This is the tenth article in our tree house project. My plan this year (2018) is to build a tree house for my son. Click here to start from the beginning of this exciting project.
The idea is to build a hexagon shaped tree house. This article talks about construction day.
Special thanks to my cousin Joe and his family for braving the unusually poor weather. Thanks to my friends and family who also braved the cold weather and assisted with this project.
I would not have been able to get this part done without your help, Lando and I really appreciate the assistance.
Already snowing in Chicago-Land by the time I got around to taking a picture of this.
Construction
The goal for construction day was to get the walls and roof frame built.
Since my sister and nephews came over several weeks ago I was able to get the floor frame set on top of the post. This was an enormous help, as I really wanted this piece done and secured prior to construction day.
The biggest reason I wanted the floor frame in place was to make sure it fit before scheduling and planning the party. I needed to know if there were any adjustments that needed to be made before moving forward.
Construction day was a success, and we were able to get the walls up and the roof frame on.
I did take one additional day off work to really get the roof frame in place and to work on completing the roof. There is still more to be done, but the basic structure is up.
The walls
The first step was getting the walls up onto the platform. Once we had these up we secured them with temporary boards until we could square and secure them to the floor platform.
Parts
Once we had the walls in place were were able to drill holes and secure them with hex bolts and lag screws. Lag screws as we learned were the better option for this. Here is where the whole custom sizes comes into play. Since the floor fame boards are various sizes there was NOT one consist length of bolt we could count on. I tried my best to get exact size hex bolts because I though those would work best. But the hex screws have more thread on them which made it easier to compensate for the various lengths we needed.
Thanks to my sister and father for dashing to the store for last minute items. This was a HUGE help.
The ladder
I ended up building a temporary latter to ease the building process. I initially didn’t want to build a latter, but I feel pretty confident in the amount of wood I have, that I was able to quickly build a temporary one as shown in the images. This a quick and simple build which I made over several evenings leading up to the weekend of the party. Since it was dark working in the garage I didn’t even think to take pictures of budding it.
In order to make the dado cut, I used a circular saw and just made a bunch of cuts the thickness of the boards I was using as the steps.
I just the 1 x 6’s all two feet in length, secured them with construction screws.
I skipped sanding or staining any of the latter parts as I know this is going to be replaced next year with a more professional job. Stay tuned for that article.
The Roof
My initial plans for the roof was to have folks help me build the frame over the top of the walls during build day. Turns out we tried to build part of the roof frame on the ground and tried to hoist this up over the walls. Keep in mind the post are five feet up and the walls are another five feet above the platform floor.
This proved to be a bit more of a challenge then I had anticipated. But kudos to my cousin and Jim we were able to build part of this on the ground and eventually got this over the walls.
Little did I know how long the trusses were going to come down past the walls. I didn’t want to cut these until I saw them in place.
Now that I have a better idea how long they are, its time to take some measurements and trim them.
I ended up taking a day off during the week to complete the roof frame and to get the plywood in place. Now that the plywood is done, I was able to get the tar paper stapled and get some shingles installed.
There is still a hole at the top where the cupola is going to go. I have yet to design or make this pice yet. That will have to wait for now. I ended cutting a piece of plywood and just secreted it to the top. I’m hoping this will keep out a some of the rain for now.
Updates
October 20, 2018
Saturday was the actual build day, we ordered some pizzas and had some food. Orlando was took busy playing with his cousins. Fun times for the little guys.
October 24, 2018
I took the day off since it was going to we a dry and sunny day. I really wanted to get the roof squared up correctly and at least covered to keep the weather out until I we can work on it more in the spring.
Note to self, I have the following items that still need to be done.
- I’d like to take the roof and rotate it so the rafters meet the corers of the walls. I know Joe suggested this before we started, but now I’m really wanting to does as I’ve learned working on the roof wit this angle is difficult, and more importantly looks awkward.
- Once the roof has been rotated, I need to finish the roof and trim the sides to clean up the edges.
- I need to build the copula and install this. I may be able to build this in the garage if we get some nice weather.
- I need to plan and build some better stairs or latter.
- I need to secure the slide to the wall frame.
- I need to plan and build the interior wall to make an enclosed room.
What can you do?
- Part Eleven
- Part Nine
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Thank you,
Dave
