Tag Archives: project

Summer Projects 2011: Kid’s Clubhouse

Posted by Marcus Orr on July 30, 2011 No comments

Despite having three Summer projects going already (Our Bee Yard, Firepit and Garden Pond). I also started building a clubhouse for the kids. Initially, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to build it. I looked around online for design ideas, but nothing really came together until I came across a craigslist ad for a used Turbo Tube Slide. I jumped at the chance to get it. They pop up on Craigslist periodically, but it doesn’t take long before they are sold. These slides cost between $400-500 at the home improvement stores. I managed to get this one for just over $100. I started looking for designs that incorporated this type of slide and came across Barbara Butler Treehouses and Play Structures. The paints and stains used on their designs are really cool. The design I settled on was really inspired by the shape and features of Barbara Butler’s Play Forts. With some input from the kids, I sketched out what we hoped the playhouse would look like when finished. Here are my drawings:

The main features of the clubhouse include the turbo tube slide, rockclimbing wall, fireman’s pole, balcony, bucket pulley, flagpole, rope ladder and trap door.

The main support posts are 16′ 4x4s. I sunk each of them in concrete 2′ deep in the ground. Squaring, leveling and plumbing the uprights proved to be rather difficult since they were so tall. I attached ropes to them and it took 3 of us to hoist them into place and get them secured so the concrete footings could be poured…and we did it all in the dark at around midnight, here’s the first picture taken of the clubhouse framing going up:

After the uprights were in place and the concrete had dried, the framing was finished without much trouble. Taking an idea from the Barbara Butler designs, I stained the framing to make the clubhouse a bit more colorful.

I wanted to use a tongue and groove board for the siding, but the costs were going to be tremendous. I guess that’s why Barbara Butler charges upward of $15,000 for her playhouses. Instead, I took the advice of one of the guys who works in the lumber section at Lowe’s. He pointed me toward what he called “Barnside” siding. The stuff looks pretty good; it gives the clubhouse a rustic look. Because the exterior walls were going to be subjected to climbing, I had to put a particle board backing under the siding to make it sturdier.

After the siding was up on the bottom, I started working on the joists for the second floor and balcony. This thing should be able to hold a tremendous amount of weight. The 2×6 upper floor joists are not only tied into the uprights with carriage bolts, but also resting on the wall framing. In the photo below, you can see the hole for the trapdoor in the back center of the clubhouse.

I don’t have any photos of the 2nd story flooring being installed, but it’s decking over 1/2 inch plywood with tar paper sandwiched between to keep most of the water out of the clubhouse (especially since the 2nd story isn’t closed in.) At this point in the project, I wanted to go ahead and get the railings and walls up on the 2nd story. It doesn’t look that high, but the 2nd story starts at almost 8′ high. The railings on the clubhouse match the railings that I built for the deck on my house.

After I got the 2nd story half walls in place, we raised and attached the turbo tube slide.

It was hard to keep the kids away once the slide was installed. I finished the siding on the upper floor. If I couldn’t keep them off, at least I could try to keep them from falling. I’m staining the siding with a Cabot exterior stain. It’s the same color that I used on my beehive stands and the same color we’re considering for the deck boards on our back deck. I’m using a semi-transparent green for all of the trim on the clubhouse. In the following photo part of the trim is installed on the 1st floor.

The next couple of photos show some of the parts of the clubhouse that were most difficult to build. By far, the single most difficult part of this project for me was constructing the frame for the roof. I wanted a pyramid shape, but had no clue how to build it. I have build regular “A” shaped roofs for storage buildings and doghouses, but had never attempted any other designs. I started by taking about a foot long piece of 4×4 and cutting a 45 degree angle on each corner. That left me with an octagon shape for all of the 2x4s to attach to at the peak of the roof. In the picture below, you can see the octagonal piece in the center of the roof. The view is looking up through the trap door. You can also see part of the rope ladder that I made. I think I plan on screwing an eyebolt into the octagonal support and hanging a bell from it.

I have a hard time even explaining to anyone how I figured out all of the angles for the roof. I just remember it was a lot of math and I don’t want to do it again. I assembled the roof framework on the ground and then hoisted it onto the structure with some help from my brother. That was much easier than trying to assemble it in place. Below are some photos of the roof framing in place; you can also see the rock climbing holds attached on the side of the clubhouse. Looking at the trampoline beside the clubhouse gives you an idea of how tall it actually is.

That’s where the project has stopped for now. With temperatures approaching 100 degrees, I haven’t had the motivation to do much of anything outside. Hopefully, it will cool down soon and I can finish up the roof and get a coat of stain on the 2nd story. I also need to break out the welder and construct the firepole that will come down the rock wall side.

