Air Conditioner Chevron Cover

The Zaitleys
by The Zaitleys
13 Materials
$100
4 Hours
Medium

** Edit: This is why I love the DIY community! Not everything works out, and we share and grow together. some of you have mentioned that there is not enough breathability for the AC. This is so helpful and thank you. I have since removed one of the walls of the AC unit (meaning their are only 2 walls now) and moved it away from the unit itself by 1 foot. I will be working on making the top removable as well so we can remove it during the hottest months of the year when we use the AC constantly. Thank you all again for your feedback and for following our DIY adventures

I will be leaving up the post so that other folks can learn from my mistakes. I will add the new finished pictures to the end of the post**



When we moved in a little over a year ago our back (and front) yard was completely hardscaped. We are working hard to add life and beauty into our outside space, but that would never be possible if our AC unit was exposed. Hereā€™s how we solved that problem:

Before

**New after

Original After

What you will need for this project:


-       1x6 inch planks of fence wood

-       2x3 inch stud (we ended up cutting them in half so you could use something thinner) 

-       Nail gun

-       Nail gun nails 2.5ā€

-        Air compressor 

-       Mitre saw 

-       Hand saw

-       L brackets 

-       Measuring tape 

-       Woodworking square 

-       Sander 

-       Marking pencil 

-       Safety equipment. This is not the time to go to the ER folks 


Once youā€™re framing wood is cut, you can create your first square. Use your measuring square to make sure your edges are a perfect 90 degrees before you use your nail gun and nail them in place. Once you have your square you can add one more 33 inch piece down the centre 

*you can omit this step if you are doing a different design as its not structural.

Design wise, we decided on 22 degree angels for our wood slats in a chevron pattern. Using a mitre saw at a 22 degree angle, trim off one end of the fence wood plank so you have a starting point. Place the wood on the square frame to measure how long it will be. Because of the angles and not being great at math, this was way easier! Just lay it where it should be and mark where it needs to be cut. Continue this working your way down the square. As you hit the edges you will need to cut slightly different angles, just keep marking them as you go. You may need to use your hand saw for some of these pieces as the mitre may not be big enough. 

Once you have all your panels cut, you can lay them in position. We used a 1.5 inch wood piece to separate each plank so they were even. Once all you wood for the front is in place you can begin using the nail gun to attach them. I would recommend doing the mirror image (ie left right, left right, on and on) as you go so that you can keep it even as you go and donā€™t have to go back and move anything around. 


Now letā€™s work on the sides. Youā€™ll want to add your bottom and top pieces of frame to your front panel using brackets so it doesnā€™t just fall over. This will give it a lot of stability. Brackets are not needed on the outside corners just the ones attaching to another panel. To connect the outside frame piece and finish off your square you can simply use your nail gun. 

Now that you have your entire frame completed you can continue measuring your wood on the sides. We followed our chevron pattern, connecting our wood pieces so they flow seamlessly and look very intentional. Continue this on this sides, match one of the ends of one of the planks on the front panel and mark off the other end. Use the mitre saw again to cut these pieces and nail gun them into place as you did on the front panel. 

For the top, you want to leave it as open as possible to allow air flow so the AC doesnā€™t over heat. We placed planks a planks worth of width apart (so approx. 6 inches) adding a lot of space for air to circulate. Using the same method as the sides, lay a piece of wood on the top. Mark where youā€™ll be cutting and go ahead and cut the wood and nail into place. Top is way easier as you can use 90 degree angles. 


Using a plank of wood to space out evenly

Once fully assembled go ahead and give it a once over with a sander to get rid of any rough spots.

This project is tedious with all the intricacies but it has had such a big payoff. Our backyard already lookes so much better!


Head over to our blog for more backyard inspiration Tall Dork and Matching


And if you try this project, please tag us on instagram for a chance to be featured on our stories! We love seeing your work.

New afters

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The Zaitleys
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 10 questions
  • Nanette Nanette on May 29, 2021

    Hi! Just an FYI. Do you have a home warranty? If you have a home warranty and something goes wrong with your AC they might not fix it saying it didn't have enough space for breathing. I had something like that and not even as close to the unit and that was the bologna they gave me. icon

  • MARK MELNICOFF MARK MELNICOFF on Apr 15, 2022

    How easy is this thing to remove for access for maintenance?

  • Rita Giordano Rita Giordano on May 21, 2022

    The only thing I would do differently is paint or stain it.

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3 of 75 comments
  • Tammy Schultz Tammy Schultz on Sep 28, 2022

    I was told to never put anything by the AC unit that can make a nice home for mice. Friends at a repair company told me that the majority of their calls in the spring are from people that had mice or other rodents chew through wires. They said that any kind of cover or barrier makes this a nice little home for them. It blocks the wind during winter months and rodents can stay warm. Just passing that info along....

    • Zelma Lovell Murray Zelma Lovell Murray on Sep 29, 2022

      Yes if the cover is rain proof, mice will love it. But this type of cover will not hold mice.


  • Phyllis A Tims Phyllis A Tims on Oct 01, 2022

    Why would you want to sit next to your AC?

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