My FAVORITE Backyard Feature Yet! Custom Light Wall

What's going on everybody? Welcome back to the vlog. In this video, we are building out this sick lighting feature. Really cool accent. One of my favorite things we've really ever done. We're also doing the fire pit, some landscaping. Really finishing touches here. It's turning out awesome. So, make sure you hit subscribe. Stay tuned. [Music] All right, fire pit time. So, what we're going to do here is it's full full turn full turn. So, it's like two and a half. Okay. Each one. Are they inside this on the stone or on the papers? They are inside of this and there's a border of the Vienna. Yep. Yep. So, it'll be one uh line around and then the compact contemporary will fit right inside there. So, we'll start with that our base course. We'll start over in that corner where you're at cuz that's the highest and uh we'll have to build it up a little bit here to make it level. You know what I mean? Cuz we're pitching this way. So, we're going to get uh our base course done and then we got a nice little detail happening. So, let's go. [Applause] [Music] There you go. [Music] We got our gas pipe little bit off center. We made some adjustments and uh so now we're going to just have to notch our block around that. But that way once we put a 90 on this plumbers put a 90 on this. It's going to give us plenty of working space on the inside. So little notch around this and we'll be good to go. You can see we're doing two. Then we're on this way and it's basically going to be 2 and 1/2. So with these, because they have this shamfer on it, we didn't want to have to make any cuts, it's easier. Plus, we're going to keep the same look all the way around cuz if we cut this, you know, we're going to delete a shamfer on here. So, we don't want to do that. So, we're going to run this way and be good to go. [Music] [Applause] [Music] We're getting this down. And what we're going to do with our next row is an accent band of this old Vienna. But I want this accent band to also act as our venting. So I'm spacing each one out about 3/8 of an inch. And it's going to give us vents pretty much all the way around the whole thing. And we're going to just have to miter the corners. And I think it's just going to be a nice look. And it's a nice way to conceal a vent. We don't have to have like a big square protrusion there. And it's going to look really nice. Add some detail and tie it all together nicely. So that's what we'll do. So what I did was laid them all out with our spacing and then overhung this. And we're at 3 in of an overhang. So, what we want to do is measure back an inch and a half off each corner, and that's where our miter will be. So, all the pieces will be the same size all the way around. We won't have any cut pieces in the middle, and it'll look nice and clean. And you want to uh miter these. We'll need eight eight pieces measured back an inch and a half. There you go. Boom. Nice. Nice notch on that there. A little too deep, but Nikki the Notch. That'll be your mafia name. Nikki the Notch. That's fine. So, this will give us enough room. Um, they're going to elbow off of here. So, we'll uh our last course we're going to not glue. So, we'll get everything ready and give them access so they can take this fitting off 90 and then get everything set up. We're pretty good. Obviously, not super necessary to glue these corners, but the thing that's going to help with is when we put the block on top of this um before the glue sets down here. Like if you were to just put these on here, glue them down and um move forward and let them dry, you'd be totally fine. But we want to stack our next block on top of this. And then if you're adjusting them a little bit, it's going to want to move these. So, not a bad idea. [Music] I broke my sunglasses uh Sunday night reaching into the engine and I had them in my pocket and I heard a crunch. Yep. yesterday. It was 210. Put a little bit on and I sprayed it away from the lens and it went boop. Stuck immediately. And then I got them and I'm going like this. Yeah. Playing with them and it broke like right here. Yeah, that's fine. They're fine. They worked. It's like nothing happened. There's just a little clump I got to sand off. All right. So, here we got our layout. We've got the miters at the corner. Figured it out. So they're all the same size all the way around. And we're just going to have shim sized gap in between each one. So we'll start with the corners. Um and we just want the front edge of this right at the back of the sham fur. So just like that. Yeah. That's it. Beautiful. Perfect. All right. Go ahead and do all the corners first. Okay. And then we'll set these up in between. And now we're just waiting a little bit for this glue to set up on these uh this detail banding that we did. So, I'm going to get started on this wall. This is going to be really sick. Something I'm really excited for. Check out this picture. I took this picture back in 2023, so like 2 and 1/2 years ago, and I just thought it was such a cool idea and I felt like this project finally would be a good time to incorporate a detail like that. So, did a lot of research, did a lot of uh brainstorming, and what I came up with was found these little balls. We're going to put lights inside each one, and it's going to go up there. It's going to be, I think, awesome. So, I've got three different sizes. We've got a 6 in, we've got an 8 in, and we've got a 4 in. So, they're all going to be black. And I was able to find I was able to find the 4 in in black. The six and eight only came in silver. So that's what I'm doing right now. I'm setting them up and I'm going to paint them. So just going to spray paint them and just had some nails bent them over and they're acting as little hooks. So this way I can spray all the way around it and we'll see how it turns out. Let's go. So, we're just about to get started on finishing out this wall. And we built it with 6x uh 2x6 framing up top. So you can see that. And then we just wrapped it in tundra decorators tundra boards. So I had to do a lot of thinking on this on how this was going to work. And I did some experimenting. So I found those orbs, those metal orbs. So that's what we're going to