The Challenge: Build a playhouse for TheBoy. (He's 2 and a half.) And build it CHEAP. And build it MYSELF. Sounds simple enough right? Well, actually, yea. It really is. I threw in the extra challenge of making it not permanent (meaning no posts IN the ground) and it needed to be able to be dismantled for moving and rebuilding WITHOUT replacing wood and hardware or any damaging deconstruction. Now THAT took a bit o' planning. Neurosis don't fail me now!

Here we go! (Yes, it's a long long read, that's how I roll. Go grab a sandwich and a beer. I'll wait.)

I wanted this to be a playhouse/backyard fort like I never had, yet that rivaled the killer cardboard box forts we built as kids (my Dad worked in a cardboard box factory... I mean, a factory that made boxes, the factory wasn't made of cardboard... nevermind). So on to the info-super-highway I went. Inspiration and crazy dreams came mostly from these sites:
www.knock-offwood.com/
(www.knock-offwood.com/2010/05/furniture-...se-deck-options.html)

www.playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com/

www.filthwizardry.com/
(www.filthwizardry.com/2010/05/music-wall-rip-music-tree.html)

Starting with the idea of the knock-offwood.com playhouse on stilts, or on a deck, I began planning. (I attempted several times to make a decent plan with SketchUp, but could only get so far and decided I was playing on the computer too much for this project and needed to get the hell outside and start building.)

With the CHEAP requirement, I quickly realized there would be no "house." Viable reclaimed plywood is difficult to come by, and new is expensive. I was ok with that, as we have the 'foam playhouse' that can easily be tossed up on the the deck(www.dadlabs.com/forum/Lounge/Toys/TOY-RE...-Playhouse.html#2874), and most backyard playsets are more "fort like" than playhouse. Which also meant HIGHLY customizable come playtime. More on that later, and as TheBoy grows...

Cheap also meant I could easily appease tree-hugger DaddyTroy and hippy DaddyOwen with 'recycled/reclaimed' wood. (But just so you two know, I have no problem with tree murder for my skateboards!) You can find this stuff on Craigslist, for FREE! (Sidenote: Don't ever buy a playset off of Craigslist where they expect you to pay them, AND dismantle the thing! That's total BS. It might be half the cost of new, but it's much MORE than twice the work. I completely ignored those ads. I went for "if you tear it down it's yours FREE," but missed out on several cool full playsets.) I found old deck lumber that the guy had even 'cleaned' (no nails or screws) just waiting to be picked up. It was a full pick-up truck load, but it was quite old and varied in it's usability and sizes. One brother also had some leftovers from various projects, as well as a slide. Also keep in mind material gathering was all a challenge in and of itself, 'cause I don't own a truck... I borrowed one 3 different times to gather all my materials. (So glad my oldest bro bought his truck!)

I still didn't have quite enough lumber, so I hit the HabitatReStore (Habitat for Humanity store where they sell usable construction supplies from their builds and renovations, as well as donated items). I spent $53. ($13 lumber and $40 on paint, stain, and brushes). I also spent another $110 at home improvement stores for a bit more lumber (a 4x4, two 2x4s, and some railings), tons o' screws and nuts/bolts, and an extra long drill bit the size of the bolts. The nuts and bolts being absolutely essential to the "portability" part of the challenge. So if memory serves, total expenditures were between $160-$180. (I tried to keep up with all the receipts, I swear.) This was 4 or 5 different trips to various hardware stores throughout the process.

The basic plan was an 8'x8' deck. 4' off the ground. With 2' high railings around the perimitter. A slide, stairs, and a climbing wall.

Now we're gettin' to the good part, which most of you skipped to anyway... with PHOTOS! (click on 'em for larger views)

I had already decided on 8'x8' just 'cause that's a standard lumber measurement. (I would now recommend 4'x4' or 6'x6' max, for a novice such as myself...) But there was no turning back.

Day 1 was constructing 2 sides of frame work. I did ALOT of planning ahead of time as to where the railings would attach. I first measured and predrilled ALL of the bolt holes in all four posts. (8 holes in each - though as it turns out, I have a few extra holes, but having them all 'universal' meant I didn't have to think about making sure the correct post was in the proper corner with a specific orientation.) Finally putting my neurosis to good use rather than letting it stress me out.


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Day 2 was getting the 2 sides connected. The yard is fairly level in this spot, so I did NOT focus on level. I instead focused on 'square' of the frame, and I'll be darned if the whole structure isn't quite level! (I figured this is a temporary home for this thing, and I would focus on level at the next house, where we will live for quite a long time.) The posts are standing on paver bricks (more freebies from a coworker!).


