Maybe not the essence of FHB, but I’m thinking about building some type of screen for our outdoor trash receptacle. We don’t have room to store it in the garage because we actually use the garage for our cars, and it is really inconvenient to store it behind the house, and I really don’t like the way it looks just sitting in front of our house.
I would really appreciate some suggestions or to hear how you’ve dealt with this issue before.
Thanks in advance.
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Replies
Around here, the appropriate thing to do is to take the engine off an old push mower that doesn't run.
Then you set the garbage can on top of the old mower deck and push it out to the curb like that.
This makes an attractive and functional addition to the front of your home. You leave it out in your front yard so everyone can see how intelligent and creative you are.
Clever indeed, but mine already has wheels. <g> The status quo in my neighborhood is to just leave it in the driveway up close to the garage door and call it done, but I'm looking for a more attractive solution.
Besides, my decks always rust away before the engines go bad. I'm an OCD oil changing maintenence freak. ha ha
I've got mine permanently ensconced in the center of the beautiful flower ring, with its white cut-petal edging, artistically cut from an old tractor tire.
I like shrubbery for this purpose better than any screen I've seen.
But send us a picture of your house from the street so we can make a more informed suggestion.
We get winter and then bushes dont work so well, unless they are evergreen.
Ive got some damn bushes you can haveMemphest 2006
November 18th
Ya want to bring em over?
No , come getum. All of um.
Tim Memphest 2006
November 18th
What you got? A mile of em?
Not that many but I dont likum.
Grass doesnt grow under them.
Kids dont get candy papers out from under them. Halloween is pitiful. I never knew a kid could eat a candy in split seconds.
They need trimmed all the time .
They get diseases, like I really care but they look like shid when it happens.
Trimming them is a real pos and the haul off of trimmings suck.
Mine dont bare any fruit . Its like having a hound dog chained to the front porch that wont hunt.
Tim Memphest 2006
November 18th
Its like having a hound dog chained to the front porch that wont hunt.
ROAR!!Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....
Don't trim em. Then you can pee off the front porch in the daytime.
Agreed on the shrub thing...I've got five kids and our house is a haven for about half the planet's teenagers...we have enough trash every week to fill a landfill....shrubery works great to hide a few cans...
Chris
Trash can storage.... I assume that you need to put the cans out, rather than the trash guy having to hunt them down!
Such a thing should have plenty of ventilation. It should also be absolutely proof against water damage, so you can hose it down- inside and out- from time to time.
The 'floor' needs to be firm enough to support the cans, and allow them to roll.... but also allow drainage. With all this in mind, here's what I recommend:
Excavate maybe 8" down. lay garden cloth (to prevent weeds),the make a simple rectangular frame, perhaps using "Trex", or some such rot-proof for it. Fill this area- maybe 5" deep- with gravel. Then lay pavers atop the gravel, yet also held in place by the form. This is the "Floor".
If the area is protected form the wind, you might not have to actually anchor your cover to the ground. Make a simple frame, using 2x2 lumber and "Strong Tie" connectors. Then, affix the "siding" to the inside of the frame. I would suggest FRP (that 'plastic' pebble grain stuff you find in the paneling department)(which, BTW, is also available in grey and beige), as well as plastic lattice for the top two feet.
I suggest making the cover tall enough that you can open the cans without removing them from under it. I suggest some sort of roof, sloped so as to shed snow.
The area immediately in front of this should be covered with patio stones, perhaps to a width of 5 ft. in front, so as to ease rolling the cans in and out.
I personally don't care for them....... but, you canbuild a three sided fence, picket or some variance that has a gate. Put the fourth side against a structure or peremeter fence. Gate is in the front. Top is open to gain access to cans. Needs to be at least as tall as the cans for obvious reasons. Hope this helps.
I have also seen people bury the cans so the lids are only seen. Seems to me to be a pain to get the cans out for garbage day though.
Semper Fi
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I'll see if I can get a pic of the house on here.
Having done a few of these to meet HOA/ARB specs, they can be elegant to PITAs.
If you have a bit of fence, a short (6-12" taller than the can) screen wall can be enough.
Building a "short" woodpile type enclosure also works (two side walls and a little shed roof). They have to be short, sized to fit the can, or they risk looking like a guardhouse (you also need to make a storage niche on the outside for a can of wasp/hornet spray, too--trust me).
A bit of hedge (boxwood, yaupon, or lygustrum, locally) makes for a nice screen (with a few less 'bug" worries). Hedge also has the benefit of not retaining any 'aromas' from the can, too.
Plan for a good base that drains, and is easy to roll the can into an out of, too. (Oh, and leave extra space, for when the city changes the can vendor and they are a different size, too--don't ask how I know.)