Summer 2011 Projects: Garden Pond

Posted by Marcus Orr on July 29, 2011 No comments

In the middle of our backyard, there was a giant bare spot where water collected every time it rained. I couldn’t think of a better way to deal with it than to just dig it out and let it be a pond. I wanted a big pond that wrapped around the firepit in a kidney shape. You can see the foundation for my firepit project in the foreground.

Not even a couple of days into the project, we had the worst storm of the season and it filled up the hole with water. That set me back for almost a week.

M 336755 EPDMSP1015 Summer 2011 Projects: Garden Pond y ideas for the project also proved to be a bit too ambitious and I had to scale it back a bit. Originally, the pond was supposed to be around 18×8′. I bought a 25×10′ epdm liner from Lowe’s for $120.It wasn’t big to get the depth I needed. I returned the first liner to Lowe’s and went looking for a bigger liner. The only places that sold bigger liners were pond supply stores. Unfortunately, their liners were upwards of $300 for the size I needed. I decided to try the ~6×6′ preformed liner sold by Home Depot for $109. c2e335b7 3e69 4808 99e2 96b25240b351 300 Summer 2011 Projects: Garden Pond When I got the preformed liner home, I saw how small it was compared to my original design. So, I returned it to the store too. I noticed that Home Depot had some cut to length epdm liner on rolls. They only had a 19×10′ piece left on the roll. I called around to every Home Depot in a 60 mile radius to see if any other stores had the liner on rolls. I had a lot of trouble finding any stores who knew what I was asking about. Finally, I learned from one of the garden center guys that the rolls had been part of a buyback and were no longer being stocked. In fact, they had already been taken out of the computer inventory. I decided to buy the 19×10′ piece that was left at our Home Depot. When I went to check out, it wouldn’t ring up. When I told one of the assistant managers about the buyback and that it had been taken out of inventory, they just rang it up as one of the cheapest liners they had in stock. I walked out with it for $20.

With a smaller liner in hand, I had to scale my project back to about 10×6′ The only thing harder than digging the bigger hole is making it smaller and keeping the shape. In order to backfill the pond, I drove pipe into the ground and made a makeshift dam out of old 2×6 lumber. With the dam in place, I started shoveling dirt and mud over the dam.

What a muddy mess. It took weeks for that backfill to dry out.

With the hole smaller, I was able to reshape it and install the new liner

You can see the new firepit in the background. I worked on both projects at the same time. After the liner was installed, I drained it and started adding river rock. In the photo below, you can see the GFI receptacle on the short timber post. I ran the circuit from our garage to power the pond pump and lights.

riverrock Summer 2011 Projects: Garden Pond I used leftover Pennsylvania Fieldstone from my firepit project to form the border of the pond. The spillway for the waterfall is set on top of a couple of cinderblocks surrounded by old broken block and bricks that we had laying around. We covered the debris around the spillway with dirt and stone to form the hill for the waterfall. The photo below shows the first test of the waterfall. In this picture, the pump is installed in the bottom of the pond. Later, I moved the pump to a skimmer box installed in the upper left corner of the pond.

The next photo shows the landscaping we started around the pond. At this point, we only had a few plants int he ground. It looked pretty sparse and the area around the pond was still a muddy disaster.

After a few more plants and some mulch, the pond really took shape. I added solar landscape lights around the back edge of the pond and rock-shaped solar spotlights focused on the waterfall. There’s also a solar turtle-shaped light on the rocks hiding the skimmer in the lower lefthand corner of the picture. We planted a dogwood tree, azaleas and ornamental grasses on the back side of the pond to frame the area. I added anacharis, water lily and watercress to the pond to help control algae growth. We added about 2 dozen feeder goldfish. They’ve been in there for about two months and have grown to around 3-4 inches. I found some underwater led spotlights on eBay for $30. They look really good at night and the fish seem to like them. You can also see another of my Summer projects in the background, a kid’s clubhouse.

View into the pond

Flagpole Project

Posted by Marcus Orr on July 23, 2011 No comments

When I was a kid, my parents hung an American flag outside their house. It was right around the time of Operation Desert Storm and there seemed to be a surge in patriotism in the community and nation at that time. I remember participating in a “support our troops” parade through downtown Burlington with my Boy Scout Troop during that same time period. I also remember being much more interested in civics and history classes than math or science in middle and high school. Eventually, I went on to earn a B.A. in History and Political Science. It wasn’t until college that I personally encountered anyone who seemed to have a disdain for our country. I was a little surprised that there were professors who scoffed at the very country that afforded them the liberties that they enjoyed on a daily basis. Don’t misunderstand me, there weren’t many that expressed those sort of views, but there were a vocal minority of U.S. haters (just not in the History or PoliSci departments). College gave me an even deeper appreciation for the history of our great nation and our system of government. I also gained a deeper appreciation for our flag and all it symbolizes. I decided that, when I had a home of my own, I would display the Stars and Stripes without shame.