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(IMPORTANT NOTE: For my own ego: Connecting the 4 posts together is the ONLY stage in which I had ANY assistance whatsoever. I COULD have done that without help, but it would have caused a severe headache I'm sure.) Yes, that's what I'm saying, I built this motherfather 99.5% by myself! I tell you that, well yea, to brag, 'cause it's gnarly, but also to tell you that if my scrawny-lil'-not-all-that-smart-about-woodworking-narrow-azz can do it, YOU can do it too. B)

Next was installing 'stringers.' I still ended up with one 2x4 stringer (as opposed to 2x6), but I'm not worried at all about the integrity of the structure. There's no way TheBoy is tearing it down. Hanging these was tough alone. Had I used joist hangers, it would have been a cake walk, but I didn't want to spend anything I didn't have to. I predrilled the outside piece and set my screws in slightly. Then I used a bungy cord to hold up one side of the support stringer while I held up the other and put in a single screw. I ran around to the other side and put those screws in next, to line everything up right. A couple of them were the perfect length that they wedged in just right, so I didn't have to hold them at all.


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Day 3 was 'flooring.' Note the grimey old wood. This is fairly straight forward. Hang the nasty edges of the old wood well off the end to be cut off later. Luckily, I had enough 'full length' pieces to cover the floor between the posts. The edges are 2 pieces and about a 1/2 inch thinner. For spacing, I already knew from the knock-off plans that I was 'about right' with the number of planks. I used the straightest board I could find and set it centered. I then started on the post edges and used 1/4 inch craft wood between the planks for spacing, until 2 planks from the center plank. And then did the same from the opposite side. The last two planks on each side of center I simply eyeballed the gap between. Due to some of the wood being a slightly warped, my gaps aren't 100% even, which does actually irritate the neurosis a bit, but you get what you pay for... The wood was FREE and I also think about how I didn't spend an hour or more in the store sorting through a stack of warped 'new' wood either. And it's a playdeck! It doesn't matter!!


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Day 4 was cleaning. Note the not-so-grimey old wood. Mopped with 50-50 bleach water. It dried quickly, as it was 98 fkn degrees! Then pressure washed, not too heavy as I didn't want to raise the grain too much. Once that was dry, I was quite impressed with how much better the whole thing looked. Now THAT's a play deck!


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Days 5 was building 3 of the 4 railings. I didn't have the slide yet, so I couldn't do my measurements for the last side. I actually built the railings in the house, as it was stupid hot that day. The 'spindles' are 2x2's ripped in half on the table saw. I also predrilled ALL of them, with a countersink bit even, to keep from splitting them when attaching, as I had a very limited number.


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I hit my first snag at this point. The 'partial rail' was all set to "hang." I hung it, and then realized the bolts on the bottom were going right into a support stringer. :blush: Not a major snag, but something I hadn't anticipated, and I spent ALOT of time anticipating each step... So I was pissed. But it was a quick fix just bumping it over a few inches, double checking, and then attaching. I laughed at myself and was pleased that I had gotten that far without a snafu.


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Now we're looking like a full on fort! ;)

Day 6 was removing the railings and then staining and painting. "Barn Red" stain for the deck and yellow exterior paint for the railings. That's what they had at the HabitatReStore, so that's the colors we went with.(Only one railing got painted... took two coats, so those will take a long time to get done.)

Days 7 and 8 were spent attaching the slide, building the rail for that side, building the climbing wall, and constructing the stairs. I also didn't have to build the slide frame, it came with. Only slight modification for installation. Sorry I didn't take more pics of the process here. I was focused on building. I put the slide on the opposite side of the steps for a couple of reasons. One, it's a small narrow backyard and I wanted as much 'runnable' greenspace as possible (easier mowing as well), and two, it makes the 'fun loop' as long as possible, so TheBoy will burn as much energy as possible! Yes, I really did think about that.


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The stairs were a real bugger let me tell you. :angry: The planning, headaches, hand wringing and wiggin' out were seriously painful. All of the info I found online was for permanently attached stairs where the top 'stair' was actually the deck itself. I drove myself insane (ok, a bit further insane) figuring out how I wanted to attach them (non-permanently) and still get an even rise and run using only the lumber I had to work with (old 1x6 and two 2x6s). Once I figured out the angles and measurements, my neurosis kicked in and helped tremendously and the build process went quick. Wish I had taken more pics of the stair build, as it's was the most challenging part of the entire thing. And they look so freakin' simple now!


