How to hide a hose bib and water shut off valve

I probably should have posted this in HomeRefurbers but since DocT gave me the idea to post it by posting his beautiful Quarter sawn cedar planter & bench project I thought I would post mine here too.

Once upon a time in a land far, far away…

My family was coming cross-country for my birthday. The last time they came they spent most of their time on my tiny front porch smoking and telling stories so I wanted to fix up the front of the house for this visit.

I needed to hide an ugly hose bib and a main water shut off in the corner.

I figured I would just build a box around it. I didn’t do that as soon as I had the idea or that would have been the end of it.

I let the idea incubate and by the next week I had the idea to put a matching “planter box” at the other end of the fence and connect them with a bench. I didn’t get a chance to do that right away either.

The next thing I knew the idea had morphed into twins. Well, Siamese twins I guess, two planter boxes connected to two benches which connected to the original hose-bib-hidin’-box in the corner.

I built a redwood frame out of 2×2’s and wrapped it with T&G redwood. The trim around the top and the slats are cedar, the 2×4’s supporting the benches are treated Douglas fir. The corner trim is vinyl. I also coated the inside of the planter boxes with tar to prevent rotting.

You can’t actually see the original hose-bib-hidin’-box I built but in the 3rd photo you can see the slats that the pumpkin is sitting on… those lift off and you can access the hose bib and main water valve. The hose goes through the fence to the hose reel on the other side of the house.

Ignore the old people in the pictures, those are my sibs. I am the young one (you know, the good looking one).

The funny thing was this time they hung out in the backyard not the front. I had to force them to sit out front just so we could get these pictures.

It’s just as well though, the last time the neighbors were complaining because their kids were afraid to go outside (apparently, they thought my sibs were ghouls and goblins I had brought in for Halloween).

It was a good thing they didn’t stay around much longer or I would have had to build boxes to cover them too.

Take care,

Bothus

-- Professional kitchen designer, amature woodworker.