Now that I have my own home, I’m proudly flying the flag. Children seem to want to do things better than their parents. I remembered the flag my parents had on their house. It was one of the ones that attaches to the wood or brick with a small bracket and holds the flag out at an angle. There are still several holes in the mortar and brick of their house where that flag mount would break or pull out. I didn’t want that. I wanted something bigger – a stand alone flagpole. And, I didn’t want a cheap, thin-walled, sectional chinese-made pole from one of the big-box stores. Go big or go home. In the spirit of American individualism, I made one myself. It shouldn’t be difficult. After all, it’s just a pole, right?

Actually, it was fairly easy, just don’t start a project like this during the hottest week of the year. Here’s the parts I used and how I did it.

Flagpole Parts List

From local stores:

12″ round concrete form

3 80# bags of Quickrete

10′ length of 1/2″ rebar

5′ length of 2.5″ pvc

A couple of buckets of gravel

a 4-5 inch bolt or other metal that can be used as a pin through the pvc

21′ length of 2″ Galvanized Pipe (the guys at Bennett-Hockett on Webb Ave did a great job helping me get what I needed.)

From web-based store, Flagdesk.com:

Silver aluminum truck for a 2-3/8″ Pole with single 1/2″ pulley (PN: 330000)

3″ gold anodized aluminum ball ornament (PN: 340057)

2-3/8″ x 8″ x 2-1/4″ Silver aluminum collar (PN: 370001)

Silver standard cast aluminum cleat (PN:350000CL)

4 3″ solid brass swivel snaps (PN: 350124ESS)

Step by Step

1. Dig the hole

There should be at least 1 foot of depth for every 10 feet of pole. I decided to go with just over 2.5 feet deep.

2. Cut the concrete form to length and place it in the hole

3. Pour about 2″ of gravel in the bottom of the hole for drainage

4. Drill a hole through the pvc a couple of inches from the bottom and insert a metal bolt or other makeshift pin (I used an old pushrod that was laying in the toolbox) This will help keep the flagpole from touching the bottom of the hole and rusting.

5. Align the pvc in the center of the concrete form and secure it (we made two plastic spacers on the lathe and mill to center the pole precisely) Don’t cut the pvc yet. Let a couple of feet extend out of the hole. This will help in making sure the pole will be plumb after the concrete sets.

6. Mix and pour the concrete. Cut the rebar into ~2′ foot lengths and insert them into the concrete around the pvc pipe (make sure the rebar goes an inch or two below the surface of the concrete. Now’s the time to make sure the pvc is plumb – it will be nearly impossible to fix it after the concrete sets. I put a long piece of 2″ plastic conduit inside the pvc to check the plumb (the conduit was the same outer diameter as the galvanized pipe).

7. After the concrete has set, cut the pvc flush with the concrete.

8. Let it sit for a week. I found it helpful to leave the 8′ piece of conduit in the hold to keep dirt from being kicked in until the flagpole was installed. The hard work is over.

9. Install the components on the flagpole and raise it. The cleat is the hardest component to install – it requires drilling and tapping two holes in the pipe to match the bolt threads. A center punch is helpful for getting the drill bit started on the curved surface. Don’t forget to install the halyard before raising the pole! Also, If you have a collar to install, slide it a few feet up the pole from the bottom before inserting the pole into the foundation. In order to get the right angle to hoist the pole, I had to back my truck up to the foundation, stand on the tailgate and have the pole handed off to me. Definitely a two-person job.

10. Install the swivel snaps and hoist the flag of your choice! Here’s a guide I used for installing my swivel snaps without tying knots.

How to Fly the American Flag from Alamance Conservative

1966 Ford Fairlane Project

Posted by Marcus Orr on June 4, 2008 1 comment

In 2002, I had an awesome car, a Firemist Green 1995 Cadillac Eldorado. I’ve owned quite a few vehicles before and since then, but none of them have been as nice as that Cadillac. Unfortunately, I sold it a few months after getting married. As a full time student with a child now on the way and mounting expenses, it seemed like getting rid of the monthly payments and high insurance (like I said, I’ve owned quite a few vehicles – some of which suffered untimely demises) was the responsible thing to do. Being the responsible, newly married guy that I was, I took the advice of one of my trusted buddies who said, “I know where there’s a 1966 Fairlane that wouldn’t take a lot to get back on the road, just scuff up a little, shoot some fresh paint and you’ll be ready to ride. you ought to get it.” So, in the middle of the winter, my buddy and I squeezed our pregnant wives into our cars and drove out to the middle of nowhere to look at this prized find. To this day, I’m not sure why I bought it. I’d like to think I bought it because I’m endowed with creative vision and can see the possibilities for beauty in anything, but it’s more likely that I’m just out of my mind. We did manage to get it cranked up and I drove it home…without headlights…or brake lights…or turn signals…or a driver’s side door. So, that’s how I ended up with a 50 year old hunk of rusted steel. At least there was room to park it in my parent’s driveway!

