Playhouse Photo (and story about it)

[waynefb]

Well, I must admit that 5 months ago when my then 4 YO daughter mentioned to me that she wanted a playhouse, I wasn't sure how to go about it. I first drove a few miles up the road to a place that sells them to you (the come on site and construct the building for you). Granted they were nice, but certainly not worth the 2500 - 4300 dollars US they wanted. Next, I looked at all sorts of plans on the internet. I have to admit I was not a woodworker. In fact, the only power tools I owned were a skil circular saw and a craftsman drill. However, I've always been fascinated by being able to build things, so I finally found a design I wanted. Unfortunately it was also designed and built by Norm Abrams which I knew meant this was not the easiest project in the world. I ordered the plans and video and set about buying all the equipment I would need. 2.5 months of Texas heat on Saturdays and Sundays and I had a wonderful birthday gift for my daughter for her 5th birthday.

The final cost: $1200 for lumber and building materials, $1400 for tools (although a good chunk of that was for a table saw). Still as cheap as the prebuilt house and I now have been bitten by the woodworking bug. In fact, my project list is growing daily as my wife and I conspire to transform parts of our house.

So, here is my first project, enjoy.

Wayne

[Andy Jeffries]

Fantastic job.

Well done sir,

Andy

[Dave]

Very nicely done Wayne. Congratulations.

Dave

[Gene]

Gee, I think my first project was a bird house. Very nice. Welcome to the group.

Gene

[Chris]

My first "real" project was Norm's rocking horse for my daughter's 1st birthday. I have been contemplating the playhouse project, but I figure I still have 2 or 3 years before I actually build it.

Wayne, now that you have the tools, next year you can strip off the fiberglass roof and do it with cedar shake like Normie did :-)

-Chris

[jo4hn]

[Ed. O.]

Wayne, Your first project turned out great. What was your daughters reaction?

-- Ed. O. My woodworking projects at:

the NAIL from e-mail to reply

[waynefb]

You mean you're forking over the $400 for the cedar shakes! Wow, that's mighty nice of you. ;-)

It was purely a cost measure. Trust me I wanted to do the cedar shake roof, but my wife put her foot down on that one. ;-)

Wayne

[waynefb]

At first she was super excited, but as I dragged into the second month, I could tell all she really wanted to do was play in it, and didn't care that it wasn't finished. She offered to help paint, so I took her up on it. That lasted about 25 minutes. ;-)

But, once I finally finished she was really excited. Since then I've put in a "sink", a table that folds up, bench chairs for her and her friends to sit on. Next on my list are a couple of shelves that she can use to put her play dishes and tea set on.

And thanks everyone for the kind words. I have to admit it was a very daunting task since it was my first project. However, between just doing it, and seeing my daughter everyday watching me put it together, I wasn't about to give up on it.

Things I learned... spend the money on the brad nailer, beating the windows together with a hammer and nails don't give the windows the stability they need when you are continually beating the nails out of the opposite end of the wood. Align your saws before making angle cuts. Lastly, see if your daughter will accept it as a Christmas gift, so you don't have to work in 90-100 degree heat 8 hours a day on the weekends. ;-)

Wayne