Treehouse Progress, Part 3

The last treehouse post picture was this one.

Last week I managed to make really good progress on the treehouse. Monday I finished adding the top plate to the railings, then finished adding the rest of the balusters.

Then I built the lower climbing ramp and attached it to the frame. It has a 2x4 frame with decking boards screwed on top, then I screwed balusters over the decking joints as hand and toe holds. The balusters ended up being just the right length and worked great. The frame rests on some pavers that I dug into the ground for stability and protection from the dirt.

I didn't build handrails for the stairs initially, so I had to go back and figure out how to add them in. This was my first dry run, to see if it would work and look good. I was not happy with it though, so I still need to figure out an alternative.

After the work I put in Monday, the lower deck was pretty much done. I need to finish a couple small details, but the only big thing left was figuring out the stair rails. While I contemplated those, I moved on to the next phase of the project: the upper deck.

Unfortunately, Tuesday and Wednesday I was too tired to work. I need to work on stopping before I'm done so that I still have energy to work on other days. My problem is that I have a hard time stopping when I'm close to being done- I just want to get it finished.

Thursday I cut and notched all the 4x4 posts and installed four of them for the upper deck railing. I didn't take a picture because the four posts just weren't that visible.

Friday I installed the other 4x4 posts. Then I cut and attached all the 2x4s between the posts for the railings.

the upper deck is finally progressing!

Saturday I was just too tired to do any more work. Too many hours working on the treehouse Friday, followed by a late night at the Cub Scout family campout, and an early morning cleaning the church were too much for me. The heat and humidity were both worse last week and it didn't make it easy to work outside- I am definitely slowing down. Which makes it all the more important that I finish this up as soon as possible, because pretty soon I'm just not going to want to spend time outside, sweating over projects.

I'm really pleased with how it's turning out and can't wait to see the finished result.