Treehouse Update

I know, I’ve been super lame-o with posting, but what else is new?  School is finally out and all that craziness leading up to the big LAST DAY had us a bit busy.

We worked really hard over Memorial Day weekend to get the treehouse in sleepover condition, and we did it.  Barely.  This does not mean we are finished by ANY means, but it does mean that you can hang out in there without getting attacked by cicadas and mosquitoes.  The last steps in bug proofing were to screen the ventilation gaps between the roof supports and the dormer over the screened door.

The CC then added weather stripping all around the screened door, and started caulking every. single. join.  Don’t believe me?  Check the fastidiousness of his entomophobic work.

He’s not done yet, but he managed to finish the most important places.  I was rendered speechless when I realized why it was taking him so long to caulk the ventilation area.  Dude is serious.

Come sleepover time, it was a tight squeeze, but all 4 of us managed to get some air mattress space on the floor with just enough clearance for the door to open.  We don’t want to build bunks up here since we’ll have the “sleeping bunker” once the bottom is done.  When it’s just the 2 of them, they have hammocks they can choose to sleep in, or just use for lounging.

We even decided to get a fan going to keep us more comfortable.  We hung it in front of the window to bring in the cooler night air.  When the Things saw our new addition, they said “Cool!  Air conditioning!”  Not quite kiddies, but this is glamping after all.

Given the floor is a bit mucky from all the dirt, despite multiple sweepings, I threw down a canvas drop cloth as some sloppy wall to wall carpeting to keep our stuff clean.

What’s left to do? A lot more than you’d think.

Porch railings.  We have some hog panel left that we will use.  We plan to have a barn door that will slide and lock over the screened one.  We’ll just get some inexpensive hardware from Tractor Supply.

I also plan to re-do the screen door so that it has horizontal slats going all the way up over the dormer to the top.  This is the way it came off the shelf.  Blech.

Add trim around the inside windows, build shelves in between the studs for both structural support and general usefulness.  The CC has to finish that anal caulking…and paint!  LOTS of paint.  Part of me is fine leaving it natural inside, but it will be easier to keep clean if it’s painted.  We won’t start to build the bottom level until it cools off in the fall.  It’s officially sticky out now.  We’re getting there though.