My labour of love is complete. If there is one thing I learned about myself since becoming a father, it's that I can actually build stuff. I was mediocre in wood shop, because I never cared about how to make a dustpan out of a sheet of tin. A new dust pan costs what, a buck?
But now that I'm a dad, I love when I can make something original and cool for my kids and they actually derive great joy from it. So I built this (all by myself!):
And I dare say it is the greatest thing I've ever created with my own hands. I can't draw, paint, sculpt or any of the many creative things you all seem to excel at it. But I can build things. And the best part is, I bought the posts, bought the railings, bought the shingles, and the rest is all salvage. Total cost: about 100 bucks.
It took me 32 years, but finally all the neighbourhood kids want to play in my yard. Next up: One garage.
woody [email] said at 12:00 PM 09-15-2004: Thanks bud! The peephole is just a great knot I found, so I lined it up so both kids could see. Now they fight over it. I may have to make an artificial one now.
woody [email] said at 11:56 AM 09-15-2004: They were in there once, luckily it wasn't buried well. Any advice to keep them away? I haven't been able to think of a way to cover it that is cheap, stable enough to not blow away, but light enough that one person can easily remove it. The yard will be fully fenced soon, so that should discourage them a bit.
julie [email] said at 2:40 PM 09-15-2004: If you just want to keep out cats, maybe some kind of 2-part lid made of framed chicken wire. That would be lightweight and enough to keep them from digging etc. Think glorified rain gutter screen.
But really, sandboxes need solid lids to keep out rain, leaves, varmints, and such. There's nothing as sad as a wet-sand sandbox.
My dad used to build playgrounds out of old tires and stuff, when we lived in Maine. He designed and built the playground at my elementary school! And a similar one in our side yard, with horizontal tire suspension bridges, tire swings, fort, tire pyramid, and a big plywood sandbox. A bored engineer with 4 kids is a dangerous thing.
julie [email] said at 2:40 PM 09-15-2004: If you just want to keep out cats, maybe some kind of 2-part lid made of framed chicken wire. That would be lightweight and enough to keep them from digging etc. Think glorified rain gutter screen.
But really, sandboxes need solid lids to keep out rain, leaves, varmints, and such. There's nothing as sad as a wet-sand sandbox.
My dad used to build playgrounds out of old tires and stuff, when we lived in Maine. He designed and built the playground at my elementary school! And a similar one in our side yard, with horizontal tire suspension bridges, tire swings, fort, tire pyramid, and a big plywood sandbox. A bored engineer with 4 kids is a dangerous thing.
brandon [email] said at 4:02 PM 09-15-2004: There are some really excellent sprays you can purchase, Woody, that, applied periodically, work well. My folks use it to keep the crazy neighbors 8 outside cats off of their vehicles and out of the back yard.
Also, make a lid for it, it'll help with the cats and the moisture.
woody [email] said at 4:19 PM 09-15-2004: Well, we're not trpoical by any means, so I like the moisture. There is usually just enough moisture and enough draining to make the sand into castle-building consistency.
I thought about sprays, but aren't they usually the kind of smells you wouldn't want all over your kids when they play in the sand?
meredith [email] said at 7:08 PM 09-15-2004: Or you could put a big fake dog with long fake fur that would flap in the wind in your sandbox. Kind of like a Scarecrow for cats. A Scarecat!
meredith [email] said at 10:28 AM 09-15-2004: That's awesome! My dad built me a house like that once but it was grey. Yours is prettier. And when this really annoying little boy started raiding our house, my dad converted the staircase into a drawbridge. (Just an idea for in case.)
woody [email] said at 1:57 PM 09-15-2004: I originally thought of a rope ladder, so I might do that later. The ladder goes straight down, but I guess I could make it like a drawbridge so it would swing to a straight-up position?
However, I would like to solicit some ideas from you guys on future modification ideas. I want to further integrate the playhouse with the sand box underneath.
Originally I thought there would be a slide that went out from the far side of the porch (opposite the ladder), that would go out and curve back into the sandbox.
I also thought I could drill a hole in the playhouse floor and build a plexiglass-encased tube under it. The idea is, it would be built with funnels and paddlewheels inside the tube and you could pour sand down it to make them all spin.
cecil [email] said at 2:21 PM 09-15-2004: D"CÌB}?o tell what you have room for, but I'd try some kind of secret door in the floor of the house that either leads to a slide or ladder. I think kids would like the idea of a secret door, an "escape hatch". It could be covered with a little rug.
woody [email] said at 10:49 AM 09-17-2004: Weird, I thought of that last night. The floor is too small to just cut a big hole in it, but off the end of the deck would work. I'm going to look into that.
meredith [email] said at 10:53 AM 09-17-2004: The way my dad did the drawbridge/ladder was to attach a pully to the roof on the opposite side of the house to where the ladder is and run it along the roof and thread it through an eyehook then down to the bottom edge of the ladder. The ladder was light so we were able to pull it up easily.
art said at 11:00 AM 09-17-2004: What aboot a rope 'web' that could run at a slight incline near one of the rear corners (or actually on the corner) up to a trap door in the floor? That would take less room than a pole. The young'uns could climb it to get up and jump or climb down into the sandbox
woody [email] said at 11:54 AM 09-15-2004: Thanks all! We live in a new development, so the wood was mostly salvaged from new house sites. They are so wasteful! They'll use 4 2X4's to prop up a wall, then because they each have 2 nails in the end, they throw them away. The siding is all 1X6 fence boards that were discards from the lumber store. Each one has a little bend or twist or something cosmetic. So the whole pallet was about 20 bucks.
Yes, that's my 4-yo daughter climbing up. She loves it, and so does my 2-yo son, but when he wants to climb up or down the ladder, he goes to mom or dad and says "Hold my bum!"
woody [email] said at 10:53 AM 09-17-2004: Thanks Ben! The inside right now is just 2X4 frame. I was going to put up some fake wood panels or something, and cover the floor with some lino. I also need a battery-operated light to put on the ceiling.
It's not connected to the fence, it's just about 6 inches off, so it was a pain to work on that side.
We will have sleepouts (I can fit diagonally) but I don't think you'd want to set up house in there. I had the biggest crush on Tracey Gold.
myriam [email] said at 9:17 AM 09-21-2004: the flower box is an excellent touch. cool digs!!!
i love the fire pole idea, right down into the sand box. i would have loved that as a kid. also, this probably won't fit in the current design but if you add an appendage someday you should squeeze in a tire swing--those things are always good for good times.
