I am not happy with the pipes. The darn 3" valves were just so big things had to curve around a bit. I am reworking that whole filter this spring and I think I will experiment with bending PVC using a weed torch. I like things to be neater than that. And I'm really messy with the blue glue too.
I'v had that cedar in my barn for years waiting for a project. We had a neighbor who had a saw mill and he cut them for us. They are a full inch thick!!