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Day 9 Clean, wash and stain the climbing wall and top half of the stairs (didn't detach 'em because daycare is closed this week and I wanted TheBoy to be able to use it).

Day 10 & 11 Cleaning and attaching the climbing holds, and figure out the handrails. SOOO close to being done with 'construction.' Second snag: The climbing wall. After building it, I was unable to reach the bolts in order to attach it to the deck. Had to remove a plank. Easy. Then attached it. THEN I couldn't get to the holes for the top 2 holds. Ugh! Remove plank, attach holds, replace. Easy, but frustrating. :blink:


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(DaddyTroy, check that $#*+ out!) :woohoo: I am sooo stoked I thought of this for the climbing wall. Definitely my favorite part. B)


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So now it is actually functional. I still need to get everything painted and add the stair rails. Then comes ACCESSORIZING! I'll continue to update this thread with finishing and playtime progress.


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Additional Construction Notes:
Tools used, but not necessarily required were:
Drill press (made pre-drilling the railings quicker and easy)
Table saw (for ripping railings to half thickness, and ripping the side 'floor' boards a bit thinner to fit)
Mitersaw (for quicker length trimming of just about everything)
Circular saw
Cordless PowerDrill (a corded drill will give you much more power, though perhaps not as portable)

You could probably do it all with a drill and a circular saw, but it's gonna take a lot longer.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! Start with your FINAL image. Then work backwards to figure out the sequence of the build. THEN think forward in regards to what has to be done at each stage to prepare for the next stage, and what can be done at this point to make that next stage easier. (predrilling, premeasure, etc.) Writing it all down (in one place, not in sandscrit code, in the wrong order, on several different notepads like me) will make this even smoother.

This will also be MUCH easier if you have a garage or someplace where you can leave your tools out and ready. Much of my time was spent hauling tools, extension cords and supplies in and out of the basement to the backyard everyday. It would also be a good idea, though not very practical for most people with lives and jobs, to plan and build in better weather. I have been building on the hottest days of the year! (the past 3 years in fact) And that most certainly has taken a toll in regards to daily health and time spent with family. Some days, 6-8 hours were spent on it, others, 2-4... BUT, in the end, it will provide lots of quality time for him, and us as a family, and particularly for me as a Dad.

The stairs were a major challenge, but I figure that was more because of my complete lack of confidence and experience in building such a thing. The deck rails were easy, and I knew how I wanted them to attach/detach, same for the slide and climbing wall.
When we move, the playdeck will be a pile of lumber consisting of the following pieces:
Climbing wall.
Stairs.
Slide.
4 rails.
4 4x4s.
4 2x6s.
1 2x4.
8'x8' platform.
And a chitload of nuts and bolts.

That's the entire "kit." Not bad, from scratch. And yes, I've sprained my shoulder a couple of times now patting myself on the back, and I have no shame. This was WORK. And I did it, by myself. And it is bad ass.

Hope you dig it as much as I and TheBoy do. And I sincerely hope it inspires you. B)

Now for PLAYTIME!

The plan is to get a ships wheel (or build one), and a steering wheel, and perhaps some sort of levers and cockpit control panel, that can all be simply hung on a railing on any given day, depending on what the boy wants to 'play' that day.

I will be adding an old windsurfing mast that will allow for flag hoisting, and perhaps even a sail of some sort eventually. (PVC and a bed sheet?) I'd also like to add a 'clothesline' like basket transporter from the back door of the house to the deck. (Think zipline for a bucket or basket.)

I left the 4 corner posts at full 8' heights in order to ad hooks/eyebolts at the top. I envision a series of sheets/canvas that can be easily hung as shades in various configurations. As well as specialty sheets, painted with a particular 'play scene' to hang over the side. Imagine a painting of a 6' high fire truck, so TheBoy can pretend to be a fireman... but the next day, there's a 6' high train engine, or pirate ship... you get the idea... We recently bought a small 'toy' projector that will make creating 'sheet scenes' fairly easy. That's a whole different crafty posting... And each one of those will be a weekend project...

I also have a shower floor panel I purchased a long time ago from the HabitatReStore that I plan to make into a "water table" for water play. (It was originally going to be a 'dog washing' station...)

Feel free to post your ideas and suggestions! I'd love to hear 'em, err, read 'em! Add to the inspiration please!

Nik, I am impressed. I just finished a month long project of building a Backyard Discovery Play Set and I have a kit and directions. Nice work, sure the little one will love it.

