Playhouse Progress
As promised here's a photo of how dad and I got on over the weekend (although I was working alone on Sunday!) in building a play house for the kids:
We got as far as I'd hoped we might -- platform built and railings in place. In short it's useable and safe, so at least they can use it while I round to starting on the actual house part.
Total cost so far: 18 pounds! Dad popped in to Screwfix on his way and spent 40 quid on screws but wouldn't let me give him any money (thanks dad!), so I guess it's actually closer to 60, but, still.
For those (if any) interested I'll update you again next Monday. There are more photos here.
Update: Felix's first impressions. He likes:
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Nice work!
Another good tip is to head over to http://www.bigdug.co.uk for some plastic shipping crates to keep stuff in (waterproof, keeps the mice out) - cheaply.
---* Bill
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Thanks once again for making me realize I'm totally unskilled, defunct and fail in one more area of life, Jake. First Domino, Flex and carpentry. Can we at least keep it in the arena of IT
Disgusted....walks out
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I'd be lying if I said there was an element of "look how bloody good I am"-ness to everything I post on here, but, in essence, all I ever want to do is inspire (yeah, right). If I can do it then so can anybody!
As with everything it's just about having 3 things -- the right tools (be that Flex Builder or a Dewalt table saw), the time and the inclination. Whether having the skill is a prerequisite or not I don't know. Depends how safe you want your kids to be in the garden I guess ;-) Or other people's kids for that matter.
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I love do-it-yourself jobs, especially if someone else is doing the work :)
Nice job Jake!
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Yeah, forget DIY, it's all about GYDTDI
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Looks great! Can't beat the cost and time to result ratio there. Well done!
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Almost forgot - put a coat of exterior stain or paint on that decking before it rains. You don't want you ply to delaminate and weaken.
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Too late. Hey, this is England. It was raining *while* we put it down.
The plywood also came from my brother and looked like it had be thrown on a pile in a field somewhere for a few months - quite wet and with funny moulds growing on it. Dad's been trying to dry out for a while now and it's almost there.
I'm just waiting for a dry day or two in a row and then I'll stain it. It's going to have astro-turf on top so it's not essential it's perfectly flat...
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I don't know if you can get it but there's a product here called Mil-Kill which is a paint additive that will kill mildew and prevent regrowth. Especially with outdoor... if you treat it before you put your astro-turf / exterior carpet down, you won't have to worry about it. If you don't and put something on top, even if water can't get through, it's a layer that also can't dry out from fog/humidity and regrowth is possible, which will eventually make the wood soft. Don't want little people falling through holes. I fell through that trap door on ours as a kid, pretty painful memory... granted it was a much more deliberate hole. *-)
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Ok - just watched the vid - success! Felix will have a unique view of the world over the garden wall... something of a coupe for some boys... he'll be envied. I hope no one takes a tumble over the wall though. Oh - the tree in the photo I sent you... the roof had to be shaved back over the years as the diameter of the tree grew almost 5" in 30 years. Yours may need some shaves of the hole in time.
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Nicely done, Jake! Especially the "GYDTDI" part!
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