Category: How To

Categories
How To

How to Build a Letter Box!

Build it Gansbaai Letter Box

DIY projects are fun, especially if they are practical, “How to Build a Letter Box” is a great project you can do at home with your children over the holidays. This Letter Box is sturdy, inexpensive and very easy to assemble, an excellent way to compliment your home and have fun while building it.

Let’s get started!

What you will need:

Tools:

  • Power Saw (Bench Saw)
  • Hammer
  • Electric Drill and 
  • 6mm wood bit (Titan or Alphen)
  • Measure Tape
  • Square (Carpenter)
  • Sandpaper
  • Clamps to hold pieces while gluing

Materials:

  • Timber: 1 x 2400mm x 190mm (SA Pine or Meranti)
  • 140mm Dowel for hinges
  • Waterproof wood glue (Alcolin)
  • 25mm galvanised nails
  • Post or fence mountings as required
  • House number and door knob
  • Catch or latch
  • Finish (Woodoc exterior sealer) or paint (Duram Habitat Collection 90ml Samples for small jobs)

Durams new collection of 90 exquisite colours has been inspired by the natural habitats of South Africa, these colours will take you on a journey across the breath-taking landscapes and unique flora and fauna our country has to offer. From subtle earthbound neutrals to dark inky hues, choosing the perfect colour couldn’t be simpler.

Build it Gansbaai stocks everything you will need for this project, you can order all these items online, from the comfort of your own home and delivered straight to your front door.

Check it out! www.buildit-store.co.za

Choosing Timber

Choose a durable timber such as a dressed SA Pine or Meranti, that will handle the wet weather conditions.For this project you will have to purchase one dressed plank that is 2400mm Long and 190mm Wide by 19mm High.

Measuring Timber

Measure, mark and cut the following pieces with a bench or handsaw. All pieces will have a height of 19mm.

  • Roof (155mm): 1 x 400mm (L) x 155mm (W)
  • Roof (136mm): 1 x 400mm (L) x 136mm (W)
  • Roof Base:          1 x 400mm (L) x 190mm (W)
  • Box Base:            1 x 262mm (L) x 160mm (W)
  • Box Ends:            2 x 165mm (L) x 160mm (W)
  • Box Front: 1 x 262mm (L) x 115mm (W)
  • Door:               1 x 260mm (L) x 140mm (W)

Initial Assembly

Now that you have your pieces, start by gluing and nailing the box ends and front to the box base ensuring that the box is square. 

You may need to use clamps when gluing, this is your masterpiece, unless the idea of the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” is what you are aiming for😉 Separately glue the two parts of the roof together at the ridge with a butt joint, and strengthen with nails or screws.

Hinges

While the glue of the roof is drying, prepare the hinged door. Referring to the image below, simply drill with a 6mm wood bit 50mm into each end of the door. Now drill the corresponding holes in the sides of the box 14mm down from the top. The centre of the holes should be in the middle of the door piece so that the door will close flush with the letter box.

Fit the catch or latch of your choice to the door front.

Applying the finish to the Inside of the Letter Box

Now for the Letter Box is almost complete and the roof is not yet fastened, paint the inside and outside of the roof, both sides of the base and the inside of the box and let dry.

Final Assembly

Attach the door by driving the dowels a short distance into the door, apply some waterproof wood glue to the dowels before fully tapping them in. Place the roof base onto the box, then glue and nail into the box ends. Glue and nail the roof onto the roof base making sure that it sits squarely and leave to dry. 

Great job so far, almost done!

Applying the finish to the Outside of the Letter Box

Now that you have fully assembled your Letter Box, clean and sand till smooth, you can now apply two coats of your chosen finish or paint of choice and let dry.

Decorate

You can now attach your house number and decorate as desired, this is the part, where even the littlest person in the family can have fun with.

All done! Please send us a photo of your new Letter Box, you can upload it in the comments section, we would love to see it!