Nik -- That is PHENOMENAL! Congratulations on a fantastic build that you can take immense pride in and that your boy will enjoy countless hours of entertainment in. You did a fantastic job.

I chuckled a bit to myself as I built 2 tree houses for my son this summer (one at grandmas and one at our house -- thinking about posting on that, similar to what you've done here). You did a great job with the floor decking. When I built the second tree house this summer, I ran the floor decking parallel to the stringers. As a result, the stringers added NO support. It was fine for a single 6 year old, but made me nervous for him to have friends in it. I had to go back and screw in some additional 2 x 4's running perpendicular to the decking to give it the necessary structure.

Again -- congratulations. It's a fantastic build.

Nik,

I am humbled and inspired. Thanks for writing such a great post; I am convinced this will help dads a lot across the world, seriously!

Love the climbing wall! Do the wheels turn?

What I am inspired by the most is the reclaimed lumber.

Great pix!

Great job, Nik!

One question, though. Did you say that you're using 1x6 for treads?

Krellpw, let's see some pics of said tree houses! You too DaddyBrad!

Thanks DaddyTroy. I must admit, the 'reclaimed lumber' was more for cost than 'earth friendly,' but it's earth friendliness is a superb bonus. I thought you might dig the wheels! No, they do not turn.

Ben, yes, the stair treads are the same deck wood as the deck 'floor.' Why? I'm not worried about strength at all. Stairs are only 19" wide, and each step has screws in the end, as well as resting on cleats underneath.


Thanks guys. I really am so stoked. It has turned out so much better than I thought it would, but pretty much as I had been hoping.

I'm really excited about the various play aspects as well. But I gotta get it complete, and focus on the house chores for a bit before tackling anything more...

Nice job, Nik! Totally inspirational. I've got a couple years to go before I have to put something like this together, but really looking forward to it. I truly appreciate the skateboard wheel climbing ramp. Are they your old wheels or did you score a bunch of used ones? I think I currently only have 2 sets of wheels. But it's a start...

Hey Nik

Here's a photo of the Tree House at Grandma's. As you can see by the hands from the right, I'm still paneling the side wall as this was being taken. The only thing not shown in this photo is that due to time constraints and in an effort to be considerate of the tree, we used a simple tarp and some ropes tied in to create the roof for this one.

This house was all constructed from found lumber in Grandma's barn which made for some interesting building constraints. The tree house at home isn't complete. I think I'd like that one to be closer to final before I share pics on that one. So more to come soon.

As inspiration to you for future additions to your own play set, the ladder on the right is a working drawbridge.
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Hey Krellpw,

My guess is that you tried to upload a pic to the forum but it did not show up. I think you need to have it less than 100kb. I will see if we can implement some sort of software resizer in our forum. Sorry it did not work for now, if you want to still upload it, you can edit the post (after making the pic size into a smaller file). If you are on a mac, one was to do this is to email the pic to yourself in iphoto and it will resize.

Those are all my old used wheels. I never can get myself to chuck 'em. Soooo glad I didn't.

Are you still skating Halldur? (trick question... the answer should always be YES!)

Krell, I use PhotoBucket for posting forum pics. Makes it VERY easy.

DaddyTroy, the forum system auto resized my pics for the post, but kept the large size clickable... I just used the "image" code from PhotoBucket.

Thanks for the assist. Got the picture compressed and uploaded.

I'm also curious about the disassembly. That 8x8 deck is going to cause problems, isn't it?

We considered looking into buying/building something in the back yard. With a big park with age zoned playgrounds and a swimming pool with zero-entry splash pads across the street (less than 100 yards tot he playground, less for the pool), it wasn't a high priority. Our back yard is wider than deep and it's only 35' wide.

But it's a huge consideration as we look at new hovels. Some houses have huge playsets in the yard but usually they don't list whether the stuff is included. Sometimes they say that it isn't. We'll just have to see, I think.

I think what we really need to see is a helmetcam tour of the new fortress by the occupant!

Disassembly will be a task, no doubt.

Getting down to this stage will be simple, and I can do this alone, easily...

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At this point, I'll take off the BOTTOM boards, and have at least 4 people at the corners... then I can take out the platform bolts from the 4x4s, and have them lower the platform to the ground...

REASSEMBLY will be the real bugger! :unsure:

I will certainly try to document those processes when the time comes, but that's a couple of years away.



Krell, LOVE THE DRAWBRIDGE LADDER! Most excellent!

