Privacy Screen for the Patio
I have this ugly gas meter attached to the house. It's a patio eyesore so I came up with this Privacy Screen idea to cover it up and add an Urban-Suburban feel to our otherwise beautiful patio.
*check with your local regulations regarding covering up your meter. I made this privacy screen removable so the meter is serviceable, which is acceptable by our local regulations.
This is what I get to stare at while drinking my coffee in the back yard.
So here's where we're starting. As you can see I cant move this thing, and the meter reader still needs to be able to access it. My only option is to build something to cover it up, that's easy to move out of the way, if required.
Building the frame
The frame for this privacy screen is constructed out of 2x3" framing lumber. Nothing fancy, as it's getting stained anyway.
This screen is a "C" shape so I made 3 panels with 2x3" lumber then connected them together.
To provide support for the privacy screen portion I used 2X2" lumber between the top and bottom of the frame. This also gave me something to attach the privacy screen lumber to.
The screen portion is made from 1x2" strapping lumber. I purchased it in bundles of 10 to keep the cost down.
Attaching the strapping to the frame
Once the 3 panels were framed and the 2x2 supports were in place, I laid the strapping lumber to get an idea how much space I needed in between each piece.
Funny enough, the size of a lego piece was perfect so my little guy whipped me up some lego spacers.
At the bottom I placed the last piece flat to act like a drip ledge so water won't sit on the frame. It meant that I had to cheat with the spacing for the last few boards.
I tested out my leftover stain to get an idea how amazing this will be.
Paint and Placement
After all the strapping was nailed in place, and the frame panels attached, I gave it a coat of black stain I had left over from an old project.
Since this screen is freestanding, I anchored it to the wall with chain so it doesn't fall. The chain clips to rings mounted on the wall, so it's easy to disconnect and move Should we even need to service the meter.
As a *BONUS* the meter is basically hidden but its still super easy to read right through the screen.
Here is the finished product.
Our black privacy screen looks fantastic. Easily covers the gas meter, and provides a beautiful dramatic feel to the patio now.
If you're not up to the DIY, Zippity makes privacy screens for everything, including your AC unit, for around the same price as it cost me to build this one. Check them out here.
Check out some of our other projects at AugustDecemberHome :)
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Very attractive
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You could ad a little door to get to the gas shut off and then ad a top to it to make it a bar to serve food or drink from.
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Frequently asked questions
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Door? Removable panel? How do you access the gas meter if you have to shut off the gas to your living space??????
Would something like this work for an air conditioning unit as well ? The next door neighbor has large pine trees & the sap & debris from them keeps reeking havoc on my ac unit. I need some kinda protection for it. Thank you for any suggestions.
Love this I have one of those great idea. I’m making mine smaller and going to attach a black privacy netting to hide the meter alittle more l. Thanks for sharing your wonderful back yard meter privacy fence. I’ve also found hooks to hold small plants on mine to blend not my garden patio more m.