Groundbreaking - It's a Start

Yesterday was the official groundbreaking for the pirate ship project. We initially had planned on renting a motorized post-hole digger, but the more I thought about and the number of post-holes we dug growing up, we decided a little manual labor couldn't hurt us. Besides, we weren't on Trail Run anymore, so the incident rate of rock collisions was bound to be WAY down! Right before it was time to start, the foreman showed up in his brand new car to assess the job site.

Digging went surprisingly easy, except for the first post-hole that Uncle C dug, which was inexplicably solid, sticky clay all the way down... The rest of the holes dug almost as easy as in the sandbox at our Granny's old house (which was pure sand as far down as you could dig - we buried each other up to our necks more than once in that sandbox!)

We thought all the holes were deep enough, but just to be sure, we used Little Dude as a measuring stick. Perfect on every hole!

We were slightly concerned that Chesney was going to start filling in the hole with LD in it!

LD decided that one hole needed to be cleaned out a little more, so he took the post-hole diggers himself. True foreman just finishes up the work when the grunt labor doesn't get it quite right!

With all the holes finished, we proceeded to start setting posts, which took longer than expected, especially with a 19 month old running around, trying to pick up 2x4s to beat the dog, tripping over dirt piles and trying to jump in the other empty holes! By the time we ran out of daylight, we got the two tallest posts (for the swingset) set and ready to concrete.

Next weekend we will continue setting posts and start concreting! Stay tuned!


TWB





1/30/12

Materials - Round 1

After about a month of putting it off, I finally made it to Home Depot this past weekend to get the first round of supplies to put our plan into action. One of two things spurred me into action:

1- Little Dude just turned 19 months old, meaning I have less than 5 months to get The Becky's Revenge seaworthy

2- The Texans finally lost in the playoffs last weekend and the AFC Championship did not start until 2:00, giving me plenty of time to get to Home Depot and back prior to the action starting.

I like to think it was the first, but lets face it, it was probably a mix of the two... So off to Home Depot with materials list in hand, I picked up, among other things, deck screws, duplex nails, 4x4's, 2x4's, a quarter-ton of Quikrete, another post-hole digger (to put Uncle C to work and double our progress), OH, and the materials to build my wife a raised garden bed. So not one, but two backyard improvement projects going on simultaneously. Booyah!

After emptying my wallet (or filling up my CC, either way you want to look at it) the truck was filled and ready to unload.

Luckily, Uncle C had come up earlier in the day and helped carry the lumber to the backyard. While we finished stacking, another helper showed up!

Just like a true foreman, he showed us he could do the work, but chose to direct the grunt labor (Us) to do the heavy lifting. Get to work Daddy and Uncle!

Hopefully this weekend we will do our best imitations of gophers and get the post holes dug and the posts set. Stay tuned...

TWB

1/24/2012

Dreams to Reality

So with the concept of the pirate ship playhouse firmly planted in my head, I went about turning the rough sketch, plus a million other ideas, into a workable project.

Here were some of the things that we decided Little Dude would definitely need:
- Sliding board (to make mutinous crew walk the plank)
- Swing set (to combat sea sickness on rough days)
- Climbing rope (for physical activity to ward off scurvy)
- Captains Wheel (to navigate the high green seas)
- Telescope (to spot the enemy)
- Water gun(s) (to fight off the enemy, even if they are squirrels)
- Mast (to fly the Jolly Roger during times of plundering)
- Ladder (escape as a last resort)
- Crow's nest (to keep an eye out for uncharted land masses)
- Captain's quarters (to chart the next course)
- Oh, and storage for the Captain's father (Me) to store maintenance equipment!

When my parents visited for Christmas, Dad and I sat down and sketched out the plans. His previous playhouse expertise, experience as a draftsmen, and perfectionism yielded the following "blueprints." (Is that what they are called for a ship? Oh well...)

Most of the essential items made the cut, with the main loss being the accessible crow's nest. My wife insisted that I was not allowed to make the ship a 1:1 scale to the real thing, so the crow's nest may just have to be for show. TBD!

Feeling ambitious, we decided to stake the locations of the posts that would form the backbone of the mighty Becky's Revenge. Little Dude decided he was going to help. This is going to be fun! Hopefully he doesn't run away when the time comes to dig the holes!

That's all for now. Next up, we need to go get the materials to set the posts and frame the decks. Stay tuned!

TWB
1/24/2012

Conception

It all began back in November, the way most home improvement projects around our house go: with a seemingly innocous comment by my wife. "Little Dude and I were at the park today and he just loved climbing on all the playground equipment..." With that, the idea was planted in this engineering brain and it didn't take long for me to decide that I was going to build W his very own playhouse. Not one of those pre-built playhouses they have set up at Lowes, but one designed and built by these two hands (with a little help along the way from family and friends, no doubt!) That night, we came up with the rough design - it would be a pirate ship playhouse. Here are the initial sketches. It didn't take me long to start thinking big (or start losing my mind, whichever way you look at it.)

You see, this is getting to be a family tradition. A little over 20 years ago, my dad built my brother and I our very own playhouse from scratch. That iteration was the Byers Brothers Castle, complete with jungle gym, swings, sand box, slide, climbing rope, and yes, a fireman's pole! Here is a picture of it in all of its glory before it was disassembled when my parents moved a couple years ago. By the way, Dad claims it WILL be reassembled by the time Little Dude is old enough to use it!

 

Another trait of home improvement projects at our house is the late night setting of deadlines (usually made after a few beers or a bottle of wine.) In 2009, I <supposedly> agreed that I could lay an 800+ square foot concrete flagstone patio in 3 or so months, just in time for one of our famous (now defunct) backyard parties. It nearly broke me, but I finished the groutwork a couple of days before an epic Easter party. This time, I agreed that I could probably get Little Dude's pirate ship playhouse built by June, just in time for him and all his friends to climb all over it at his second birthday party... Well here goes nothing, we'll see if I can pull this off again! 

 

Edit: Oh, I guess I owe everyone an explanation as to the name of the "pirate ship" we are constructing...it is an ode to The Becky Thatcher, the iconic paddle boat that was docked in Marietta for years before sinking after being moved to Pittsburgh a few years ago. Hence,The Becky's Revenge!

TWB
1/23/2012