use. And we're just going to run this 142 wire up and down one continuous run. It's going to be 10 rows of it. So, I've marked out my layout up here. Same thing on the bottom. And I'll drill holes in that like so. Boom. Just like that. And our wire is going to slide in here. Oh, we're going to start on this side. Start from the bottom, go up, and we left this open so we can go across down that hole. So, it'll just look like 10 vertical runs of cable. And then I also found some low voltage 12vt string lights. And you'll see how it goes together cuz getting those lights inside the orbs in the layout that we want. That's the confusing part. But I got to figure it out. And as we get each one, you you'll kind of see what I mean. But I'm really excited about this. It's going to be an amazing feature, super unique, and uh I can't wait to see how it turns out. So, let's jump in. [Music] So, here are the LED low voltage string lights I found. And I experimented with this a little bit the other day. We're going to cut it right here. Just like that. And this way we can individually wire each one right where we want it here. And we have to kind of cut these open, peel it back so that this can go in. We'll have to wire them one at a time in order for this to all work out. So, I'm going to start cutting these open and just making sure that we can fit this in here and then kind of fold it back down. So, check it out. [Music] There we go. So, it fits in here. We'll get the first one on. Well, let me just show you. We're going to start right here. This wire is going to come up from the bottom. So, we have our wire going up. And on each run, I'm going to need to put the orbs on there before I continue because once I go up into that top hole, go over, it's going to be kind of a closed system. So, won't be able to work. So, here's the idea. So, now it's on there and we'll have to go install them top to bottom. So, I'll want all three of them on this line. Then I can go up here, go to our next one. So, let's get three of these ready and then we can make our connections. [Music] Beautiful. [Music] This is kind of the idea. Going to have these right here. We'll wire in a light. There's the location we want. Kind of close it back up. And I think it's going to look pretty cool. We'll see though. Hopefully. It's a lot of work if it looks stupid. Next row is Are you going from the top down? So, you're going to start with a medium, then a big, then a small, then I'll make a decision. Say an answer right now. Nick doesn't have any faith in it yet. Smart man. Me, too. All right. So, now we'll uh You probably need some help feeding it. Yeah. You got like one at a time. Yeah. There's a I'll send you a video. I sent it to Sue yesterday. There's a It's like a group of people going like this and then it's a tree and then it turns around and it's a tree that's like blowing it like subtly blowing in the wind, but it's like a pine tree. So, it looks like it's getting like a bunch of metal fingers. It's really funny. I'm confused. So, it's zoomed in and you think it's a person's hand? No, you see a bunch of people. A bunch of people are facing. You look facing this way going like this and you're like, "What are they all giving the middle finger to?" And then you look and it's a tree and it looks like it's giving a bunch of middle fingers. All right. So, what do you got anyway? Plant lady. This is This is uh this is your new thing. Huh? Plants. I measured. Now I'm figuring out what's going to go where. Okay. So, behind this wall, we just You just want something to cover to give a bit of privacy and give a backdrop for this light wall. Correct. Yes. So, and you love a you love an arborite. You zooming in my ear or something? Yeah, I was kind of close to your ear. Sorry about that. I was trying to show I was trying to show the area that we're talking about. Trying to get it all in one shot, you know. There you go. Yeah. All right. So, talk about it. Go ahead. So, what you're looking at here is this light wall right here. And then I drew in some arborites because that's what you want. I know how you have a deepseated love for arborites. Carl Forseners, compact holl. compact to Holly's and my light hydrangeas. Love a May night Salvia. Well, Salvia, you can't put salvia here cuz there's deer. Deer love salvia. They're going for that right away. Have you ever seen gardening while on Salvia? He I don't even think he does anything. He just sits there. Yeah. And falls over. Oh, yeah. That's the one where he like freaks out and he's just like Yeah. He's like, "First, we're going to Yeah. I don't like that video. That freaks me out." So, I'm just I'm I'm still working through my head what I want to put where. Okay. I'm just confirming that that's where you want what what your vision is for this because this is your thing. Uh this is this is my baby but this is your baby and I want you to have Yes. have what you want. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Arborites or tall privacy plant. Uh yeah. I just want I want I want there to be kind of like a full a full backdrop. Okay. Well, this was almost not productive at all. All right. Yeah. I just want something big back there. That's it. Big B. You have no other You have no other musthaves. Uh, no. I have very strong preferences, but I will not tell you what they are. Perfect. Yeah. All right. You can just You can just hook it up and then we'll And then we'll stuff it in there. So, you can just hook it up to here. I just like it. Yeah. But let's um here's hold this. We're going to wire it up to the transformer just to see if there's like any positive or negative. All right, we got one on. Beautiful. All right, so um yeah, go ahead wire that bad boy up. So these connectors we just get off Amazon. They're pierce point connectors. Um they work pretty good. We just don't like to use these for anything that's going to be buried, anything above ground. Um they work really well. Super easy to use. And boom. Just like that. So, what I want to do is go ahead and kind of tape this up a little bit. Let's Let's try to get this this orb up over that. See how that works. Doesn't look that cool. Just one. But once they're all up here, I think it's going to be sweet. So, this is what we'll do. We'll just measure off this. They're 2 foot on center, and we'll reference our uh our drawing here. So, um we did end up adding a third one here. So, you can see it's going to be, you know, somewhere about here. Our next one. And they'll just uh they'll just kind of go off of that. Cool. Let's go. