Frame those walls!

Last Saturday, we had a couple over for the day. He and I in 3-4 hours we able to get aal of the walls framed up. See pix! I have some 10-foot 2x4's left over that I will use for the deck at $3.69 a board as opposed to $12 a board for pressure treated lumber and $18-24 a board for Trex. I have to do some retrofitting as one corner overlaps (see pic on the right).

Gable or shed...

I am altering the design for the treehouse. First, I will switch from gable roof to shed roof. I am also chopping the end wall down from 8 ft to 6 ft. Why am I doing this (especially as I already built two walls? Well, the short answer is that shed walls are cheaper, faster and easier to build and I think the ceiling should be shorter to give the treehouse a more kid-like dimension (although it is high enough for me to stand in without whacking my head). Also, my wife wants to speed up the construction and the kids want to get in there before the snows fly!

We're on our way!

We added plywood decking last week. You can see the result. With the plywood added, the deck supports really tighten up!instability is really lessened. Nice kids on the deck!

Deck frame going up!

This weekend, a buddy of mine across the street volunteered to help with the building process. It was much appreciated (thanks, Jonathan!) as putting up the joists would have been a bear alone. He and I got plywood for the floor. I mis-calculated and was one sheet short. I had to take the kids back to HD. They are getting quite excited now that they can see the platform. Next is placing the plywood - tricky because I didn't check the diagonals on the deck frame, so I question how square it is. Hmmm...

post and beam

Well, I'm moving along finally. Last weekend, I singlehandedly hung the second 2x12 support beam with nary a scratch (well a dinged up finger). Today, I picked up some old 2x6 boards (to be used later) from a buddy in town. Then, my buddy from across the street came over and we started on the understructure. You can see from the pictures how far we got!

Woo Hoo!

FINALLY, some warm, sunny weather. I took the day off and my daughter and I started the treehouse. First, we put up one of the main support beams, then we dug and poured two footings to support the other side of the main platform. Lots of digging there were tree roots in one hole and ledge rock in the other.

Rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,rain,.............

11 inches in three weeks! That's what weather is doing to my work days. We are getting 4 days of sun this week and my daughter is free this week, do we hope to begin. I have the wood and the bolts needed for the main support beams.

Two minor changes. I bought two - 2"x12" 16-footers (PT wood). I was going to use them nailed together as on 4x12. I decided it would be better to install them as 2x12 s one on either side of the tree trunks.

Also, I think that I'm going to change the structure of the 4x6 posts holding up the other end of the platform. I will install a 4x6 beam on top of the two 2x6 beams build a deck-like understructure for the fixed end of the main platform. I am thinking of adding a foot to the deck and a foot to the house. This will allow more room in the treehouse and on the deck.

PS Thanks to http://www.winternet.com/~carols/maine/ for the picture.