The Porch Swing

I knew when we built the screen porch a year ago that I wanted a swing out there. I have been shopping in town and on-line for months to find just the right swing. For our 34th anniversary, we finally decided on one made of teak and we ordered it.

(Some assembly required.)

B had it together in no time.

We bought some teak oil and rubbed it down to increase its weather resistance.

The issue with having a screen roof, though, is that you have no beam for hanging a swing.

Therefore, a frame was needed. The frame you can see in the yard below was one B found in a trash pile along a road. Our original plan was to use that one.  It is a very large frame and was going to eat up a lot of space on the porch. The swing needed to be a five-foot swing, which is not nearly as common as a four-foot one. It is also not very high, which affects the swinging motion.  The more we searched for a swing we liked, the less suitable this frame seemed to be.

Apparently, the people who design most of the swing frames are very petite folks. The usual height was just over five feet. That did not seem adequate to us. So B  custom-made ours.

(It was a “cross to bear.”)

The base timbers are made from pressure treated 6x6’s and the others are 4x6’s. It is heavy. It took some planning to get it up.

But it is done, and we love it. It is very steady. I really like how the top beam visually disappears into the gutter behind.

We use it almost every day.