Build It and They Will Come

My father always said he’d rather have a yard full of kids than peace and quiet. That’s because when we were at home playing with our friends, he knew where we were. To that end, Dave and I are strategizing ways to make our house the fun one to come to on the block. Our first step is going to build a tree house.

Safety First

We have struggled long and hard with this idea, mainly because there are obviously certain dangers inherent in having such a structure. In addition to the obvious possibility that someone my fall out of the fort and be injured, there is also the real danger in our litigious society that someone will sue us if anything does go wrong. However, we feel like the fun our kids will have with a fort far outweighs the dangers.

Still, we are taking both practical and legal precautions. First, we have enlisted the aid of a carpenter friend to make sure that everything is built to a high level of structural integrity. We have also consulted my brother, who’s a lawyer, and our home owner’s insurance company to learn how to minimize our liability.

Mr. Cameron Builds a Tree house

So, the project is now well underway. Dave chose a large, sprawling oak in our back yard for the base for several reasons. First, our backyard is fenced and has a gate that we can keep locked when we are not home to supervise the children. Also, oaks have strong branches and thick leave that provide lots of privacy for pretend pirates and knights. Finally, oaks are less inclined than other trees toward lightning strikes and falling over during a storm. Not that we’d let the kids in the tree house under stormy conditions anyway, but it’s nice to know.

The next step was to buy and cut the wood. Dave decided to have his carpenter friend do the actual construction, but he has been a good helper and has put his Dewalt table saw to excellent use. In addition to cutting the boards for the 12 foot square tree house base, he has also finally gotten to use a technique he read about in a Dewalt miter saw review to make the railings and the half wall that surrounds the base.

The guys topped the fort with a roof the slopes slightly for 7 feet tall on the ladder side of the structure to 6 feet high on the opposite end. They use plastic siding left over from another project for the roof, since it was light weight and easily hauled up to the base. Finally, they finished everything off with a hinge gate that can be left open to the ladder when no one is there, but closed when the boys are playing so they won’t accidentally fall.

All that’s left now is to turn the guys loose with some imagination and their favorite toys. Hopefully the children will get to play up there some, too.

About the Author

Melissa Cameron, who is married with two children, lives in Austin, Texas next to her elderly parents. Melissa leads a full life that includes a productive career as a freelance writer and spending time with her extended family. She loves writing about various subjects including parenting, local history and living a frugal life. She also enjoys searching the Internet for bargains and researching ideas for articles.