The 3rd Build Weekend

Finally got around to it, so sorry it's taken a while, a lot has happened since we last wrote a post for the blog, like a lot.  Each couple has had major life changing events happening.....ours was the arrival of baby Grace in March this year, I'll let the others write about the interesting times in which they live.  Anyway I'm amazed we've actually had 3 build weekends since we last wrote and haven't made time to sit down and get it all on the blog, so here goes - the 3rd weekend, May 2015:

Probably the best picture from the weekend, three couples (I'm taking the picture) and three little people, from left to right; Hannah, wee Edward and James, on the ladder Jane and our little Gracey, Sarah, Heno and our Foreman Oli...

 ...who loves anything which he can potentially break himself with....the chainsaw was of particular interest.

 The plan for the weekend was to cut out the dead wood (soggy rotting bits) from the tree and hope it dried out (it did!) and get the frame of the house up.  We're no going for a classic A-frame roof because if we went for the original plan - a single pitch roof, we'd need supports/props inside the house to keep the roof up.  So we built the frame for a typical house shape (monopoly stylie)

 Here's the main ridge beam going up - in this shot it's nestled in the nook of the fork of our main tree.

 Here it is in position, we carved a chunk out of the top of the left fork stump to let the beam sit on.  We've decided to make the roof height whatever the stump dictated, it's about 8 feet.....or was it 9....?

 James sorting out one of the wall plates

 A pile of our structural timber, some of the longest bits will be used for rafters.

 Base camp is developing, it now includes log sofas and a shed panel - swanky!

 Inspectors wandering up the garden to check our work.  Edward likes to ride in style!

The three of us, this is Grace's first trip up the treehouse, she was asleep on mummy the whole time but she made it up there :)  You can see above us the completed gable end plate, ridge beam and the diagonals (my research on the names of these is inconclusive-they are sometimes known as rafters, end rafters, principle rafters, gable end rafters, or rakes!?).

A good weekend and it was actually house shaped by the end, a-mazin!

Greg