HOW I Made My Pergola— By Elizabeth Tyree Metcalfe 



CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION AS AN AVOCATION FOR WOMEN WHO WORK THEIR 

 OWN GARDENS — MAKING POSTS AND PERGOLAS, WITH FULL WORKING DETAILS 



Fig. 1. Plan for sup- 

 porting pieces: B B, cleats 

 for fastening; C C, diag- 

 onal cuts for separation 



I AM writing this 

 entirely for the 

 benefit of those 

 people who love 

 work for its own 

 sake. They, when 

 the task is done, 

 can look at it with 

 the joy of a crea- 

 tion. They can pat 

 it with affection as 

 I pat my flower 

 beds when the 

 seeds are all in, 

 and hug my unyielding concrete columns 

 because they are all my own work — that 

 is, nearly all. 



I had an ideal situation for a pergola, a 

 level stretch of a hundred feet with an offset 

 on the south side of fifteen feet straight 

 down a stone wall into a natural sunken 

 garden. Up this stone wall clambered 

 woodbine, honeysuckle and grape vines, 

 still clambering for greater heights to climb. 

 Along this edge I desired to put the columns. 

 So I went to a country carpenter and had 

 him construct a hollow form, seven feet high 

 and eighteen inches in diameter (Fig. 3). 



It can be built as follows: First take three 

 pieces of board twenty-six inches square and 

 not less than two inches thick; cut a perfect 

 circle in each, twenty inches in diameter; 

 cut each board exactly in half, as per 

 diagram, Fig. 1, by diagonal cuts, as 

 shown by the lines C C. This will give 

 you three pieces for each half of the form, 

 one for each end and one for the middle. 

 Place the pieces three and one-half feet apart 

 and nail on the inside of the semicircle strips 

 of strong wood one inch thick and two inches 

 wide, nailing them as close together as 

 possible. Now stand the halves on each 

 end and put them together. This makes the 

 form. 



The greatest precaution must be taken 

 in making the two halves, to see that the 

 semicircular boards are each placed exactly 

 opposite its mate, and when the two halves 

 are put together they must be adjusted on 

 a perfect level. When the form is in posi- 

 tion, secure each half-board to its mate 

 with slats of oak or chestnut. (Fig. 1, 

 B B.) Each slat should be nailed at one 

 end and fastened with screws at the other. 

 Removing the screws permits the two halves 

 of the form to be separated when it is 

 removed from the molded column. Such 

 a form will make a hundred columns if 

 handled carefully. 



My first task was lo make eight columns 

 which was done in as many days. I hired 

 a team for half a day and had hauled ten 

 loads of sand which contained all the gravel 

 that was needed. I hired an Italian laborer 

 at twenty-five cents an hour and as I worked 

 with him we made great progress. While 



the Italian screened the sand I made a 

 frame for the concrete foundation block. 

 (See Fig. 2, D D.) I used six-inch boards 

 and made the frame twenty-six inches 

 square, inside measurement. 



The other half of the day was spent in 

 making the foundation for the first column. 

 We made excavations two and a half feet 

 deep and three feet square. In digging 

 these holes we were careful to pick the 

 stones from each shovel of dirt and lay them 

 in a heap close to the hole. These I put 

 back, placing the largest stones in the bot- 

 tom of the hole. I did this myself while 

 the laborer prepared the concrete mixture. 

 When the hole was completely filled with 

 stones to within ten inches of the surface, 

 I placed in the centre a piece of two-inch 

 iron pipe two feet 

 long, so that it 

 projected above the 

 foundation about 

 fourteen inches 

 (Fig. 2.) I secured 

 it firmly with stones 

 and continued fill- 

 ing the hole on the 

 outer edges, as the 

 diagram shows, so 

 that later on con- 

 crete would fill in 

 to the depth of the 

 pipe. I filled the 

 hole to within six 

 inches of the sur- 

 face. I then placed 

 the frame for the 

 concrete block that 

 my column was to rest upon. I secured the 

 frame firmly in the exact place and adjusted 

 it so that it was perfectly level. This is a 

 most important feature in building the 

 columns. The surface of the foundation 

 block must be a perfect level, otherwise the 

 column will look like a miniature tower of 

 Pisa. 



The concrete mixture was made of one 

 part Portland cement, three parts coarse 

 clean sand and five parts gravel and larger 

 stones, none larger than a man's fist, in the 

 proportion of three of gravel and two of 

 stone. 



The whole secret of good concrete lies . 

 in mixing. Mix the cement and sand very 

 thoroughly before the water is put in. Now 

 add the water; it is difficult to say what 

 quantity, but the mixture is of the right 

 consistency when it is a batter that will 

 drop, not pour, from the shovel. Next pour 

 in the gravel and mix thoroughly again. 

 Leave out the large stones and drop them 

 in later on, as directed. 



We found it convenient to use a mixing 



board four feet square with a four-inch 



board rim. It was also easier to mix one 



bag of cement at a time, using an ordinary 



304 



Fig. 2. How the con- 

 crete foundation was 

 made. The firmly set 

 iron rod assures stability 



garden hoe to mix with and a sprinkling can 

 for the water. For measuring we used an 

 old galvanized iron pail. When the founda- 

 tion is filled with stones and the form ad- 

 justed, pour in the concrete so that it settles 

 about the pipe. (See Fig. 2.) Keep tamp- 

 ing it so that it will run into the crevices 

 of the stones. Place small stones at the 

 top of the hole so that the concrete will not 

 be wasted, for it is not necessary that the 

 concrete should fill in more than to the 

 depth of the pipe in the centre. 



Before the concrete is poured in, place 

 large stones outside the frame to hold it in 

 position. The next morning the concrete of 

 the foundation will have set and you will take 

 away the stones in order to remove the 

 foundation frame. 



Now you are ready to mold the columns. 

 Place the form on the foundation, taking 

 care that the bottom board of the form 

 exactly covers the square foundation. I 

 used a spirit level eighteen inches long to 

 adjust my form so that it was perfectly level 

 and perpendicular. Sometimes I had put a 

 shingle under the bottom edge of one side 

 of the form but that was because my con- 

 crete foundation was not a perfect level. 

 The next important step is to brace the form 

 on all sides firmly as there is great danger, 

 the concrete being very heavy and poured 

 in from the top, of interfering with the 

 adjustment of the form. I used the method 

 indicated in Fig. 3, using supporting 

 strips A A. These strips are nailed to the 

 middle circular board at one end and the 

 other is secured by stakes driven in the 

 ground. 



It is expedient to use a wooden bucket for 



Fig. 3. Section showing construction of the form 

 and the supporting strips A A 



