Step by step instructions on how to build an affordable fort for your child.
Has your child ever asked you to build him a fort? What about a club house? Did you decide not to complete the task once you found out the cost or labor involved? That hasn't stopped the kids from asking, has it?
You can build your very own fort or club house for under $150. No your eyes have not deceived you. But this fort is not like any other, as it requires time to grow.
Supplies needed:
table or hand saw
electric or battery operated Screwdriver
sledgehammer
wire cutters
pencil
rustproof screws
rustproof ½ inch thick roofing staples
Chicken wire - 25 feet
Posts - 12 to 14 eight foot poles (the kind you use to hold up trees while you train them to grow)
Vines - 6 six foot vines
Wooden Sign
shower curtain hangers - 24
shower curtains - dark, can't see through kind
Steps to building your fort (or clubhouse):
1. To begin with, you will need to find a corner of your hard that you would not mind destroying the grass with. Once that site is found, lay the poles down on the ground, in a square shape. One by one, pick up the poles and hammer one pole per corner spot. Remember that you will need to use the other poles as supporting crossbeams, so you don't want the corner poles to be too far apart that you cannot use them. The poles should be hammered into the ground by at least one foot, to keep the foundation stable.
2. Take four poles for the top crossbeams. As one person holds the pole up, meeting the right and left corner posts, the other person marks the spots where the holes are to be drilled into the corner posts as well as the crossbeams. This will be done for all four sides of the fort. Once the holes are drilled, one person will hold the crossbeams in place, while the other one screws in the nails.
3. Take three poles for the middle crossbeams. As one person holds the pole up, meeting the right and left corner posts, the other person marks the spots where the holes are to be drilled into the corner posts as well as the crossbeams. This will be done for only three sides of the fort. The front of the fort will not have a middle crossbeam as that will be the entrance to the fort. Once the holes are drilled, one person will hold the crossbeams in place, while the other one screws in the nails.
4. Take two poles for the top of the fort. Locate the front and the back of the fort. Have one person place one pole above the already existing crossbeam with a gap of about two inches. Have the other person take a step back and look at what you have done. It should look as though you have the top of a fort. Repeat the steps in number three for these two poles.
5. Take the chicken wire and place it on the ground. Staple it to the lower front left corner of the fort. Unwind the fort, going from the front left corner to the back, from the back to the front right corner of the fort. Now pull the chicken wire as tight as you can get it and staple the front right corner. Now go back around the fort and staple the fort along the way, to the existing middle beams.
6. Take the chicken wire and place it on the ground, following the same steps in number 5, but this time, do not staple the chicken wire to the poles. When you get to the end, cut the chicken wire, leaving five inches of extra wire. Now staple this piece to the upper front left corner of the fort and proceed with the steps in number five.
7. Now take the chicken wire and place it on the roof of the fort, and staple into place.
8. Have your child come up with a name for the fort and make a wooden sign that will hang on the front, upper crossbeam.
9. Take the shower curtain rings and hang them on the front, lower crossbeam. Attach the shower curtain.
10. Plant the vines, two per side of the fort. Weave the vines in and out of the chicken wire, to train them to grow and fill in the chicken wire.
11. If you are building this fort as a clubhouse for a little girl, you can make a triangular point for the roof so that it looks more like a house.
