (see photo).

The column is placed evenly, its direction is checked with a plumb line (more conveniently magnetic), after which the jibs are clamped with clamps. It’s easier to cook this way: the drain is almost dead and an assistant is needed only for insurance. First, boil the pipe around the perimeter, and then alternately removing the clamps and also the jibs. They hold even at a height of 2,2 well.

Racks at the doors from a profile pipe 50 * 50 mm in this gazebo end at the level of the railing. To increase the stability of the structure, it is better to put them at the same height. But in this case, the owner decided that the construction was stable (due to the jibs) and decided to save a little.

Read about the basics of welding with an inverter welding machine here. 

Railings and top railing

The height of the railing in the gazebo is 95 cm. But it can be both less and more – this is not important. Even without railings. For example, under continuous glazing with polycarbonate. Or covering one or two walls with an opaque finish (from neighbors and / or from the side of the street).

The middle harness – the railing – is made of a pipe 40-20 mm, the upper harness is of the same section. To increase rigidity, two vertical posts are welded between the first and second strapping (height 95 cm, section 40 * 20 cm). The whole structure is in the next photo.

Roof

Next came the turn of the roofing. This iron gazebo will be covered with bituminous tiles, because the truss structure is made of wood. A bar 75 * 40 mm was taken for the frame, lining was used for the crate under the soft tiles: so that the view from below was also attractive (you can replace it with moisture-resistant plywood).

Pieces of wood are hammered into the open ends of the racks so that this cork enters the pipe by at least 10 cm. Pieces of 5-7 cm remain sticking out from above. Rafters are attached to these corks. They can be cut almost to the root, leaving a little so that you can cut them at an angle if necessary.

Rafters are cut out – 4 pieces of 2,5 meters each. All 4 pieces are connected at the top into one design. The height from the zero level to the top point is about a meter. First connect the two. In order to have a slope, they are filed. Knock down with long nails. The two remaining bars are nailed to the right and left (the ends are also cut at a slight angle). To keep them strong, stainless steel corners are also screwed on.

Since it is inconvenient to process the rafters at the top, they are immediately, still on the ground, impregnated with an antiseptic and painted with a stain with protective properties (they chose a light color to make it more pleasant inside. They processed all the boards and lining for sheathing at once: it rains and it can quickly turn blue.

Then an auxiliary board is laid in the center, an auxiliary bar about 85 cm long is nailed onto it exactly in the center. It is made shorter so that the rafter legs extend slightly beyond the perimeter of the harness. So the roof will be larger, the water flowing from the roof will flow less inside.

A structure of four rafters assembled on the ground is mounted on top of the gazebo. Its top should rest on the bar. All this is centered. With a plumb line, you check the verticality of the bar, but also additionally measure the distance from the center of the rafter system to the place where each rafter leg rests on the frame. If everything is more or less normal, fasten the ends of the rafters to the driven plugs. Then the support and the board are removed, you can mount the crate.

Additional jibs were nailed under the crate (from the same bar 75 * 40 mm). How it’s done – see the photo below.

The crate for soft tiles was made from lining. It is more expensive than a cut board, but its aesthetic appearance is better. After installation of the crate, bituminous tiles are laid. It is simply spread out and nailed into the mounting holes with studs. Installation starts from the bottom, moving up. Cut on the spot with scissors, easy to work with. On the sides, at the joints, it is nailed every 5-6 cm, special corners are laid on top.

Floor and side trim

A 70 * 40 mm edged board was laid on the floor. The floorboard is not recommended: small gaps are needed, which will allow the wood to swell in high humidity. A floor board with a spike and a groove is useless here.

The sidewalls are also trimmed with edged board, only 70 * 20 mm. The lining was not used for the same reason: it can turn out if it is wet for a long time (fog, rain). A board was nailed on top of the finish, closing the ends of the skin, and you can put something on it.

For this gazebo, a truss system made of wood is made of metal. It turned out rather a gazebo made of metal and wood. It is possible to weld the truss system from the profile exactly according to the same principle, immediately welding additional jibs. You can make a welded gazebo with an arch from the same pipe. How to make a double arch, see the video.

Read about how to make a wooden gazebo here.

Photo of gazebos made of metal

In general, the options for gazebos made of metal structures are very numerous: welding, forging, various materials with which the frames are finished. Profile pipe, round, made of steel and aluminum, there are even stainless steel options. All this is complemented by any shape: from a square and a rectangle, to any complex shape. The metal is so plastic that there are very, very many variations. Some of them are collected in the photo gallery.

How to cook a gazebo for a summer residence, see the video.