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A few days ago I shared a Reel on IG about our copper plumbing pipe arbor DIY in the cottage garden. Multiple request later for a run down on the build/price, here’s our best rememberings. Just a couple of notes: we built it almost a year and a half ago so there is most likely a price difference with the supplies now. Bear with us and if trying to build your own, keep in mind that the number of fittings and lengths of pipping you will need is completely dependent on how tall and wide and deep you want your arbor. Ours is roughly 38″ deep panels x 6.5 ft tall at the very top of the arch and with a narrow width at 28″ wide. As many pointed out, copper is not cheap. We did not build this for economical savings, we built it because we have a narrow footprint between garden beds (25″ wide), wanted something sturdy to grow pumpkins up and couldn’t find a narrow arbor online (most seemed to be 41-48″ wide). I wanted a structure that would last, age beautifully and could be left out all winter so we weren’t storing more stuff in the garage. It was not the world’s easiest DIY but the results were exactly what we wanted and I love it. I can’t wait for it to patina.

PRICE BREAKDOWN

The number one request. We can’t find our receipts now 1.5 years later so this is our best guess given the current prices at Home Depot. We’re estimating Matt bought/used roughly eight 3/4 inch x 10 ft copper pipes (but for the budget breakdown we’ll say 10 just to round it). He also bought 4 packs of the 3/4″ copper tee fittings plus 2-3 spares. We used a total of 62 for the arbor, I just counted. Because it is made to grow vines up, I wanted as many horizontal and vertical pieces as we could fit. This would be a much cheaper build if you made less sections.

TEN 3/4″ x 10ft Copper Plumbing Pipes  ~$390

FOUR boxes of the 3/4″ Copper All Cup Tee Fitting (15 pack)  ~$152

ONE 3/4″ Copper Pipe Tubing Cutter ~$25

ONE 3/4″ Aluminum Conduit Bender  ~$49

ONE Gorilla Glue ~$12

So for a roughly 28″ wide x 6.5 ft tall with the panels 38″ deep Copper Metal Arbor = ~$628 

We probably spent closer to $500 a year and half ago and that’s actually on the lower end for what you can find online for a copper arbor. This one from Etsy is customizable but the panel depth is narrow but the footprint very wide. This metal (not copper) arbor from Rejuvenation is $600 not including shipping. This wooden one is much cheaper. Just like anything in life, there’s a range of online options at varying price points, quality and sizing. Our issue was the sizing. We built ours narrow on purpose and love the functionality and aesthetic it has added to our garden.

ACTUALLY BUILDING IT

Good luck. Haha just kidding. It wasn’t that bad. Getting it all prepped took the longest. All of your sections are dependent on how wide and deep and tall you need yours to be. Keep in mind there is a space inside each of the T joints that the pipe won’t go all the way through. You need to take that into consideration as you measure. Matt estimated it’s about 3/4″. Start with your measurements, double check those, then cut each section of piping down to what you want, and glue it all together. Matt says there is an order to the gluing however. You need to start by building and gluing an entire horizontal section with as many T joints as you are planning on for the vertical columns, making sure the T joint is facing the right way for the next section. Then you glue in the vertical pieces before moving on to the next horizontal section. They don’t bend so you can’t squeeze the vertical pieces in if you do it out of order (ie glue a horizontal piece, vertical piece and then a horizontal piece together). I kinda glazed over when he was explaining this to me so maybe it makes more sense to you.

A quick note about the bending to create the arch. You MUST fill the copper pipe with sand and then gingerly bend it with your conduit bender. If you do not fill it with sand it will crimp instead of bend. This was the hardest part for Matt. We used a pen and string to dot along an arch design on a piece of garden weed fabric. He then bent the pipe to try and match the arch design. Having a pattern helped us get close to consistency with the 4 bent pieces. He used just a dab of gorilla glue to hold the pieces together.

This copper plumbing pipe arbor really is a beauty in our garden. I love the design it adds and it’s so sturdy it grows the heaviest squash with no problems. If you have specific questions I can pass them along to Matt. Email me at jackie@findinglovely.com. Happy DIY days!