“Scuff it up”, he said. “Just a little surface rust”, he said. Have you ever heard that you shouldn’t purchase a vehicle that you went to look at at night? That’s good advice. Oh, and let me add to that advice – don’t purchase cars that don’t have all of their doors. There was quite a bit more rust than we first thought. Do you know how many hours it takes to completely sand all of the paint off of a car? I do. It’s ten times as many hours as you think it will take. With all the time I spent with her, we got to know each other very well. Maybe I even started to fall in love with her. But all wasn’t well with our relationship. She never came out and said it, but I think she hated me.

She did teach me how to do paint and body work, or rather, how not to. It was a tremendous learning experience that I wouldn’t trade, but that I don’t want to repeat. It was around this time that I decided to ditch the metal hood and order a fiberglass one with a nifty ram air scoop off of a 427 Fairlane. I figured that, if I was going with a fiberglass hood, I may as well get some fiberglass fenders. Turns out, large fiberglass auto body parts don’t ship very well. One of my fenders arrived chipped and cracked. The folks at Crites Restoration made good on it and sent me another. It was actually looking like this project might turn out all right. At least she was starting to look like a real car. Little did I know, there were all kinds of problems lurking beneath the hood.

Even after having been parked for years, she ran when I got her. I was just less than a year into the project. There wasn’t any reason why she shouldn’t run when we dropped the motor back in. After all, we didn’t do anything to the engine except clean it up and put on a fresh coat of paint. I was so excited when we got her fired up and took her for a ride around the block to show off her brand new paint job, but what was that clacking noise. Turns out it was a cracked piston. My project came to a screeching halt. I was already in deeper than I wanted to be. Those car payments didn’t seem so bad anymore. Did I mention that the Fairlane was at my parent’s house in their driveway? That’s because we lived in an apartment, there’s no way they would allow that mess to sit in the parking lot.

Now, you would think the voice of reason (my wife) would step in and call for a time out on this project. Maybe she didn’t care or maybe she just enjoys watching me suffer because she didn’t put a stop to it. She let me head off to the engine builder’s along with my buddy who’s voice still rings in my head…”if you’re going to have the motor built, you may as well do it right!” The meek little 289 was bored and stroked to 331 and outfitted with all of the go fast goodies I could put on the Visa card. After all, “you may as well do it right!” Summit Racing loves me. Again, I was happy as a lark when the motor was finished. You’d think this project was approaching an end, but you’d be wrong, this car hates me. We never could get the engine to run. She’d tease us a little. Roaring to life and then sputtering out. This went on for days as I tried everything I knew and consulted every person, book and website I could find. She never would run right, so she sat in the driveway, abandoned. My wife and I eventually bought a house up the road from my parents and finally pushed the old fairlane up the road and into our garage where she sat neglected for a year or so. I’d go out and tinker with her occasionally. I finally felt sorry for her and made an extra effort to get her running. After some more frustration, my father and one of his mechanic friends took pity on me and tore into the motor to find the problem. The camshaft was destroyed. Everyone else says they can’t figure out why. The builder says that it’s probably my fault – overtightened valves. The cam company says it’s probably the builder’s fault – blocked oil passage. The mechanic says it’s probably the cam company’s fault – a bad cam. There are two that really know what happened. I know. SHE knows. She hates me. Back to the engine builder’s. Remember, if you’re going to do it, do it right! This time, the builder got instructions to shave a little off the deck and port and polish a set of roush racing heads. This was going to be one hot ride. Nevermind that gas prices were just beginning to hit at the outrageous prices we’re paying now. If I had only known, I would have restored a VW. The hiatus from getting the engine running gave me the time to figure out how I was going to stop this sled on those old drum brakes and ragged suspension. It’s only money right? New tires, shocks, springs and bushings all around! The engine’s back on the stand in my garage now. It’s been sitting there for over a year. The voice of reason finally took over and I waited to work on her as time and money allowed. She’s sad, but I hope she’s not angry. Maybe she’ll accept a new transmission as a peace offering. It’s the last piece she needs to tear down the highway for the first time in half a decade. She’ll be better than new when she’s finished. She should be – I think she’s already cost five times what she did when she was new! Check out my flickr photo gallery of this project: