All I did today was collect material, siding and a front door.  I scored some sweet salvaged cedar lap siding with a great patina and some nice graying.  I'm planning on installing it as is, giving it a quick once over with the pressure washer and then just putting a clear finish on it so it keeps the weathered look.  I scored the front door from Habitat for Humanity, it's a solid wood full light door that has been painted a bunch of times on one side giving that side a nice, "shabby chic" look.  I built a jamb for it and made the painted side the inside, the outside is still a nice looking natural finish but I think I'm going to go bright red, forest green, or some sort of blue with it.....but, I have also been eyeing the giant pile of paint cans in my garage from the 45 years of my house's life.  I think I will try to burn up as many of those as possible on this project so we will see what I find.  I'll try to post a picture of the door later.

Just so proud of my guys for all the progress today!  We finished the rafters, put corbels on each beam, sheered the whole thing, cut tails, installed fascia, sheeted the roof, and punched a bunch of little stuff off the list.  Keep in mind that the roof is an 11 in 12 pitch, exposed beams, and funky windows....this was no small task but the boys kicked some serious tail!  That is all for today, just excited for the progress.  There won't be any progress until I find some siding or a cool idea for siding....I'm drooling looking over at the fence between the neighbor and I with the 12" wide redwood pickets that's 40 years old, I need a big wind in the next couple nights, it would make some sweet looking siding!!!  I'm also tossing around the idea of repurposing pallets but that would be a nightmare...I don't know, I guess I'll know it when I see it.  I'd love to hear your input, I'm always looking or different ideas.

This isn't going to be much of a blog post, I just couldn't wait to post a teaser picture so I thought I'd add a little description too.  This tree house has been so much fun and we have only been on it for a day and a half.  We are designing as we build and changing as needed. The big hang up on framing today was trying to incorporate the random window load I picked up from Habitat for Humanity.  I purchased 6 high-end, funky windows that were all brand new, never installed (Someone was probably bummed with these mis-orders!) for $200....I'm guessing the total was about $2000 when they were originally ordered.  We were able to fit four of them so, two are getting donated back. 

Oh yeah, there were the three 6x8x16 beams we had to put up in the air...that was a bit of a hang up too, good thing I have a crew full of BEASTS!  We now have the GoPro dialed in too, we had some problems with the wifi app and a dead battery but the time lapse should be pretty AWESOME when completed!!!  Anyway, here's a teaser picture, I'm really excited about this one...stay tuned!

     Well, it' a new year and we are very busy with projects, but one sticks out above all, so it shall be the topic of my next few blog posts.  We have started the construction of my daughter Brooklyn's birthday surprise tree house!  Since this is a side project, it will seem like it's taking us a long time to build, but just bear with us, it needs to be done by her March 29th birthday party.  I will be keeping you posted as to the progress here in the blog, and will also try to do some sort of GoPro time lapse of the build.

     Unfortunately, our yard doesn't have a great tree to use, so after a few days of back and forth, I found a spot for it.  I have decided to place the house between two smaller trees on a small hillside and just give it the appearance of being in the trees.  It will be built on an elevated, freestanding  platform and will not be attached to the trees.  I know, I'm cheating and it's technically not a tree house, but it will get the job done.

     The plans are all in my head and will probably change quite a bit as needed.  We have already had to rotate the layout, shrink it down a bit, and lower it.  All of the changes so far have been to avoid hacking up the trees.  All of the future changes will be because I would like to repurpose and reuse as much as possible on this one, not only to do my part, but also to give it that funky look.....and saving some dough will be a nice bonus!  I will be taking trips to the Habitat for Humanity warehouse, hitting up my barn wood honey hole,  scouring craigslist, picking through my junk pile that I use for furniture, and maybe incorporating some pallets.  As soon as the floor is up and I find some windows and doors, I will have a better idea of what it's going to look like and will pass that info along.   

    Here is our progress so far......we have picked a spot, laid it all out, and poured the footings.  I am hoping to have time between projects this week to get the floor built and maybe even stand some walls.  I will chime back in as progress continues, but for now, here is one picture of the location and footings.  As of now, it will be approximately 12' X 12' with an 8 in 12 pitched roof and wrap around deck.  It will have vaulted ceilings and a small loft......stay tuned, this is going to be a sweet one!