🖼️
The project:
Created an L-Shaped “Cactus Shack” attached to the sunniest side of the house to grow and collect rare cacti in Western Australia.
- Materials:
Treated timber, corrugated polycarbonate, screws, second hand refurbished windows and doors, outdoor paint and primers. Castor wheels for benches and outdoor hanging lights. Cement and stirrups.
- Tools:
Ozito drills and screwdrivers, Ozito circular saw, Ryobi drop saw, Ozito hand sanders.
- Step 1:
I started with collecting enough second hand windows and doors to allow me to create a design to suit the space. I wanted to have enough room to increase my cacti collection. We took measurements of every windows/door and made some cutout to scale. This helped positioning each door/window to a specific location.
- Step 2:
Then we used paint stripper and tools to remove the old paint and nails from the second hand doors and windows. Once that was done, the used Ozito hand sanders plus sanding blocks to sand everything down to their primary colour and patched/fixed anything that needed to be fixed.
Then it was time to prime everything TWICE to make sure the rain wouldn’t swell up the wood and protect it from the harsh sun. Everything looked great in white!
- Step 3:
Once everything had been primed, time to get the wood for the frames delivered and call some friends for help!
First, we lifted some pavers and concreted in some stirrups to bolt the frames to, for support and to make sure the wind didn’t take the whole shack away!
Once set, we created the first frame to incorporate the doors & windows
- Step 4:
After the struggle of lifting the “small” frame (about 2.5m long), we decided to create the second large frame (about 4.5m long) but without securing the doors/windows to it. So we could lift it to its positioning without requiring 10 people (those windows are HEAVY)
Of course, we had to do a few extra stop overs at our favorite hardware store (anything is a good excuse to go to Bunnings!)
- Step 5:
Once the long frame was erected, we had to anchor it to the walls to support it and stop it from falling. This was difficult but we managed to find the right equipment at Bunnings to connect it all and make it sturdy and solid. We added all the remaining windows and doors to it so we could finish the long frame before the first coat of paint.
- Step 6:
Next step was to add a 50% white shade cloth to protect the cacti from the summer heat, which was laid and then stapled to the top of the frame. Cacti love sun but hate the harsh UV.
Then we added corrugated polycarbonate roofing sheet (Suntuf) to protect the cacti from the winter rain. The polycarbonate also helps reduce the UV.
Once the roofing was complete, it was time to paint and make it pretty like the wife requested! We chose a paperbark colour to match with our colour bond fence.
- Step 7:
After the first coat of paint, the first cacti entered the shack, and we started creating benches to sit them on.
- Step 8:
Finished the benches, added fans to recirculate extra air and of course a nice shelf for my pride cacti.
I also had to stick some UV Protecting laminating vynil to all the glass - the Uv rays were getting intensified through the glass and burning some cacti. So more UV protection and additional shade cloth.
- Step 9:
Cactus Shack completed with fairy lights and happy cacti growers. We added cute outdoor lights afterwards and nice small door knobs, latch and handles.
- Step 10:
last touches plus the fruit of our hard work. My oldest Ariocarpus (24 years old) in flower and a small Ariocarpus with a sunning pink flower.
