Well, I finally did it, I finished my second window well cover. It took a while, for a variety of reasons, but mostly life. Here are some pictures, I’ll probably come back and edit a bit more, but it’s easier to upload pictures from my computer.
This was a first attempt at basically making a dado cut with a handheld circular saw, to clear the rungs of the egress ladder.
This was my first thought of how to make the joints in the frame. Turned out ugly and not very strong.
This is the type of joint I decided on, a blind screw joint. Rock solid and super tight. First time I had tried this kind of joint, and it was perfect. Comletely unobtrusive.
Here is the screwed together frame in place on the window well for a test fit. Looking good.
Here are the slats as I am measuring and cutting them to size. Much faster this time around as I am lucky to have gotten a DeWalt chop saw as a 15 year safe driving award from work.
Here are all of the pieces done being stained. I stained all of the pieces first, before assembly this time. So much better. Also better was working on the brand new saw horses I built and made a comfortable working height for me, 36″ high.
First step of assembly, attaching what will be the back slat, the one that is against the house.
Here I am about half way through assembly. Using squeeze clamps and spacer blocks cut from the same lumber as the slats.
Here it is, the finished result. Not too bad, for about $80 in lumber, screws, and stain. The top one is the first cover I made last year as a proof of concept, I pulled it inside to refresh the stain on it, as long as I was staining the new one.
Here it is in place. The perspective is a bit off in this picture, it looks much more shallow than it is. This is the legal egress window for the 5th bedroom downstairs, so I had to redesign with that in mind. This cover can just be pushed forward, out of the way.
Here are both covers in place. You can see how close they are to the grass, hose, and play table for my daughters. We have two more window wells around the corner, but they aren’t really accessible, so it’s unlike I will spend the time to make another pair.
Here is me standing on it as a strength test. I wouldn’t jump up and down on it, but as you can see it can hold me. And keep kids, and bunnies like the one who jumped in while I was installing it.