Finished up the 'construction' today. Stairs now have rails (also removable). Added hooks around the corners for ropes/awnings of the future. I'll add the mast later when I find the perfect pulley to attach up top. I did buy a plastic 'ships wheel' at Home Depot as well.

I think TheBoy has been taught to crawl on the higher levels of the playground at daycare. He goes up the stairs just fine, yet he wants to crawl around on the deck. That's the only explanation we can come up with, and I guess that makes sense, tryin' to keep the kiddos from knocking each other around too much up high. But still...

He does GREAT on the wheel wall! And he seems to really enjoy it. Pics will come later this week.

Thanks everyone for your compliments. This has been fun! And we're just gettin' started!

Hey DadLabs, here's a product episode idea... BUG SPRAY! I don't know about Austin, but the mosquitos here are vicious! And they're the tiny ones! We can't play outside too long right now anyway, because of the heat, but when TheBoy gets bit, the spot swells really bad for the first 12 hours or so...

He had already had a bath today, yea yea I know, shoulda played outside first... so I sprayed his clothes before we went out, it seemed to work, but they were everywhere. And isn't "deet" bad for kids? (I used a non-deet 'off.') The lil' fan thing they're sellin' now seems to help, but it doesn't do so well without assistance of bug spray if you're movin' around I've discovered.

Hey Nik,

As for bugs affecting outdoor play, my part of Austin is riddled with mosquitoes. And deet is supposed to be pretty bad for humans (but you are right, a while episode on it would be great).

We have begun putting up fans, more powerful the better. And it seems to help some.

So much so that I am contemplating mounting an industrial fan to a tree with its own power supply and adult controlled on, off switch. A lot of restaurants in Austin have these, for example Freddies Place where we shoot our parent Q&As.

Something like this but less expensive
www.industrialfansdirect.com/IND-FA-PF-W/LFI-WMKD30-OSC.html

More photos! AND video!

Here's the stair rails. You can see at the bottom of the 'posts' that they are also removable. I was a lil' worried that they might wiggle a bit, but they are solid. (And he's a lil' bugger.) And yes, the swing in the background is another project-in-waiting.

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Just look at the face! :silly:

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Catchin' flies. :laugh:

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The WheelWall is a huge hit. He digs it! B)

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Here is the video... After multiple attempts to embed the video here... it just ain't gonna happen... Clicking this photo will take you to the photobucket album site for the video... sorry.


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Obligatory DadLabs shirt pic. (Crotch shot is unintended bonus.) :S

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LOVE the video. I still think you need a helmetcam!

I'm inspired. Gotta wait until we settle from the relocation, though.

I have found the NEXT playdeck construction project... not kidding...

www.dudecraft.com/2010/10/helix-spire.html

Not at this house, but this has some SERIOUS potential. Though I think I'll build it out of 4x4s and bolts... and add a platform at a lower level...


And there has been absolutley no progress on the playdeck. I've taken off one stair rail one one platform rail to get started on painting them, and they've been in the basement for 2 weeks... Lame Daddy.

Any thoughts on making a rail for it?

Maybe you should just take TheBoy(tm) to Burning Man! Nothing like drugs and nudity under the guise of art to inspire greatness!

(I'd love to go, myself.)

My bro just went to BurningMan this year... was quite an adventure... But not a family friendly environment (in my head) by any stretch of the imagination. He said it wasn't ALL nudity and drugs, but there were certainly particular camps you avoided if that wasn't what you wanted to see/hear/there for...

I'd like to go to BurningMan just to do some "sailing" out on the playa... (longboard with a sail)... but it seems kinda silly to go there for just that...

The Helix Structure:
HisMother and I have talked, and she's not sure she could handle him climbing on the outside of the helix... and I knew he'd have to be at least 7 or 8 before I could build it... but the potential to incorporate it into something really spectacular is just too great to leave it alone... But ya gotta have the space and such...

Maybe they should have the BM equivalent to Austin Kiddie Limits?

Speaking of that... Any coverage from AKL over the weekend?

No ACL or AKL coverage this weekend. We are travelling to two conferences this week and were two busy. Not to mention it was Daddy Brad's wedding anniversary, and he usually covers the music.

No ACL or AKL coverage this weekend. We are travelling to two conferences this week and were two busy. Not to mention it was Daddy Brad's wedding anniversary, and he usually covers the music.

Lots of cool ideas in this book... now available in its entirety FREE...

playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com/2010/10/e...ds-james-jolley.html

Certainly some labor involved with tire playset construction... but variety Baby... spice o' life!