Plan your next DIY project with Build it Gansbaai and get the job done right, first time. Please follow us on social media to stay up to date with our latest sizzling specials and promotional offers! Or, log on to our online store and shop from the comfort of your home: www.buildit-store.co.za

Build it Gansbaai offers local delivery, supplying the greater Overberg area with building materials, do-it-yourself home improvement tools, and expert advice.

Build it Gansbaai offers added value services in respect of hardware retailing; embracing all activity within the building materials industry, focusing specifically on the building of; urban, township, rural housing as well as all home improvements and do it yourself.

Build it is a division of the SPAR Group Limited South Africa. A voluntary trading group of individually owned retail stores with more than 10 000 employees across the group, we currently have stores in South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique with plans to expand into Botswana and Zambia in the near future. We view ourselves not only as a supplier of materials, but as a partner to our valued customers in accomplishing their building or renovating projects.

Categories
How To

How to Build a Stone Fire Ring

Build it Gansbaai Stone Fire Ring

We will show you how to build this simple, safe and durable fire ring over a weekend in your own backyard to entertain friends and family this Spring.

Planning your Outdoor Stone Fire Pit

Having the necessary Tools and Materials on hand saves time and frustration. 

Tools Required:
  • Garden rake
  • Level
  • Safety glasses
  • Sledgehammer
  • Spade
  • Tape measure
  • Wheelbarrow
Materials Required:
  • 1-1/2 yards of sand?
  • 20 sq. meters of flagstone
  • 24 granite retaining wall stones (6-1/2 x 8 x 14 in.)
  • Marking spray paint
Step 1

Mark your fire ring and patio

Begin by making sure there are no electrical wires or water pipes running over the area you are planning your fire ring. 

Choose an area that’s about 5 meters in diameter and relatively flat. Make sure that your fire ring is not too close to buildings and bushes, you do not want to set the neighbourhood on fire😉

Drive an iron rod directly into the centre of the area you have chosen to build your fire ring.  Tie a piece of masking tape or rope around the rod and measure out 2,5 meters. With a can of spray paint mark out a 5-meter radius circle.     

Step 2

Remove any grass/plant material and enough sand with a good shovel, so the paving stones you’ve chosen are flush with the surrounding grass when set in 3cm of sand.

Drive a 15cm. landscape spike beside the centre iron rod until it is 5cm below the sod level. Drive six additional spikes about 1 meter away from the centre, spacing them evenly around the centre. Level the top of each spike with the centre one, then spread sand in the circle flush with the tops of the spikes.

Lay the stones in a circle to determine how large you want to make the ring. There is no right or wrong here. A 1-meter inner diameter works well, but you can adjust the size according to your preference. Measure the radius of the circle and then mark this circle at the centre of your fire ring.

For safety and stability reasons, limit the height of the ring to two rows of stone. If you go higher, keep in mind that the stones can fall, so be sure to use large stable stones!

Make sure that when you set your base stones, you have a level bed of sand to keep your base stones stable. 

Once the first level is perfectly aligned the second row of stones are easy to place.

Step 3

Spread 3cm of sand over the sitting area and fit the first flagstone tightly to the fire ring, twisting it into the sand till firmly set and the joints are tight.

You can use various materials for an attractive sitting area, for low maintenance purposes, we have chosen flagstones for this project.  Once the grass starts growing in-between the flagstones it is easy to maintain by running a lawnmower over the stones to trim the grass.

This is where you can get creative with the look and feel of your fire ring.  You could add colourful stones, wood chips, moss or any ground coverings of your choice.

This is your masterpiece, go crazy😉

Step 4

The final step to this project is to raise the level of sand inside your fire ring to your specifications.

stone fire pit

Well Done!

Only one thing left to do, Pack the wood, Nou gaan ons Braai!😉

Please send us a photo of your new fire ring, we would love to see it, you can upload your images in the comments section!

Plan your next DIY project with Build it Gansbaai and get the job done right, first time.

Please follow us on social media to stay up to date with our latest sizzling specials and promotional offers!

Or, log on to our online store and shop from the comfort of your home: www.buildit-store.co.za

Build it Gansbaai offers local delivery, supplying the greater Overberg area with building materials, do-it-yourself home improvement tools, and expert advice.