This week I have finished up the stairway to the deck where the treehouse will be constructed.
I had already built the passageway about half way up to the deck starting from the cover on my water storage tanks. From the water storage tank cover to the passageway I built a stairway. I have also added a stairway from the passageway up to the deck. In order to accomplish this second part I had to add a landing cantilevered from the deck as a place for the stairway to connect to the deck.
I have added posts and railings on the passageway, the stairways, and the landing, It will be easier to get the materials up there now and, also, it will be safer. I am using the 4" fence posts (4 ft.) for the upright posts for the railing and 2 1/2" fence posts for the cross railings.
An interesting detail on the landing platform for the upper stairs was building it so that it was cantilevered off the deck. I decided to use 2"x10" hangers on the inside and outside of one of the main beams holding up the deck. I know that this is overkill, but I am not going to take a chance with this platform 24' up in the air.
I noticed that the more we built out the project, and, hence, the more weight, the more off-level the deck was becoming. Consequently, we decided to rebalance the deck by moving where one lag bolt was connected to the tree by about three inches. This turned out to be a lot more complicated that I originally envisioned.
After removing the bolt the deck dropped a full 6" in that section. After careful consideration we decided to use a very long post (4"x4") to jack up the deck until it was level (about 4"). This technique, while taking a considerable amount of time, was well worth the effort.
Next, we will install the railing on the deck itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment