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HomeLAN

HomeLAN

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I'll be doing some backyard construction this weekend. V2.0's birthday is coming up, and he wants a fort in the yard. I'll be building a 8X10 two story structure with a cargo net and climbing wall.

Luckily, my borther is coming down to help, and he actually knows WTF he's doing. I'll just be grunt help.
 
I'm not that stupid. My kid's gonna climb on this thing, and I'd like for him to reach adulthood.
 
HomeLAN said:
I'm not that stupid. My kid's gonna climb on this thing, and I'd like for him to reach adulthood.
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Well, there's that too. The first thought was about you holding a power saw. *shudder*.

Is something like that a good idea, down in fireant and termite country?
 
I'm fine with power tools. God knows I've spent my share of time with chainsaws.

Fireants are controllable, as are termites. The posts will be sunk in a foot or two of concrete.
 
Circular saws have always held more fear for me than chain saws. Probably because they're one-handed, and the kickback is always straight back into you. If a chainsaw kicks, (if you're holding it right) it kicks straight up.

So, tell us more about this fort. Is it a kit, or did you buy plans and are building from raw materials? Pressure treated, or redwood?
 
Downloaded plans, and will be buying raw materials. Pressure treated lumber, which means I'll need to let it season for a couple months before I paint/stain it.

Using 4 16' 6X6's as corner supports. Sink those in concrete, and I don't think she'll move.
 
shouldn't. Here, you'd need to sink them at least 4' just to meet frost code. 6x6 would need ..... 14" sonotubes. Yippers. And a 24" footing at the bottom. And ... (here) that qualifies as an outbuilding. Requires a building permit. Also, here you can't sink the wood. You need to pour the cement with a metal holder sunk into the top, and the wood bolted to that.

Canadian builting code. Gotta love it.
 
You should really only need pressure-treated for the corner posts, since the treating is to keep out termites, who come in from the ground. The rest of the structure would probably be fine if you just used a good quality wood and Thompson's Water Seal or something along that line. Keep in mind that pressure-treated lumber has arsenic in it.
 
chromated copper arsenate, actually.

But there are other pressure treated types availible with other copper compounds that don't have any arsenic. They may be harder to find, but they're out there.
 
Professur said:
And ... (here) that qualifies as an outbuilding. Requires a building permit.
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All work requires a permit...internal and external. Everything except demolition.

A neighbour 1 block over got pinged for renovating his bathroom.
 
Good. You need a nice thick layer of that, and not-poisonous wood, and he should survive nicely.

Good luck!!!!
 
MrBishop said:
All work requires a permit...internal and external. Everything except demolition.

A neighbour 1 block over got pinged for renovating his bathroom.
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There's my big advantage. Mobile homes ...... are vehicles. And you don't need a permit to fix your car.
 
HomeLAN said:
Ya know, I guess it's possible I need a permit for this, but it would greatly surprise me.
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According to the the Gonzo Theorum of Home Construction...catch me mofo
 
Inkara1 said:
You should really only need pressure-treated for the corner posts, since the treating is to keep out termites, who come in from the ground. The rest of the structure would probably be fine if you just used a good quality wood and Thompson's Water Seal or something along that line. Keep in mind that pressure-treated lumber has arsenic in it.
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I always thought that whether you use cement or not depends upon your rainfall. Wet wood, treated or not, can get rotten if left in a damp condition for too long...
 
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