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Tell them you picked out the plants. Tell people what it's all about. We went with a row of ornamental grasses. Hopefully, they won't get too much bigger. They shouldn't. They're dwarves. Can you say that? Yeah. They're dwarves. They're not going to get much bigger, so they'll just gently cascade over the pavers, but not impede the walkway. And then over here, we get straight to the creme de la creme. This little hydrangeanger tree. I think it's called a limelight hydrangeanger tree. We use limelight hydrangeas constantly, but we never put it in a tree. And I think that this is the perfect focal point. It adds some height. It adds some interest with its flowering blooms. And the leaves are good enough looking that it's like just a great tree by itself. So, I'm super happy with this. We haven't picked out what's going to go here yet, but we wanted to get this in its place to see before we decided what was going to go in the rest of this bed. But now that I see it here, I'm obsessed. I love it. Sean, do you love it? I love it. I definitely Jose, do you love it? Love it. He loves it, too. It's great. We got more of the ornamental fountain dwarf grasses. We have a row of viburnum which will look like just a little like that. That's going to create a nice little hedge across the back to add a little bit of sense of privacy. And then this is a Miss Kim lilac which they smell so lovely. This is already bloomed for the year. Little peek kid. But uh we're going to get some more plants over here. We're going to do arborvite. So, it creates a backdrop for the light wall. And then I got to figure out what's going to go in this bed over here. So, stay tuned for that. All right, we're really on to we're really on to the final push here. We've got the light wall all finished up. You can see each one of these connected to our low voltage wire. We'll uh we'll pull this last one, tension it a little bit, and I think I think what's going to really make this pop is we're going to do some tall arborites behind it. So, it's going to have essentially like a green wall back there and kind of give a backdrop for these lights. So, I think that's what's really going to set it off. So, we'll be doing that pretty soon. It's going to be like almost 100° today, so going to be a little bit of a short day, but probably plant those tomorrow. So, what we're doing right now is getting our fire pit kind of finished up here. So, we got a couple couple pieces to glue down. I really like how this turned out. Turning the blocks upside down. So, we have that shamfer meeting our uh our detail strip here. And it worked out really nice with spacing all these out. So, that's our built-in venting. Pretty heavy, huh? They're solid. Yeah, they are solid. So, we're going to get to the caps now, and we're going to try to lay these out with no cuts. And Jose had a good idea that since it wasn't going to work out with no cuts, running them straight, we're going to set one in the middle of each one. And then we can miter all this. And that way, everything will be nice and even. But, uh, you know, we will have some cuts. So, good to go. I finally this weekend got to sleep on one of our projects. Sleep on your project? Yeah. I'm I'm at a loss. So, would you go over to your buddy's house to sleep outside? Yep. Oh, with the one where the fire pits in the circle. Yeah. Well, I slept inside the screen porch. Why are you sleeping outside? It was nice. It was nice out. It was beautiful. Looks comfortable. It was comfortable. The weather was like perfect. We went to the Phillies game. I saw you. I saw you put the Phillies game on Friday. That I couldn't watch that game. That was on Apple TV. I know. And they did. They went They won that game big, right? It was like 11 10 to something. Two. 10 to two, I think. So, here we go. We got our got our plate in. Nice and tight. Fits right on there. We got our ledge all the way around. So, it's all sealed off. And, uh, our lava rock's not going to fall out of here. And we like to keep it just like about an inch or so below top of our cap so we can have our lava rock. We can cover the whole plate. and uh looks nice and uh nice and clean. So, plumbers are coming out uh either today or tomorrow and they'll be taking this off. They'll 90 this. So, then we'll put our last cap on here and that'll be all done. [Music] Fire pit's all hooked up. Plumbers were here. Finalized it. Let's give it a little test. Oh no, not a big flame. Oh, we got 240,000 BTUs popping out here. Absolutely massive flame. You can obviously turn it down. You don't always want it that hot cuz it's You can feel it right now. It's It's pretty hot. So, uh, turned out awesome. We still got to put lava rock in here. So, we'll be finishing that up. But turned out awesome. This is going to be like the center point, especially spring, fall, winter. This fire pit It's kicking. Love it. So, we've also got our light wall finished up here. We'll insert a picture. Client sent us a picture. We didn't get any night shots of it yet, but he sent us a picture of what it looks like from inside the house. Looks freaking awesome. The arbor vites back here just really really set it off. I think without those it wasn't going to look really all that cool because it needs that green backdrop and looks awesome. We got some bigger arbor vites, so they're nice and full. And we've got almost an instant full wall there, which turned out great. We're getting pretty close here. We're to the point where uh there's not much left to do. [Applause] [Music] Got to move the trailer to do a couple uh little more cleanup things, but this project is really coming together. Next video is going to be our full time lapse, so you'll see everything completely finished up with finished pictures. So, make sure you hit subscribe, stay tuned, and until next time, this has been Premier Outdoor Living.